>> IT'S >> WINTER IN CHICAGO, BUT WHERE'S THE COLD WEATHER AND SNOW THAT MAY HAVE CROSSED YOUR MIND IF YOU'RE A LIFELONG CHICAGO.

DECEMBER TEMPERATURES ARE AVERAGING ABOUT 9 DEGREES HIGHER THAN NORMAL.

AND IT HAS BEEN AMONG THE TOP 5 LEAST SNOWIEST DECEMBERS ON RECORD.

JOINING US NOW WITH MORE ON THIS UNUSUALLY WARM WEATHER IS SCOTT COLLIS, A SCIENTIST AND DEPARTMENT HEAD OF ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY WILL THANK YOU FOR JOINING QUESTIONS HERE.

I WAS LOOKING AT WHEN I WAS HOPING FOR A WHITE CHRISTMAS THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN NOW BE ABOUT WHAT'S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS DECEMBER WEATHER?

>> RIGHT.

SO YEAH.

AS YOU SAID, IT HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY AND SIGNIFICANTLY LESS SNOWY IN CHICAGO.

AND THERE ARE 2 CULPRITS HERE.

BEYOND THE NORMAL VARIABILITY WE GET, ESPECIALLY IN DECEMBER ONE OF THEM IS PHENOMENON KNOWN AS EL NINO, WHICH WARM WATERS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND TO MAKE CHICAGO'S WITH A LITTLE DRY OUT AND A LITTLE WARMER THAN NORMAL.

BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S REALLY LOADED THE DICE FOR THIS IS CLIMATE CHANGE, WHICH NOT ONLY INCREASES TEMPERATURE IN CHICAGO, INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD FOR EXTREMES LIKE WHAT WE'VE SEEN THIS ONE TO.

YOU KNOW WHAT I FOUND INTERESTING, I THINK I READ THAT THIS WAS A SECOND WARMEST CHRISTMAS DAY ON RECORD.

>> I THINK IT WAS 1982.

THEIR RED WAS 64 DEGREES.

THAT'S RIGHT.

BUT IT'S WRONG.

GRILLING ON CHRISTMAS DAY IN.

AND YOU SHOULD ME THAT THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE DOING, YOU'RE GRILLING IN DAYTON THAT THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN.

ALSO DON'T KNOW.

TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT YOU.

YEAH.

WHEN WE LOOK THE WEATHER, THE INFLUENCES THAT REGION, ONE THING WE CAN USE TO HELP UNDERSTAND.

>> HOW CLIMATE VARIES FROM SEASON TO OCEAN CURRENTS BECAUSE OCEAN CURRENTS VERY LOOKED.

THE NOW DAY TODAY WITH A SO WHEN WINDS, I'M NOT VERY STRONG OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

AWARD IS TEND TO STAY AT THE SURFACE ALONG THE EQUATOR OFF THE COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA.

THAT HAS A REALLY STRONG INFLUENCE ON THE WAY.

THE ON THE COASTLINES, THE WEST COAST THE UNITED STATES AND IN PLACES LIKE ASIA AND AUSTRALIA AND A SMALL BIT SIGNIFICANT IMPACT IN THE MIDWEST IN ESPECIALLY SOMETHING THAT SHOULD YOU TO BE WORRIED ABOUT.

>> WELL, WE STILL WE WANT TO KIND CHANGE WHEN YOU'RE OUTSIDE AND YOU SEE GREEN GRASS IN THE SAME.

YOU GET A LADYBUG IN YOUR HOUSE IN DECEMBER.

THAT'S WHERE WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE ECOSYSTEM ADAPTATION IN A PLACE LIKE CHICAGO, WHERE WE START TO SEE MUCH MORE OF THE FLOOR.

AND FOR THAT, WE EXPECT FROM MASS SOUTHERN STATES, MORE INVASIVE SPECIES VICTIM BORNE DISEASES.

AND TALKING ABOUT THAT TODAY, WE WERE HIT WITH SOME LIGHT SHOWERS, BUT IT HAS BEEN A DRIER MONTH, UNUSUAL USUAL AS WELL.

WELL, ACTUALLY, IT'S BEEN A LITTLE WETTER THAN USUAL, BUT A LOT LESS SNOW ALL OF THAT PRECIPITATION IS FALLING AS RAINFALL.

COULD SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE RAINFALL FOR WELL AND TRULY ABOUT RAINFALL.

BUT ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION WAS IF YOU TAKE ALL THE SNOW MELTED AND THEN ALL THE RAIN AND AT THAT TOGETHER OUR NEW NORMAL.

COULD THIS BE OUR NEW NORMAL?

I GUESS THAT'S THE QUESTION.

WELL, SO THERE'S GOOD AND BAD NEWS HERE.

THE BAD NEWS IS WITH CLIMATE CHANGE.

WE'RE GOING TO GET MORE WARM WINTER IS THEN COOLER WINTER BUT IF WE LOOK TO LAST EL NINO EVENT FROM 2014 TO 2016, WE HAD ONE OF LOWEST SNOW FALLS IN RECORD IN CHICAGO IN DECEMBER OF 2014.

BUT THAT WAS FOLLOWED BY A VERY SNOWY JANUARY OF 2015 WHEN THE HEAD ABOVE AVERAGE CLIMATE CHANGE IS GOING IMPACT CALL UP SEASONS A COLUMN MONTHS OF WINTER, A DECEMBER AND MUCH, MUCH MORE THEN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY FOR NOW.

YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THIS THAT I STILL REMEMBER WHEN I WAS MUCH YOUNGER.

I THINK IT WAS THE 90'S WHERE WE ACTUALLY HAD GOING ACTUALLY MAKE A SNOWMAN.

EXACTLY RIGHT.

AND SO THAT'S KIND OF THE THING THAT I SEE IN CHICAGO IS YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THAT WENT TO PERIOD REALLY CONSTRICT INTO THOSE CENTRAL MONTHS OF JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, WE MIGHT EVEN SEE MORE SNOW IN JENIN THAN WE'VE BEEN USED TO BECAUSE WARMER HOLDS MORE WATER.

ONE OF THE THINGS ACTUALLY LIMITS OUT SNOWFALL IN THOSE DEEP WINTER MONTHS IS A LACK OF MOISTURE, A LACK OF TEMPERATURE.

SO SNOW IS COMING.

SO IS COMING.

THAT IS FOR SO HOW MUCH SNOW WOULD YOU SAY WE CAN EXPECT?

I MEAN, IF YOU FOR RIGHT TO.

DANA ALWAYS EVERY SNOW AROUND 12 INCHES FOR JANUARY.

FROM THAT 1990, TO 2020 CLIMATE NORMALS.

SO IF YOU LIKE SNOW THE BEST MONTH FOR IS JANUARY, FOLLOWED BY FEBRUARY.

NOW YOU START TO TOUCH ON THIS.

BUT WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NINO LA NINA?

SO NINOS, WE HAVE THAT WARM TANG THAT TENDS TO BE DRY AND WARM IN CHICAGO, THE NORMAL AND THAT NINA IS WE HAVE A COLD PERIOD, COLD AREA OF WATER OFF THE EQUATOR ONLY EQUATE OFF THE COAST OF THE AMERICAS.

THAT TENSE SINCE STORMS UP AND CANADA AND OTHERS OUT AREA.

SO JOINING IN ON NINA IN CHICAGO, WE EXPECT AND SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS IN CHICAGO.

DO YOU EVER HAVE PEOPLE COMING UP TO YOU AND ASK YOU WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE WEATHER AND FRIENDS?

WHAT ARE THOSE CONVERSATIONS LIKE?

THEY HAVE THEIR FUN.

IT IS WONDERFUL.

WHEN YOU GET TO TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER, THE WORK WE DO IT.

I'M GOING NATIONAL BART RIHANNA.

WHAT SPECIAL CHICAGO WITH THE COMMUNITY RESEARCH ON CLIMATE AND SITES IN CHICAGO.

YOU KNOW, REALLY ABOUT UNDERSTANDING CLIMATE CLIMATE CHANGE AND HOW IMPACTS TO COMMUNITIES OF AND BEFORE I LET YOU GO, I THINK ALL CHICAGOANS WANT TO KNOW IT'S BEEN PRETTY GLOOMY.

EXPECT SOME TYPE OF SUNSHINE.

SO AGAIN, THE THE THE NEWS HERE MIXED SAID WARMING A HOAX WILL WANT TO.

SO THESE GLOOMY WANT CONDITIONS FROM THAT.

GULF MOISTURE HAS BEEN CAUSING THAT SYSTEM.

CLOUD COVERAGE WHEN IT GETS COLDER AND WE HAD THOSE COLD ARCTIC OUTBREAKS.

THAT'S WHEN THE SUN COMES AND FRANKLY, EVEN AS AN IMPLANT.

THAT'S MY FAVORITE WEATHER IN CHICAGO.

I LIKE IT COLD AND I LIKE IT.

I AGREE WITH THAT.