FIRST ALERT WEATHER: KY3 Meteorologist Ron Hearst shares his winter weather outlook

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - Ready for winter’s worst? KY3 Chief Meteorologist Ron Hearst offers an inside look at what to expect.

For much of the summer, the Ozarks had below-average rainfall. October was an anomaly as it was much wetter than normal. November has been very dry. We are in a La Nina pattern where the water temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean are colder than normal. Ordinarily, this leads to a mild, somewhat wetter pattern. However, that has not been the case. Instead, we have been colder than average.

KY3 Chief Meteorologist Ron Hearst sees no reason why this should not be the case for the next four-to-eight weeks. Ron predicts average or slightly below average temperatures are possible with below-average precipitation. It appears that the trend for the Pacific water temperatures to warm may get back to average around February and thus the last month of winter may trend more towards an average winter.

He predicts eight-to-12 inches of snow is possible for the entire winter.

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