NOAA is predicting about a 70 percent chance of El Niño conditions to develop during the 2018-2019 winter. So, if frigid temperatures and lots of snow are not your thing, then this may be good news for you.

El Niño is the warm phase of a climate pattern across the tropical Pacific. The pattern can erratically shift back and forth every two to seven years, which triggers disruptions of temperatures, precipitation and winds.

These changes cause large-scale air movement in the tropics but have global effects.

A moderate to strong El Niño winter implies that our chance is greater at being warmer and drier than normal across Michigan and the Great Lakes region.

The stronger the El Niño, the warmer the influence will be on our Michigan winter. However, we need to remember since the strength of the El Niño pattern is not yet known, we can't determine how much warmer it may be this winter.