Texas drought might get worse, NOAA winter season outlook predicts

HOUSTON - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center has issued its winter season outlook for the United States, and it looks like our drought will probably get worse.

The main contributor to their forecast is the persistent "La Niña" ocean pattern in the Pacific Ocean. Even though "La Niña" is far away from Texas, it affects the jet stream and tends to shift it towards the north.

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(Photo courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

As a result, NOAA anticipates Texas has a moderate to high chance for a drier than normal and a warmer than normal pattern through December, January, and February.

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If the outlook is correct, we can expect the drought to worsen from Texas to California and parts of the southeast U.S.

(Photo courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

It is very important to keep in mind that even if our overall pattern is trending to a milder winter season, we will have cold snaps when freezing temperatures occur.

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We could also have periods of heavy rain, but when taken as a whole, the next few months are leaning toward warmer and drier than average.