I was reminiscing about a vibrant winter morning on Maine’s coast in 2014. As I drove, the sunrise painted the white canvas of snow in various pastel shades. The combination of pinks and yellows danced across the ocean from the horizon to the shore and back again.

With this year’s El Niño pattern, New England has seen less snow than normal. The El Niño refers to a large-scale ocean-atmospheric climate interaction linked to periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific. As warm water builds at the surface, it acts as a cap to prevent colder water underneath from emerging. The resulting large pool of well above-average water then disrupts larger global circulations, creating the abnormal weather patterns seen across North America.

With Christmas at almost 60 degrees F, and the beginning of February predicted to be in the high 40’s, this mild weather pattern seems to be in full swing. I wonder whether I’ll see this brushed white landscape at all this winter.