As 2020 comes to a close, there were many big weather stories in the year as a whole.
One long lasting story from 2020 is the drought and that will remain for many into 2021.
If you look back at the first drought monitor of 2020, around 76% of the United States was considered drought free. This compares to 33% of the U.S. as of the middle of December.
If you watch the drought progression throughout the year for the Plains, dry conditions generally started to expand late summer into fall. Some areas are dealing with large deficits of moisture, which will take a lot of time to make up.
Most of the central section of the U.S. will likely continue to deal with expansive drought conditions the next several months.
For January, we can expect below average precipitation for the southern Plains into southern Kansas. The long term trends keep this the case for the next several months as well with the addition of more of Kansas and western Nebraska all seeing moisture below normal through March.
Temperatures in January are forecast to be above normal from Texas into Nebraska. Texas into the southern tier of Nebraska should see temperatures average above normal through March.
La Niña continues to keep its hold. La Niña conditions are expected to remain through the winter. La Niña tends to lead to drier conditions in the southern Plains, which is not ideal considering ongoing drought. Beyond winter, things get a little more uncertain on what could happen in the worldwide view. It appears that La Niña could weaken into the spring with a possible transition to ENSO-Neutral—neither La Niña nor El Niño.
I’m always keeping an eye to the sky and the weather patterns, so watch for next month’s update.
Editor’s note: Regina Bird grew up on a farm near Belleville, Kansas. The views from the farm helped spur her interest in weather. Following high school, she went on to get a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from the University of Kansas. She currently works as a meteorologist for NTV and KFXL in central Nebraska. Follow her on Twitter: @ReginaBirdWX.
