Winter expected to warm
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

Although Monday's minor freeze didn't inspire much confidence, forecasters are saying this winter will be warmer and drier than normal.

The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center is projecting well-above-average temperatures through March while at the same time saying rain should be below expected levels.

"La Niña conditions are expected to have considerable impact on U.S. temperature and precipitation in December," Forecaster David Unger said in his December outlook.

La Niña is the term used by forecasters to indicated cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific and their effects on weather.

"La Niña is associated with above-normal temperatures in the desert southwest, the southern great plains (and) Texas," he said, adding, "Precipitation tends to be light over much of the southern part of the country in La Niña winters."

Heading into the second week of December, the NWS forecast is calling for highs hovering in the upper 70-degree range with lows in the mid-60s.

An "average" December in the El Campo area has highs around 64 degrees with lows in the 43-degree range while January is typically the coldest month of the year with highs averaging at 62 degrees and lows falling to 42 degrees on average.

The record December high was 93 degrees on Dec. 10, 1933 while the record low was recorded at 7 degrees on Dec. 23, 1989.

For January, the record high of 85 degrees was recorded on Jan. 21, 1939 and Jan. 7, 1907. The record low is 4 degrees set on Jan. 31, 1949.

Average rainfall in December is 3.23 inches while the norm in January is 3.42 inches.