NOAA’s latest outlook says La Niña is back—again—and she’s still not bringing rain to Lubbock. The winter forecast for December through February calls for below-normal precipitation across West Texas and above-normal temperatures stretching from the desert Southwest all the way to Florida. In other words, expect more of that classic Lubbock combo: warm, windy, and bone-dry.
While the Pacific Northwest and the Ohio Valley get to enjoy soggy, snow-heavy months, the South—including our beloved dust capital—is in for another “leaning below” precipitation season. La Niña tends to push the jet stream north, leaving us under a dome of sunshine and regret. The same setup last winter gave southern Arizona record-dry conditions, so we’re in elite company—if your idea of elite is a yard full of dead grass and static shocks that could jump-start a car.
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says this La Niña will probably be weak and short-lived, which feels fitting for a city that never gets a full winter anyway. By the time we start thinking it might rain, the pattern’s expected to shift back to neutral. Translation: don’t expect a miracle. The only thing likely to fall this winter is your trash can on a windy day.
So stock up on ChapStick, brace for brown Christmases, and remember—here in Lubbock, “winter precipitation” still mostly means dirt.
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/ensodisc.shtml
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php
