UNITED STATES - If you’ve been wondering where the weather pattern La Niña has been, she’s a bit delayed this year. The Climate Prediction Center first issued a La Niña watch in June, when national meteorologists said the climate shift was most likely going to take place between July and September.

Now that timeline has stretched out a bit. As Yahoo! News reported in an update issued last week, La Niña isn’t predicted to form until the fall, specifically between September and October.

The Climate Prediction Center said that, in the meantime, a more neutral pattern is predicted to continue for a few more months. This neutral pattern, known as “ENSO-neutral”, means that neither La Niña nor El Niño conditions are in place.

This delay brings good news for some parts of the country, as typical La Niña years are associated with stronger hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. With this news, the Gulf and East Coast states might be able to breathe a sigh of relief as they brave the rest of the hurricane season.

For the West Coast however, past La Niña years have contributed to severe drought conditions in California and the Southwest due to the dry and warmer conditions caused by a La Niña winter, as is predicted for this year. 

La Niña typically reaches peak strength in the winter when it has the biggest influence over the weather, the report added, so once La Niña does form, there’s a 74 percent chance it lasts through those winter months.

AndNowUKnow will keep an eye out for more updates on this weather pattern, so keep clicking back for more.