Nate I've never been a fan of the weather channel, but yeah for you La Nina's generally (in a normal La Nina episode) give the south and southeast a warmer than average winter. But up here in WI, upper Midwest etc we tend to have a below average winter temp wise, especially in the second half of Jan and into Feb. We tend to have mild falls, like this year and last, until La Nina really kicks in. December's here are average or so. Recent storms have already begun to have the La Nina pattern, coming through the Ohio Valley near here.
I'm a weather freak along with gardening. If it wasn't for the math I would have gone into it as a career! But aside from that I always plan my winterizing for my basjoo etc that I keep outside all winter based on the weather research I do for the upcoming season, using past data, patterns etc. This year and last I planned accordingly for La Nina here. You should do well I think.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...a.djf.temp.gif
Eric