While we’re still quite a ways out from the official start of hurricane season, and even more so from the climatological peak, but here are key variables we are looking at for hurricane season.

We've gotten rain far and few between through the fall season and now into the first leg of winter. But it appears there could be some change just on the immediate horizon once we start approaching the transitional point between winter and spring.

With the back and forth temperatures stealing the limelight across town, one detail that should be brought front and center sooner than later are the increasing drought conditions across the state of Florida. Central Florida alone has already seen exponential upticks in dry conditions through all our viewing counties. Here's why this could become a major issue just down the road

The clock is ticking to the end of both the calendar year and the end to our warm but pleasant Florida weather. A massive slug of cold air from up north is on its way, and it will cause impacts to how you plan your New Years Eve activities.

La Niña is holding strong in the tropical Pacific, which will have implications on how our fall and winter seasons behave. But this will come to an end, almost rather abruptly.

Fall is coming in just about full swing for many of us not only in Florida but the remainder of the U.S. This means, we're about to begin the second phase of "tornado season," especially across the Great Plains and Mid-West. With La Nina beginning to really perk up in the tropical Pacific, and warm waters in the Gulf, this is what it could mean.

Meteorologists say La Nina has arrived, bringing cooler weather patterns worldwide.

There has been some noticeable trends toward a different outlook the second half of this year.

The European climate service Copernicus says the world warmed to yet another monthly heat record in January, despite an abnormally chilly United States, a cooling La Nina and predictions of a slightly less hot year.

This time 365 days ago we'd already experienced a few different prolific tornado outbreaks as a result of our wintertime pattern. You fast forward to present day, and the current winter season has sung a totally different tune. Why such a vast difference? Just sheer luck? There's more to it than that.

A slow switch to a la nina style pattern could spell drought and fire hazards for a lot of us in Florida moving through the peak of winter

We're finally starting to plunge into a more bonified La Nina ENSO. What is ENSO, and how does that influence what we'll see here in Florida?

If you recall, we discussed the probability of this tropical season being very "back-ended." And it is.

For the upcoming winter, La Niña is expected to take over. Here's what that means.

Federal forecasters are still predicting a highly active Atlantic hurricane season thanks to near-record sea surface temperatures and the possibility of La Nina.

Get ready for what nearly all the experts think will be one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record thanks to unprecedented ocean heat and a brewing La Nina.

Forecasters say this year's hurricane season for waters around Hawaii will likely be “below normal” with one to four tropical cyclones across the central Pacific region.

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While El Niño is expected to hang on through spring, La Niña is forecast to rapidly develop by summer.

Gloomy weather is expected to continue through spring in Florida.

Meteorologist Jonathan Kegges looks at the crazy winter Florida has experienced.

After months of gradually warming sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, NOAA officially issued an El Nino advisory Thursday and stated that this one might be different than the others.

Summer’s almost here and the climate’s right for hurricanes.

The world's oceans are suddenly considerably hotter than just a month or two ago and well above record levels.

La Nina’s three-year run officially ended.

Per the latest drought update from the United States Department of Agriculture, nearly all of Central Florida is considered to be in a moderate drought.

The weather has been wacky across the country this past week. In the South and Mid-Atlantic, there has been record warmth. In the West, record cold.

There have certainly been rounds of cold in Florida from time to time this winter, but more often than not, it has been warm.

Experts say a natural La Nina weather pattern, unusually warm moist air juiced by climate change, and long-term shift in where tornadoes hit all are factors in Thursday's devastating tornado in Alabama.

Government science teams say that 2022 didn't quite set a record for heat, but it was in the top five or six warmest on record depending on who's doing the measuring.

New Zealand had its hottest year on record in 2022, beating a mark set just a year earlier thanks to a combination of natural weather cycles and manmade global warming, according to the agency that monitors temperatures.

The U.N. weather agency is predicting the phenomenon known as La Nina is poised to last through the end of this year, a mysterious “triple dip” — the first this century — caused by three straight years of its effect on climate patterns like drought and flooding worldwide.

Federal meteorologists say this hurricane season may not be quite as busy as they initially thought, but it should still be more active than normal.

A culmination of unique events led to the recent extensive flooding in the Yellowstone region.

Forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association say we’ll see La Niña conditions during the Atlantic hurricane season, which means an active season for storms.

With a moderate La Nina in place, once again Central Florida joined the past six years for being one of the warmest years on record.

Winter does impact the Sunshine State and while it may not be with ice and snow, it is with storms and drought.

The Atlantic is nice and quiet as we venture through the middle of October, but that could change in the final week or so of the month.

A controlled burn at Pine Lily Preserve on Highway 50 will likely produce smoke for miles, according to offiicals.

In addition to those large-scale features, another large plume of Saharan dust is trekking across the Atlantic.

With a strong La Nina in place to start 2021, it’s no surprise that March is the third consecutive month to run warmer and drier than usual.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Strong La Nina conditions persisted for another season across the globe which means a warmer and drier than normal Winter was expected. Although Central Florida fell further into a deficit with rainfall during the winter season, temperatures ran much closer to normal. During January, temperatures fluctuated cooler and warmer than normal periods basically balancing each other out. This see-saw in temperatures over the past three months, in turn, meant a very typical winter season for Central Floridians. Despite the increase in rainfall toward the end of the season, the drier than normal conditions for December and January overshadowed the wetter pattern into February.

Orlando, FLA. – With a strong La Nina in play across the globe, it’s no surprise that our lawns are extra crunchy this winter. Colder, drier than normal weather has been the trend since the beginning of December with a steady stream of cold fronts sweeping through the area. Although these fronts have ushered in plenty of chilly air this season, they rarely packed much rain. The lack of rain puts many areas on track for one of the driest winters on record. Winter Central FL RankingRainfall Rankings: (Rainfall totals since December 1st)Daytona Beach: 0.69″ (-3.6″ below average) 3rd Driest WinterMelbourne: 0.95″ (-3.0″ below average) 3rd Driest WinterOrlando: 1.26″ (-0.2″ below average)Sanford: 0.64″ (-3.6″ below average) 3rd Driest WinterAs of today, we remain drought-free for the majority of Central Florida.

Australia has sweltered through its fourth-hottest year on record despite the usually cooling impact in recent months of the La Nina climate pattern, the nations weather bureau said on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft,File)CANBERRA – Australia sweltered through its fourth-hottest year on record last year despite the recent return of the usually cooling La Nina climate pattern, the nation’s weather bureau said on Friday. La Nina, the cooler flipside of the better known El Nino, was declared in the Pacific Ocean in September. La Nina occurs when equatorial trade winds become stronger, changing ocean surface currents and drawing up cooler deep water. The hottest temperature in Australia for 2020 was 48.9 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded at the height of the wildfire emergency at Penrith in New South Wales state on Jan. 4.

Two-thirds of the United States should get a warmer than normal winter, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted. Only Washington, northern Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas and northwestern Minnesota, will get a colder than normal winter, forecasters said. The rest of the nation will likely be closer to normal, NOAA said. Judah Cohen, a winter weather specialist for the private firm Atmospheric Environmental Research, sees a harsher winter for the Northeast than NOAA does. But he said La Nina is the strongest indicator among several for what drives winter weather.

When talking about winter in Florida, it’s not so much about the cold and snow, but the impact it may have on the dry season. Typically in Florida, during a La Nina winter, the season is warmer and drier than normal. For an in-depth look at what La Nina is and how it typically impacts us in Central Florida, click here. La Nina influence is reflected on NOAA’s winter outlook that was released Thursday. Winter forecast from NOAA 2020-2021NOAA’s forecast gives a very high probability of the upcoming winter being drier and warmer than normal.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially declared that La Nina conditions are present. La Nina typically favors an active Atlantic basin during hurricane season, much like we’re seeing now. It had grown increasingly likely over the past few months that La Nina conditions would be around during the peak of hurricane season. This was one of the main factors in the much above average forecasts leading up to and during the current hurricane season. To be classified as a La Nina, sea surface temperature anomalies must greater than or equal to -0.5 degrees celsius.

ORLANDO, Fla. The two words you dont want to hear during hurricane season is La and Nina. On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a La-Nina watch, meaning conditions are favorable for the development of La-Nina over the next six months. La Nina is a seasonal ocean/atmospheric pattern that develops in the tropical Pacific. During hurricane season, the phase ENSO is in can strongly impact tropical development far away in the Atlantic Basin. The Early-July updated forecasts a higher chance for a full-blown La-Nina developing for the peak of hurricane season (SON).