HOUSTON – Winter officially began at 10:28 a.m. Thursday with the passage of the Winter Solstice. But the forecast for the next three months predicts weather that might not feel very wintry in Texas.
The National Center for Environmental Prediction issued its winter forecast for the months of January, February and March, 2018. They predict much of the south, including Texas, to be warmer and drier than normal. Cooler-than-normal weather will be more likely up north, where precipitation is also more likely to be greater than normal.
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The forecast is, by no means, a prediction of how our entire winter will be. Here in Houston, we will get stretches of warm, cool, wet and dry weather, just like we get ever winter. The forecast is simply a prediction that we may experience more warm, dry days than cool, wet days.
Thursday morning's winter solstice, marking the start of astronomical winter, is the point in the earth's orbit where the northern hemisphere is tilted farthest away from the sun. It is the time of year when the sun hangs lowest in the sky and the hours of daylight per day are at a minimum.