By Eric Stock

LINCOLN – As the summer of 2015 draws to a close, the weather experts have their eye toward winter. This winter is expected to be milder in Central Illinois.

Meteorologist Chuck Schaffer with the National Weather Service in Lincoln told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin we have El Niño to thank.

El Niño pushes warmer weather from the equator up into North America.

“This winter is looking like it will be a strong El Niño and possibly one of the strongest that’s ever been recorded,” Schaffer said.

Schaffer said El Niño’s of comparable strength came in 1982-83 and 1997-1998, but he said that’s not enough of a sample to say El Niño will always bring less snow.

He said all it takes are a few big snow storms to skew the numbers. He said it appears the south and east coasts could get more winter precipitation.

“El Niño just tilts the odds toward a warmer winter,” Schaffer said. “There are other factors that we’ll have to watch for that could develop during the next few months and during the winter times that could cancel out El Niño or overcome its effects, but those we can’t predict ahead of time.”

Schaffer said El Niño could bring economic benefits, by enabling more people to get out and shop and not have to spend as much on heating bills. A drop in energy costs could mean less revenue for municipalities, but that could be offset by a drop in snow removal costs.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].