Love it or hate it — winter looks especially warm in Texas this year.
Federal forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center said last week that much of the country is likely to see warmer than average conditions this winter, including Texas, thanks to La Niña.
It’s the second winter in a row that La Niña climate conditions — a natural cooling of sea water in the tropical Pacific Ocean — have emerged. The climate pattern affects the position of the jet stream and thus the weather across all of North America.
The outlook, which extends from December 2021 through February 2022, leans toward above normal temperatures for Texas.
Keith White, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, told the Express-News that Texas should expect similar temperatures to last year before Winter Storm Uri brought plummeting temperatures and snowfall.
A Farmer’s Almanac forecast released in August predicted frigid temperatures and another winter storm.
“We’re still anticipating some cooler and wetter-than-normal weather,” White said. “But something like the storm we saw last year would be unlikely.”
See here for the opposing prediction. Sure, another freeze like last year is unlikely – we’ve only had a couple like it in the last 30 years. But climate change is real, and our grid remains rickety, so better safe than sorry. Be prepared, and hope for the best.
2 days and counting……
This prediction is probably the most accurate. The cold temperatures of February come about once avery 30 years. Most of the winter last year was average and above average temperatures, other than that stretch of four or five days.