1/05/2025 - 1/11/2025

Climate in the News:

The wait is over, and La Niña is here. On January 9th, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center declared a La Niña Advisory as the necessary conditions, outlined below, had been met. The event is forecast to be a weak La Niña, meaning any related impacts are likely to be minor.

Weather Synopsis:

Arctic air surged through the Southern Region on Thursday. A deep upper-level trough brought cold air from the North Pole down into the midlatitudes. With this frigid air, snow fell throughout Oklahoma, the Texas Panhandle, North-Central Texas, and Arkansas.

Temperature: 

January is when the Region is consistently seeing cooler temperatures. Frequent cold fronts bring with them colder air masses from the northern United States and Canada, bringing freezing temperatures to the northern portions of the Region.

Temperatures were quite cool to start of 2025 as the Artic air discussed above made its way down South. Across the Region, weekly average temperatures were around 12 degrees below normal. On average, weekly average temperatures were around 36 degrees Fahrenheit in the Southern Region, much colder than the week before.

Precipitation: 

With the majority of the Region being in a humid subtropical climate, rainfall is common at any point of the year. During the winter months, cold fronts bring with them showers, thunderstorms, and frozen precipitation to the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. The boundary between the cold and warm air masses serves as a trigger mechanism for storms.

Precipitation was widespread throughout the Southern Region. Most areas saw at least one and a half inches, with totals in Louisiana and Mississippi reaching three inches.