Look for the spring to be cooler, and perhaps wetter, and the summer to be slightly warmer with a little more rain than last year, says Daryl Ritchison, interim director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network.

Ritchison, who is speaking at many farm meetings throughout the state this winter, says he basing his outlook on history, development of La Niña and several other climate signals.

The vast majority of the state will get more rain than it did last year, he predicts. The exception is parts of northeast North Dakota, which received more rain than average last year. Those again could end up with less rain than last year.

Summer temperatures will be about 1 degree F warmer than last year. Plus or minus one degree from the average can have a big impact on the amount of growing degrees that accumulate. Last year, temperatures were 1 degree F lower. It resulted in 150-350 growing degree days in some parts of the state.

The wet cycle that began in 1993 will likely continue, perhaps for another 10-15 years, Ritchison says.

When it ends, the extra 4-5 inches that the state is getting most years will be missed. That’s what happened in 2016. Many areas the across north only received 3-5 inches less rain than normal during the growing season.

When the wet cycle ends, “we are going to look back as these years as the good old days,” Ritchison says.