La Niña could soon arrive. Here's what that means for winter weather in Houston and Southeast Texas
HOUSTON — The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration has released the winter outlook for December 2024 through February 2025 and contains information on likely conditions for Southeast Texas in terms of temperature, precipitation and drought potential.
According to Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch of the Climate Prediction Center, "This winter, an emerging La Niña is anticipated to influence the upcoming winter patterns, especially our precipitation predictions."
Reflecting the La Niña pattern, NOAA's Winter Seasonal Outlook calls for above-average temperatures for the south-central U.S., which includes Houston. According to the Summary of Monthly Normals from 1991-2020, the average high temperature for January, Houston's coldest month, is 64 degrees. The average low temperature for January in Houston is 44 degrees.
For precipitation, conditions are expected to be drier than normal. During the winter months, Houston averages about 2" to 4" of total rain from December through February. With a La Niña setup expected to emerge later this fall, we could be looking at drier conditions through February.
Even though Houston's yearly rainfall is in the surplus, we have had a dry past two to three months. Moderate drought conditions are in place for much of Southeast Texas, according to the latest release of the U.S Drought Monitor . However, the seasonal drought outlook has drought conditions persisting through winter for Southeast Texas.
