Today (Tuesday, December 21st) is the first day of winter and the climate prediction center predicts a warmer and drier than normal winter. State Climatologist Barry Keim says La Nina climate conditions will bring the Bayou State above-average temperatures and dry conditions through February.
“The jet stream shifts further to the north across the United States and that takes the storm tracks away from Louisiana and more to the Midwestern part of the United States,” said Keim.
Keim says we’ll experience what should be a mild winter starting with above-normal temperatures this holiday weekend.
“Christmas Day is likely to be in the upper 70s and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some low 80s across Louisiana on Christmas Day,” said Keim.
Keim says during La Nina winters, Louisiana benefits from warm air coming off the Gulf of Mexico.
“As opposed to getting a lot of these Artic intrusions, it doesn’t mean we are not going to get any, but we probably won’t see as many and we add it all up at the end of the season, we are very likely to be warmer than normal,” said Keim.
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