Wet winter could get rain totals pointed to normal

No surprises here: for the year the East Texas rain gauge is short by more than a third.
There’s a chance for “above normal” precipitation this month through the end of the year and beyond – it won’t catch the area up on the wet-deficit, but things might get back to usual over time.
Might.
“We’re moving into the wetter season,” says Marty Mayeaux, a forecaster out of the National Weather Service office in Shreveport. “We’re expecting we’re going to catch up on our rainfall a little bit.
“We’re probably not going to have enough to catch up for the year, but we should be improving.”
As of Monday, the local measurement (out of Longview) is 23.23 inches for the year. That’s a deficit of 14.77 inches shy of the typical annual total, an even 38 inches.
“Since September 1, we’re 4.51 inches deficit,” Mayeaux said. Immediately, “This forecast period going through this coming weekend, for the most part we’re going to be dry.”
Good news for Saturday’s full slate of events, not so good for the level at Lake Gladewater – see the stories in today’s edition.
“Last year we were at 38.32 inches. We were right there with the normal,” he added. There’s no specific reason for the turn: “When you try to look at it scientifically, we don’t really know. It’s just the way the weather pattern is set up. There’s a lot of variables. Which one of those variables plays into it, it’s hard to say scientifically.
“It’s just how it played out this year. Next year we could have so much more rain and it could all go back to normal over a two-year period.”
Temperature-wise, things are getting near-normal.
“Late-October we were running a little hot, but it seems we’ve come into more of a balance. Right now we’re entering the middle of November,” Mayeaux said. “We’re pretty much on track in terms of temperatures. We’re starting to get frontal passages coming through.
“Perhaps we can see lows around 40 degrees Saturday morning across Gladewater.”
Forecasts point to normal temperature ranges through January.
All things considered, “We could be looking at a wet December and a wet January.
I’m not saying far above average, but probably leaning above average… What we’re lacking still is continuous, routine, beneficial rainfall.”