Drought conditions, which are currently affecting around 40 percent of the continental U.S., will likely persist and develop in the Southwest and Southern Plains, according to a winter weather forecast recently released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And drought conditions are expected to improve in the Pacific Northwest, northern California, the upper Midwest, and Hawaii. Below-average temperatures are likely for southeast Alaska and the Pacific Northwest eastward to the northern Plains. Meanwhile, the South and much of the eastern U.S. will experience above-average temperatures over the coming months, while most of the northern U.S. will experience wetter-than-average conditions. Researchers based their estimates around La Nina climate conditions, which are expected to persist into the winter for a second year in a row. Read the full report at NOAA.