El Niño will upend winter weather in the US. Here’s who will feel it the most

A rapidly strengthening El Niño is likely to become a "Super" event by October and has about a 70% chance of being the strongest on record — a once‑in‑a‑lifetime kind of signal.
For winter that usually means the southern U.S. gets cooler and wetter (more storms, extra snow/ice risk in parts of the South and increased severe‑storm chances around Florida), while the northern U.S. tends to be warmer and drier — less snow for many Northeastern areas.
NOAA's Dec–Feb outlook already shows warmer odds across the northern tier and wetter conditions across much of the southern tier (including Southern California and the Southeast/East Coast), with long‑term warming also nudging outcomes.