There's a lot happening in the oceans right now that is likely to impact our weather during the coming months. Sea surface temperatures across nearly the entire Pacific Ocean north of Hawaii, from Japan to the North American coast are significantly warmer than normal and overall, are the highest on record.
At the same time, the equatorial Pacific Ocean is poised to move into La Niña, with cooler than normal waters south and southeast of Hawaii, and warmer than normal waters west of the dateline. Now, last winter saw a weak La Niña, and 23-24 winter had a strong El Niño. But in Alaska, neither winter was at all like we expected based on just what was happening in the tropical Pacific.
One thing we can be sure of, the widespread above normal ocean temperatures guarantee that there will be extra moisture available for storms to tap into, and for western Alaska, that means if and when storm comes along that's able to draw in that high moisture content air from the north Pacific, this, by itself, increases the chance of us seeing excessive rain or snow.
