WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – Indiana's state climatologist says Hoosiers can expect a gradual warming by mid-January following the state's bitterly cold start to 2015.

Purdue University-based climatologist Dev Niyogi says that after a brief warmup later this month weather models suggest temperatures will drop again for a long spell.

He says the outlook for February through March generally calls for temperatures to be cooler than normal.

But Niyogi says the State Climate Office also expects below-normal precipitation across Indiana through March, in keeping with the office's earlier prediction of a drier-than-normal winter overall in Indiana.

He says that will likely mean less snowfall this winter than last year, when the state was buffeted by frequent snowstorms.