general, northern and western portions of this region have a winter/spring maximum in precipitation with late summer/early fall being drier, while southern and eastern portions have a summer maximum and winter/early spring minimum in precipitation. Most locations on the East Coast from Boston northward show a slight winter maximum as winter storms drop heavy precipitation. South of Boston, convective storms are common in the hot summer months and seasonal rainfall shows a slight summer maximum (though not at all stations). As one moves from Virginia Beach southward, summer becomes the wettest season, as convective thunderstorms created in the hot and moist tropical air mass drop brief but intense precipitation. In winter these areas still sees precipitation as low pressure systems moving across the southern United States often tap moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and drop cold season precipitation from eastern Texas to the New York area. On the Florida peninsula, a strong monsoon becomes dominant, with dry winters and heavy summer rainfall. In winter the strong subtropical ridge creates the stable air over Florida with little convection and few fronts. Along the Gulf Coast, and the south Atlantic states, decaying tropical systems added to summers peak rainfall. Cold season The subtropical jet stream brings in upper level moisture from the Pacific Ocean during the cold season. Ahead of storm systems, significant moisture becomes drawn in from the Gulf of Mexico, which increases moisture within the atmospheric column and leads to precipitation ahead of extratropical cyclones. During the El Niño portion of ENSO, increased precipitation falls along the Gulf coast and Southeast due to a stronger than normal, and more southerly, polar jet stream. In the area around Memphis, Tennessee and across the state of Mississippi, there are two rainfall maxima in the winter and spring. Across Georgia and South Carolina, the first of the annual precipitation maxima occurs in late winter, during February or March. Alabama has an annual rainfall maximum in winter or spring and a dry summer. Warm season During the summer, the subtropical ridge in the Atlantic Ocean strengthens, bringing in increasingly humid air from the warm Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. Once precipitable water values exceed , afternoon and evening thunderstorms break out at the western periphery of the subtropical ridge across the Southeast on a daily basis. Summer is the time of the second rainfall maximum during the year across Georgia, and the