(WGHP) — FOX8 Meteorologist Emily Byrd is next to share her Winter Weather predictions!

Alex Schneider has struck first, and struck hard, predicting a total of 12 inches of snow between December and February! Both Alex and Emily are emphasizing the impact that El Nino might have on winter here in North Carolina, and Emily has looked back to see how El Nino has impacted North Carolina in the past.

However, Emily is also a notorious “Snow Grinch” so let’s see how her predictions stack up.

Here are Emily Byrd’s predictions:

We are forecast to have a “strong” El Niño this winter season, which could be a clue about our winter outlook. (By definition, a “strong” El Niño means sea surface temperatures in the equatorial region off the west coast of South America are 2.7° F or more above normal.)

Looking at the past six seasons with a strong El Niño, five of those seasons had single storms that produced 6″ or more at PTI, where we keep official climate records. Most occurred in January or February, and most were record-setters for the dates on which they occurred.

Since we are at the beginning of this El Niño phase, I expect we will have near-normal precipitation and slightly warmer-than-normal temperatures through December. After the New Year, it’s looking more likely to see some snow across the Piedmont, especially in January. I think we’ll have at least one bigger, single snow with 7.5″, bringing the season-predicted total snowfall to 9.5″!

Colder or warmer? A warmer than average December and then a colder January and February.

Coldest temperature? 12°

How many inches of snow? A total of 9.5 inches throughout the whole season.

Largest snowfall? 7.5″ in one event.

First snow? Emily hedges a little later than Alex, saying that we won’t see snow until Jan. 20