Winter Outlook: Above Normal Temps In West; Below In Southeast

Jan. 21, 2012: A winter scene in Brooklyn, N.Y. Snow may be a relatively rare sight this coming winter in the U.S.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images i

Jan. 21, 2012: A winter scene in Brooklyn, N.Y. Snow may be a relatively rare sight this coming winter in the U.S.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Here are some of the details from the winter weather forecast released this morning by the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center:

â€" There are "enhanced chances for above normal temperatures across most of the western half of the lower 48 states."

â€" The Florida peninsula is likely to experience "below-normal temperatures."

â€" Chances are good that precipitation will be "below-median" in the Pacific Northwest, northern California and northern Nevada. Some of those areas have been suffering this year from abnormally dry or drought conditions, as the U.S. Drought Monitor map shows.

â€" Precipitation is also likely to be "below-median" across "middle and upper portions of the Mississippi Valley and adjacent eastern Plains." Some parts of those states have been hit even harder by drought, according to the Drought Monitor.

â€" There's a good chance for "above-median" precipitation across "the central and eastern Gulf Coast region." Rain and snow would be good news for areas there that have been parched.

â€" Other areas seem to have "equal chances of below, near, and above-average temperature and precipitation." In other words, kind of a "normal" winter.