Finally, some good news about the weather and the world. Arctic ice is making a comeback, rains may be coming to some drought-stricken areas, and we have found 18,000 new named species. For the weather junkies among us.

Conclusions
In 60% to 80% of similar years, we saw the following weather patterns:
The typical El Niño/volcanic winter, with moderate El Niño conditions, is warm in the West and cold in the Midwest and East. Typically the late winter is the most compar­atively cold. California and the Southwest get normal to heavy rainfall and the South­ern Plains get lush drought-breaking rain­fall if the El Niño conditions last through springtime.
So far this year has tended to follow the historical pattern we have seen in similar years with a one-to-two week lag.
Barring volcanic wild cards, a chill winter should be followed by a comfortable spring with good planting conditions and pasture­lands for farmers and ranchers.