U.S. Facing Upside-down Holiday Weather Pattern [mEKK0BfEKTS]
(23 Dec 2015) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus044797 A weather pattern partly linked with El Nino has turned winter upside-down across the U.S. during a week of heavy holiday travel, bringing spring-like warmth to the Northeast, a risk of tornadoes in the South and so much snow across the West that even skiing slopes have been overwhelmed. In a reversal of a typical Christmas, forecasters expect New York to be in the mid-60s on the holiday — several degrees higher than Los Angeles. The mild conditions have helped golf courses in New England do brisk business, but the pattern comes at a steep cost for ski resorts that have closed and for backcountry skiers who confront avalanche risks. Many Americans complain that it just doesn't feel like the holidays without a chill in the air. "It's strange. I was expecting cold," Janne Minori, a tourist in New York visiting from North Carolina, said. "I was expecting to have to be wearing like lots of layers. It's always been like a dream of mine to have a white Christmas. SO, it's a little disappointing." Big parts of the country are basking in above-average temperatures, especially east of the Mississippi and across the Northern Plains. Record warmth was expected on Christmas Eve along the East Coast. The winter in the Pacific Northwest is still predicted to be drier than normal, so the series of storms that dumped feet of snow in the Cascades this month and piled the snowpack back above normal, were helpful, a Washington-state climatologist said. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: