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A12 SCIENCE
Friday 16 OctOber 2020
Forecasters: Drought more likely than blizzards this winter

By SETH BORENSTEIN tex weakens and wanders
AP Science Writer south.
Don't expect much of a Snow cover in Siberia was
winter wallop this year, ex- low in early October, but
cept for the pain of wors- it is catching up fast and
ening drought, U.S. govern- looks to be heavier than
ment forecasters said Thurs- normal by the end of the
day. month, he said.
Two-thirds of the United The government predic-
States should get a warmer tions are about increased
than normal winter, the Na- or decreased odds in what
tional Oceanic and Atmo- the entire three months of
spheric Administration pre- weather look like, not an
dicted. Only Washington, individual day or storm, so
northern Idaho, Montana, don't plan any event on
the Dakotas and north- a seasonal outlook, cau-
western Minnesota, will get tioned Greg Postel, a storm
a colder than normal win- specialist at The Weather
ter, forecasters said. Channel.
The forecast for winter rain But he said La Nina is the
and snow splits the na- strongest indicator among
tion in three stripes. NOAA several for what drives win-
sees the entire south from ter weather. La Nina does
southern California to North In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020 file photo, dry desert soil cracks due to the lack of monsoon bring a milder than aver-
Carolina getting a dry win- rainfall in Maricopa, Ariz. Associated Press age winter to the south-
ter. Forecasters see wetter east, but it also makes the
weather for the northern- Prediction Center, said he events are not something that happening much this central U.S. "susceptible to
most states: Oregon and doesn't see much relief for meteorologists can see in winter, an expert in the po- Arctic blasts," he said.
Washington to Michigan central and southern Cali- seasonal forecasts. lar vortex does. La Nina also dominates the
and dipping down to Il- fornia, where wildfires have Halpert also said he doesn't Judah Cohen, a winter forecast by AccuWeather.
linois, Indiana, Ohio and been raging. expect the dreaded polar weather specialist for the That private company is
other parts of the Ohio Val- What's driving the mostly vortex to be much of a fac- private firm Atmospheric forecasting mainly dry in
ley. The rest of the nation warmer and drier winter tor this year, except maybe Environmental Research, the South, wet and snowy
will likely be closer to nor- forecast is La Nina, the cool- in the Northern Plains and sees a harsher winter for in the Pacific Northwest,
mal, NOAA said. ing of parts of the central Great Lakes. the Northeast than NOAA bouts of snow and rain
For the already dry South- Pacific that alter weather The vortex is the gigantic does. He bases much of his from Minneapolis through
west and areas across the patterns worldwide, Halp- circular upper-air pattern forecasting on what's been the Great Lakes region,
South, this could be a "big ert said. that pens the cold close happening in the Arctic big swings in the heart-
punch," said NOAA drought For the East, big snowstorms to the North Pole. When it and Siberian snow cover land and mild weather in
expert David Miskus. About or blizzards aren't usually weakens, the cold wanders in October. His research the mid-Atlantic. The com-
45% of the nation is in associated with La Nina. away from the pole and shows that the more snow pany predicts a few heavy
drought, the highest level That's more likely with its brings bone-chilling weath- on the ground in Siberia in snow events in the Midwest
in more than seven years. warming ocean counter- er to northern and eastern October, the harsher the and Great Lakes, but less
Mike Halpert, deputy di- part, El Nino, he said. But parts of the U.S. winter in the eastern Unit- than average snow for the
rector of NOAA's Climate he added that extreme While Halpert doesn't see ed States as the polar vor- Northeast.q

NASA’s new moonshot rules: No fighting or littering, please

The space agency released stine, and is expected to and scientific data must be
a set of guidelines Tuesday pave the way for eventual shared.
for its Artemis moon-land- Mars expeditions. — Historic sites must be pre-
ing program, based on the It's important not only to served, and any resulting
1967 Outer Space Treaty travel to the moon "with space junk must be prop-
and other agreements. So our astronauts, but that erly disposed.
far, eight countries have we bring with us our val- — Rovers and other space-
signed these so-called Ar- ues," noted NASA's acting craft cannot have their mis-
temis Accords. chief for international and sions jeopardized by others
Founding members include interagency relations, Mike getting too close.
the U.S., Australia, Canada, Gold. Rule No. 1: Everyone Violators could be asked to
Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, must come in peace. Other leave, according to Briden-
United Arab Emirates and rules: stine.
the United Kingdom. NASA — Secrecy is banned, and The coalition can say, "Look,
In this July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA, lunar Administrator Jim Briden- all launched objects need you're in this program with
module pilot Buzz Aldrin carries a seismic experiments package stine said he expects more to be identified and regis- the rest of us, but you're not
in his left hand and the Laser Ranging Retroreflector to the countries to join the effort tered. playing by the same rules,"
deployment area on the surface of the moon at Tranquility Base. to put astronauts back on — All members agree to Bridenstine said.
Associated Press the moon by 2024. pitch in with astronaut The U.S. is the only coun-
By MARCIA DUNN rules: No fighting and litter- It promises to be the larg- emergencies. try to put humans on the
AP Aerospace Writer ing. And no trespassing at est coalition for a human — Space systems must be moon: 12 men from 1969
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) historic lunar landmarks like spaceflight program in his- universal so everyone's through 1972. Russia is still
— NASA's new moonshot Apollo 11's Tranquility Base. tory, according to Briden- equipment is compatible, on the fence. q