By Robyn White, Newsweek

An El Niño winter is headed for the U.S. this year, and experts hope it could alleviate drought conditions that have become all too common because of climate change.

The El Niño winter will likely bring drier conditions for the North and wetter conditions for the South. This could mean good things for drought-stricken states like Louisiana, which is experiencing an exceptional drought in over 50 percent of the state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. A wet winter is also expected in parts of Tennessee, which is also experiencing extreme drought conditions.

A warmer winter and extra precipitation are also expected for parts of the central U.S., which could be good news for states experiencing drought, such as Kansas and Missouri. Nearly 40 percent of Kansas is in a severe drought, with most of the rest of the state seeing some form of drought.

“An El Niño event favors wetter winters across the south and the southwestern United States and drier and warmer winters in the Pacific Northwest,” Aaron Levine, a research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies at the University of Washington told Newsweek.

“Looking at some more detailed maps on winter precipitation, it does appear that Kansas and Missouri have decent chances of more precipitation than normal during this upcoming winter,” he said. “More generally speaking, with much of the south and southwest experiencing drought conditions, all have an increased likelihood of greater than average precipitation this winter.”