The rest of spring and summer will be warmer than normal in most of the United States, and many Midwest and Great Plains areas will continue to suffer dry days, according to the latest seasonal forecast from the National Weather Service.

The Weather Service also predicts that La Niña, which has dominated global weather patterns for the past two years, will linger until August, when Pacific Ocean temperatures will slowly return to normal.

"All of the computer weather models agree that most of the United States will be warmer than usual, but at least we can see the end coming for La Niña," said Ants Leetmaa, director of NOAA's climate prediction center, which is part of the Weather Service.

The persistent La Niña effect is the meteorological explanation for the warmer, drier conditions, he said.

Full Story: http://www.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/04/24/la.nina.drought.enn/