This national weather map shows which U.S. states could have the snowiest winter

Is it really time to start thinking about winter? Yes, meteorologists are already mapping out what the coming cold season might bring. A seasonal outlook issued by the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center offers an early peak into potential precipitation trends across the United States from December 2026 through February 2027.

Driving this long-range forecast is a rapidly intensifying Pacific El Niño event. Forecasters estimate a greater than 90-percent probability that a robust El Niño will steer global weather patterns through the winter, with a 75-percent chance of it reaching historic strength. Extreme El Niño cycles typically displace the primary jet stream, steering an unusual amount of tropical moisture directly into the southern half of the country and pushing active storm tracks upward along the Eastern Seaboard.

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This new NOAA map highlights elevated chances for above-average total precipitation spanning the Sun Belt, Gulf Coast, Mid-Atlantic and coastal New England. Weather experts stress that higher moisture probabilities do not automatically mean massive snowfall, however. The seasonal map tracks overall liquid precipitation rather than frozen accumulation. For significant snowfall to materialize, these moisture-laden storm systems must combine with sufficiently freezing air.

Coastal areas from Maryland to Maine are favored for wetter-than-normal conditions. Should cold air move south from Canada, coastal cities and interior corridors could experience elevated winter storm activity.

California has some of the highest precipitation probabilities on the map, reaching 50-percent to 60-percent along the coast. While valleys and coastlines will absorb heavy rain, high-elevation terrain—particularly the Sierra Nevada range—stands to gain massive mountain snowpacks.

Probabilities for heavy rainfall reach 70-percent to 80-percent around northern Florida and southern Georgia. While far too warm for snow in the deep South, northern stretches of the Southern Plains (40-percent to 50-percent above-normal odds) could see wintry mixes or sporadic snow events if arctic air reaches far enough south.

Conversely, areas accustomed to severe winter weather—such as the Great Lakes and parts of the northern Rockies—are leaning toward drier-than-average conditions under this specific jet stream setup.

This kind of seasonal outlook project climate tendencies across several months rather than predicting individual blizzards. But with a formidable El Niño asserting itself, the 2026–27 winter promises an unusually dynamic pattern for storm watchers to track. Find more individual outlook maps on the NOAA website.