At 4:44 AM we all moved from Fall into Winter. Could you feel the chill? Probably not because the chill was earlier in the week and the outlook for Christmas Day might have you thinking of Spring.

It's true the subtle changes from season to season in Louisiana are not usually noted by abrupt differences in the weather around us. However, each season brings it's own unique issues to the state as far as the climate and weather conditions are concerned.

State Climatologist Dr. Barry Keim spoke to the Louisiana Radio Network about what Winter will hold for Louisiana. He suggested in his comments that based on long range outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center our Winter should be warmer and drier than an average season might be.

This doesn't mean we won't get some cold air intrusions, but when we add it all up after the three months, we should average above normal with temperature and below normal with precipitation.

Why are the weather guessers guessing this will be the outlook for our state? We have to look no further than the Pacific Ocean. That's right, the ocean that's to the west of California. The Pacific and a phenomenon known as La Nina will be a major influence on our weather over the next three months.

Which tends to create cool and wet conditions in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. But dry and warm conditions across the southern third of the United States.

So basically what Dr. Keim is telling us is this. We could see snow, we probably won't. It will get cold but probably won't stay that way for long. The mosquitoes will still be hanging around and your shorts and t-shirts will probably come out of the closet by Mardi Gras.

 

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