Strong El Niño will bring milder winter weather in Massachusetts

Parts of Florida have been getting soaked while here in the northeast rainfall has been harder to come by. 22 news storm team meteorologist Alexa Bianco explains why the two regions are seeing such different conditions. Yes, it's a tale of two weather patterns, heavy rain in parts of Florida and dry conditions here at home. So I took a closer look at what's driving that difference. Where rain falls depends on where moisture and systems that produce rising air come together. Repeated rounds of rain can bring substantial totals to one area while another misses out. That contrast has been on display between parts of Florida and the northeast, where we have been seeing much drier conditions. However, certain climate patterns are playing a role. Down to the south, they've been dealing with some rain. We're starting to see the first signs of that El Nino pattern starting to develop, I'll be allowing that. Southern jet stream to get more active, delivering a lot of that rain to the southern half of the country. But for us here, we're still dry, although it looks like we could get some rain by the end of the week. Our weather pattern could get more active as we head into the winter season, but that doesn't always mean snow. I'm leaning more towards a lot of mixed precipitation events. I'll give you a few seconds. I still can't rule out, obviously, a snowstorm. You know, that could definitely happen, but I think we're going to see a lot of these. Events that we start as maybe a little bit of some snow and transition to more just ice and rain or mostly stays ice and rain around here. I think you'll see a lot of sleet. With an El Nino winter, it tends to be more warmer and mild and also is going to be one of the strongest ones on record. Working for you, Storm Team Meteorologist Alexa Bianco.