Here's How Much Snow And Rain CA Can Expect This Winter, Old Farmer's Almanac Predictions Say

A strong El Niño expected to last through winter could have plenty to say about the winter season ahead in California.

Overall, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to keep temperatures on the mild side even as a parade of very wet storms pound the Golden State, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac winter forecast. Some areas will see frigid temperatures, and residents in some areas that typically get a lot of snow may not need their shovels this coming winter.

California Forecast

California can expect a wetter and stormier winter, with an active southern storm track expected to bring heavier-than-normal precipitation. Frequent storms could deliver periods of heavy rain along with occasional mixed precipitation and snow, particularly when colder air moves into the state.

However, the Pacific Southwest will be warmer and wetter overall, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

"Mountain areas that see snow will have plenty of chances for it, especially in the new year," The Old Farmer’s Almanac noted.

Here's what to expect, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac:

• Temperatures: Above normal
• Coldest periods: Late December, mid- to late January, early February, and late March
• Precipitation: Above normal
• Snowfall: Near to above normal in mountain areas
• Stormiest periods: Late December, mid-January, early and late February, and early and late March

The El Niño climate pattern develops when waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm, changing atmospheric circulation and shifting weather patterns around the world.

A strong El Niño can move the jet stream and alter where rain, snow and cold air travel across North America. Such winters often bring milder temperatures to much of the country and wetter conditions to Southern California, according to the Almanac.

This El Niño may be more than merely strong.

“El Niño is being supersized before our eyes,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said earlier this month. “The science leaves no room for doubt: the planet is in uncharted waters, and those waters are heating up. Sea surface temperatures are rising, temperatures keep climbing, and the world is in the danger zone of extreme weather,” said U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center said in September that El Niño had strengthened further and had a greater than 90 percent chance of becoming very strong during the fall and winter. The agency put the chance of a historic event at 75 percent, up from 69 percent in August.

In the Pacific region scientists use to measure El Niño, water temperatures were about 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit above normal in August, up from 2.5 degrees in July. Farther east, they were about 6 degrees above normal.

The World Meteorological Organization said El Niño was expected to intensify before peaking near the end of 2026, with effects on rainfall, drought, flooding and extreme heat potentially continuing well into 2027.

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac forecast, the best bets for a snowier-than-usual winter are central and southern New England, the Appalachians, the northern Rockies and nearby mountain states, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Mountain areas of California and the Southwest could also see near- to above-normal snowfall.

Other areas could still see plenty of snow, but seasonal totals could finish near or below normal.

And while the Almanac expects temperatures to be mild overall with near- or above-normal temperatures across most of the country, with colder temperatures from central New England through the Appalachians and Ohio Valley. Wetter-than-normal conditions are forecast across much of the West and parts of the South, Midwest and Florida.

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