December 2025

General Weather Discussions and Analysis
User avatar
Ptarmigan
Statistical Specialist
Statistical Specialist
Posts: 4416
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 7:20 pm
Contact:

Rain is always welcome. 8-)
User avatar
Ptarmigan
Statistical Specialist
Statistical Specialist
Posts: 4416
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 7:20 pm
Contact:

Atmospheric setup for December 1989 Freeze.
https://www.weather.gov/media/btv/events/Dec1989.pdf
https://www.3newsnow.com/weather/weathe ... istributed.

East Pacific Oscillation
https://downloads.psl.noaa.gov/Public/m ... resent.txt

West Pacific Oscillation
https://downloads.psl.noaa.gov/Public/m ... resent.txt

Negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Arctic Oscillation (AO), East Pacific Oscillation (EPO), West Pacific Oscillation (WPO); Positive Pacific North America Teleconnection (PNA) played a role in December 1989 Freeze. One reason it was quite cold. All those oscillations went negative. A positive PNA favors colder weather.
User avatar
DoctorMu
Posts: 7534
Joined: Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:58 am
Location: College Station
Contact:

Ptarmigan wrote: Wed Dec 03, 2025 10:52 pm Atmospheric setup for December 1989 Freeze.
https://www.weather.gov/media/btv/events/Dec1989.pdf
https://www.3newsnow.com/weather/weathe ... istributed.

East Pacific Oscillation
https://downloads.psl.noaa.gov/Public/m ... resent.txt

West Pacific Oscillation
https://downloads.psl.noaa.gov/Public/m ... resent.txt

Negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Arctic Oscillation (AO), East Pacific Oscillation (EPO), West Pacific Oscillation (WPO); Positive Pacific North America Teleconnection (PNA) played a role in December 1989 Freeze. One reason it was quite cold. All those oscillations went negative. A positive PNA favors colder weather.
One of the very rare times it snowed in Gainesville. Dec 23-24, 1989. There was 3-4 inches of snow on the ground off 43rd St - it was amazing. I'm pretty lucky to have experienced the SETX snow miracle of 2004, the Gainesville glad tidings snow of 1989, and as a tyke the biggest snow in Chicago history. Also, a couple of foot deep snows in the Triangle area of NC, before cc. And the double barrel College Station snows of 2021.
davidiowx
Posts: 1168
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2014 2:39 pm
Location: Richmond, TX
Contact:

Wonderful evening and welcomed rains, even though most is strictly runoff. We need that too. Hopefully this winter is a fun one. Christmas sucks when the A/C is running!
User avatar
tireman4
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 6692
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:24 pm
Location: Humble, Texas
Contact:

User avatar
tireman4
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 6692
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:24 pm
Location: Humble, Texas
Contact:

User avatar
Ptarmigan
Statistical Specialist
Statistical Specialist
Posts: 4416
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 7:20 pm
Contact:

davidiowx wrote: Wed Dec 03, 2025 11:55 pm Wonderful evening and welcomed rains, even though most is strictly runoff. We need that too. Hopefully this winter is a fun one. Christmas sucks when the A/C is running!
I prefer a cold Christmas. 8-)

We can use rain for sure.
User avatar
tireman4
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 6692
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:24 pm
Location: Humble, Texas
Contact:

Th8s weekend and weekly outlook
Attachments
small2.jpeg
small2.jpeg (93.65 KiB) Viewed 560 times
Brazoriatx979
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2024 10:10 am
Location: Angleton
Contact:

Pow ponder seems to be all in...

Brutal Cold Builds Next Week…

Alaska and the Northwest Territories are turning frigid by the middle of next week. This kind of extreme cold can’t stay up there forever. Typically moves into the lower 48 within 10 to 14 days from next week.
High-latitude blocking
Cross-polar flow
Cold building and pooling over Alaska/Yukon
When that pattern develops, it often leads to:
A southward buckle of the jet stream
Delivery of Arctic air into the U.S. 7–14 days later.
This setup increases the probability of:
A strong Arctic front arriving sometime
Dec 20–26.
Temperatures well below normal for Texas if that cold is released south.
This lines up perfectly with Christmas week.
Something I am watching in the longer range with a big warm up next week as Alaska turns frigid. This certainty increases the probability at this point of a colder Christmas week this year.
User avatar
sambucol
Posts: 1205
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:43 pm
Location: Mont Belvieu
Contact:

Brazoriatx979 wrote: Fri Dec 05, 2025 11:18 am Pow ponder seems to be all in...

Brutal Cold Builds Next Week…

Alaska and the Northwest Territories are turning frigid by the middle of next week. This kind of extreme cold can’t stay up there forever. Typically moves into the lower 48 within 10 to 14 days from next week.
High-latitude blocking
Cross-polar flow
Cold building and pooling over Alaska/Yukon
When that pattern develops, it often leads to:
A southward buckle of the jet stream
Delivery of Arctic air into the U.S. 7–14 days later.
This setup increases the probability of:
A strong Arctic front arriving sometime
Dec 20–26.
Temperatures well below normal for Texas if that cold is released south.
This lines up perfectly with Christmas week.
Something I am watching in the longer range with a big warm up next week as Alaska turns frigid. This certainty increases the probability at this point of a colder Christmas week this year.
I remember he was on it long before the mainstream mets started talking about the February 2021 event. Because of him talking about what he thought was going to happen before anyone else really did, we were the first ones in our neighborhood to do winter preps on our homes, and the neighbors didn’t know what to think. We told them, but only 1 neighbor listened and prepared. Pipe wrap and other winter prepping items were hard to find by the time some believed the harsh cold was coming, and many couldn’t find those type of things to prepare.

If Pow Ponder is talking about it, we will be listening.
Stratton20
Posts: 5561
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2021 11:35 pm
Location: College Station, Texas
Contact:

Ive met the guy before, hes a good man and he is usually pretty spot on about things like this, hes got the right idea, but of course thats way beyond the range of the operational models, would love a similar christmas to 2022 except not as dry lol
User avatar
christinac2016
Posts: 157
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2016 3:18 pm
Location: The Woodlands
Contact:

Is there anything to a rumor about an arctic front next week? Very cold.
Brazoriatx979
Posts: 374
Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2024 10:10 am
Location: Angleton
Contact:

christinac2016 wrote: Sat Dec 06, 2025 6:07 pm Is there anything to a rumor about an arctic front next week? Very cold.
Thats the 64,000 dollar question. Models have been hinting at it today..who knows for sure
Cpv17
Posts: 6775
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2018 1:58 pm
Location: El Campo/Wharton
Contact:

christinac2016 wrote: Sat Dec 06, 2025 6:07 pm Is there anything to a rumor about an arctic front next week? Very cold.
As of now the core of the cold looks like it’ll go east of us, but it’s still too early to know for sure. If the ridge out west backs off a bit, then more of it will come towards us.
Post Reply
  • Information