Could ‘Snowvember’ Return?

I seem to remember at about the same time last year the weather in Buffalo was unseasonably warm, then a cold front moved in and...well, the rest really is history.  The 'Snowvember' storm was one for the record books.

As we come off of a near record-breaking warm week where we enjoyed 70-degree weather, the temperatures are turning more seasonal and, what about that dreaded Polar Vortex we hear about that brought strong winters the last two years?  Could it happen again?

Well, good news.  One, the Polar vortex is expected to stay at home and will not be visiting our area this season, and two..there is a "strong El Niño" expected.  Models from the Climate Prediction Center from the National Weather Service  indicate  this season's El Niño could make most or the winter warmer than average  in Western New York.

El Niño by definition is an irregularly occurring and complex series of climatic changes affecting the equatorial Pacific region and beyond every few years, characterized by the appearance of unusually warm, nutrient-poor water off northern Peru and Ecuador, typically in late December.  For some reason I always think of this skit from the late great Chris Farley and Saturday Night Live in the 90's though.