The USA’s East Coast could shiver under a blanket of unusual cold this winter, according to forecasters. The impact of this forecast is already being seen in the pricing of Natural Gas and Electricity futures as they’ve doubled from the August lows.
“It could be one of the coldest (U.S. winters) in this decade, depending on what happens in the West,” says Matt Rogers, a forecaster with the Commodity Weather Group, a consultancy with clients in the energy and agriculture industries. “We feel like we need to watch this particular winter closely.”
Temperatures could be 5% to 10% below normal, Rogers says. However, he and others also predicted a milder-than-usual winter across other northern states.
Forecasters are basing their predictions on El Niño, a periodic warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean that can bring warm air to the north. Forecasters say El Niño will be weaker than normal this year.
INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC: How El Nino affects U.S. weather
