Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
DAVENPORT — Local meteorologists are predicting a shift in climate patterns for the 2023-24 winter season. The National Weather Service is expecting an “El Nino” winter, which could lead to warmer-than-normal temperatures and less snow than normal.
According to Spokane-based NWS lead forecaster Jon Fox, an El Nino pattern would be a shift from the last three winters, which were all El Nina patterns creating colder-than-average temperatures and higher precipitation amounts.
“We’re really expecting an El Nino pattern across all of Washington,” Fox said.
Davenport averages about 31.8 inches of snow each winter, while Odessa averages about 13.2 inches.
“We would typically expect less than that average in an El Nino year,” Fox said. “That’s not to say it can’t happen, but that’s what the odds would suggest.”
December tends to be the wettest month in Lincoln County, regardless of higher-elevation places like Davenport and Reardan or drier climates like Odessa.
In the county seat, 1.90 inches of precipitation falls in the final calendar month each year, while Odessa sees an average of 1.66 inches of precipitation.
Fox predicted that December will again be this winter’s wettest month, but without much confidence.
“I would lean December as the wettest month this year, but whether that happens, it’s hard to say,” Fox said.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac also predicted a “dry winter,” with the snowiest times of year predicted to be mid-to-late December and mid-January.
But the Almanac went against of the National Weather Service regarding temperature prediction, saying winter temperatures will be colder than normal across the Pacific Northwest.
And the Farmer’s Almanac predicted a snowier-than-normal winter in the Pacific Northwest and said spring weather can be expected with storms countrywide in late March 2024.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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