La Niña May Deliver A Warm, Dry Winter (Or Not)

The signs of winter are approaching. Stores are decked out in Thanksgiving and even Christmas themes and the evening hours are now darker with the end of Daylight Saving Time.

But where was the cool weather we expected for fall? The Granbury, Texas area enjoyed highs in the 80s and even in the 90s through most of October, which will likely go down as the warmest October on record!

Warm fall weather is nice, but don’t let it get you complacent about the upcoming winter.

Forecasters are offering conflicting opinions (as is not unexpected) about the long-range weather outlook for our part of the country. The Star-Telegram reports that there is a 70 percent chance of a La Nina formation in the Pacific this winter. If that comes about, the cool sea surface temperatures are expected to bring warmer and drier weather to North Texas.

But Fort Worth National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Huckaby says other weather conditions in our hemisphere could send some Arctic blasts south several times this winter.

“We could see one or two really severe Arctic outbreaks this winter,” Huckaby told the Star-Telegram. “All it takes is one big event to change everybody’s outlook about what kind of winter we had.”

That’s very true. As we know out here in North Texas, we can be outside in a T-shirt and shorts on one winter day, and then huddled under the blankets with the heater turned on in below-freezing temperatures the very next day.

So, don’t let the warm fall lull you into a false sense of security. If you haven’t had your HVAC system checked out and prepared for winter by a Daffan Cooling & Heating tech, now is the time to do so!

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