(LATimes) - e of the most powerful El Niños on record continues gathering strength and is looking increasingly likely to bring heavy rains to key Northern California areas that provide water for the rest of the state, according to a new forecast.

There are better odds that the area around Lake Oroville, California's second-largest reservoir, will have above-normal precipitation -- now more than a 40% chance, up from a more than 33% chance in last month’s forecast. San Francisco now has more than a 50% shot of a wetter-than-average winter, up from a more than 40% probability.

Los Angeles continues to have more than a 60% probability of a wet winter during the months of January, February and March. Officials are been scrambling to prepare, including clearing out basins and making sure roads are ready for all the rain.

Here’s some questions and answers about the coming winter.

Why is there more confidence that Northern California will have a wetter-than-normal winter?

Not only are we getting closer to winter, but El Niño is maintaining its strength and even getting stronger, said Matthew Rosencrans, head of operations for the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. 

“From the latest observation, it’s still on an upward trend,” he said, “not even topping out right now.”