WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP): Indiana’s state climatologists anticipate the state won’t see much extreme cold or precipitation this winter because of the Pacific Ocean’s weak La Nina system.

Purdue University-based climatologist Dev Niyogi says he believes there is limited potential for severe cold in Indiana. He says southern Indiana will likely stay within a below-normal precipitation pattern, while northern and central Indiana could be wetter than normal.

La Nina is the periodic cooling of the central Pacific Ocean that affects weather patterns around the globe.

About 20 counties in far southern Indiana are listed as in moderate drought because a lengthy dry stretch. That’s caused officials in several of those counties to impose bans on open burning.