NEWS

Experts predict a warm and wet month ahead for Augusta

Tom Corwin
tcorwin@augustachronicle.com
Women cross Laney Walker Blvd. during a rain shower in Augusta, Ga., Friday afternoon January 3, 2020. A soggy end to 2019 is likely to continue into January with a better than 50 percent chance of above average precipitation.  [MICHAEL HOLAHAN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE]

The rainy and warm weather in December is expected to continue into January over the next few weeks and possibly lead to warmer months ahead, although colder temperatures are always a possibility, weather experts said.

Augusta is coming off the third wettest December since 1871 as the area got 8.12 inches of rain compared to a normal of 3.39 inches, said state climatologist Bill Murphey. December temperatures were 4.9 degrees above normal on average and closed out the second warmest year ever, topped only by 2017, he said.

And that is likely to continue next week and into coming weeks for the Augusta area. The next two to three weeks are more likely to see higher levels of precipitation and be “unusually warm” for the period, said Brad Pugh, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center. The area is in the midst of an active pattern right now, Pugh and Murphey said.

“We’ve had a lot of systems come through over the past few weeks and it looks like we’ve still got some lined up out west,” Murphey said. “I was looking at the next week to week and a half and it looks like maybe a system every four to seven days possibly in that timeframe.”

The pattern could continue until the end or month or beginning of February when it could change and become cooler, Pugh said. It is also possible for much colder weather to intrude south and bring colder temperatures but that is based on a pattern that is difficult to predict more than a couple of weeks ahead, he said.

It is not unusual for Augusta and Georgia to see a wider range of temperatures during an active pattern like this, Murphey said.

“You can get big swings in temperature so you can get cold, get down to freezing, and then warm back up pretty quick,” he said.

All of that means be prepared for the weather to change, Murphey said.

“Keep your umbrella handy,” he said. “Then keep your winter coat handy as well.”

The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above average chances for wetter and warmer weather for the Augusta area.

– For Jan. 8-12, there is a 60 percent probability for above average temperatures and a 40 percent chance of above average precipitation;

– For Jan. 10-16 (up to two weeks out), there is an 80 pecent chance of higher temperatures and a 40 percent change of above average rainfall;

– For Jan. 11-24 (the three to four week forecast), there is both a 60 percent change of higher temperatures and precipitation;

– For the month of January, there is a 50 percent change of higher temperatures and a 40 percent chance of greater rainfall.

Wet and warm for weeks