Clear and sunny skies are expected in Torino, Italy, this week for the start of the Winter Olympics, in which several Tahoe athletes are participating.

Meanwhile, unusual mid-season La Niña climate conditions in the Pacific Ocean are forming, according to climatologists, which could spell colder, drier weather in the coming weeks for the Lake Tahoe Basin.

La Niña conditions are typically unpredictable but can affect the weather for the next three to six months, government forecasters said Thursday.

"In Northern California, you (could) see a high pressure ridge form. We can still get rain or snow during this pattern, but generally it's less," said Angus Barkhuff, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

In a La Niña large sections of the tropical Pacific cool slightly below normal for the time of year, affecting the winds moving overhead.

That generally means even drier than normal weather over Southern California and Arizona and more rainfall than normal in places like Indonesia, the Philippines and northern Australia.

La Niña, which began in recent weeks, is expected to continue through the rest of winter, the Climate Prediction Center, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a statement.

The forecast for Torino, Italy, the site of this year's winter Olympics calls for sunny to partly cloudy with light winds, Friday through Tuesday. Temperatures will range from 39 to 50 degrees.

For more information on Torino's weather, visit: http://www.wunderground.com/global/IY.html

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.