The National Weather Service is predicting above-average temperatures for the 2024-2025 winter season, after the Louisville area experienced its ninth-warmest winter in 2023.
Precipitation levels are expected to be wetter than average, with a La Niña storm pattern expected to persist from January through March, most likely in parts of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Unlike the 2023-2024 El Niño weather pattern in the Louisville area, a La Niña will produce more storms in the north during the winter months, keeping the south warmer and drier.
Here’s what we know about Louisville’s warmest and coldest winters.
Louisville again Will Louisville set records this winter? Above average temperatures, average precipitation
How does the National Weather Service monitor the winter season?
National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Neudorff told The Courier Journal earlier in February that the winter meteorological season runs from December to the end of February. For the 2023-2024 season, Neudorff said it was possible to be in the top ten for warmest winters.
Winter weather forecasts 2023-2024
According to the NWS, the 2023-2024 winter season was the ninth warmest winter on record for Louisville and Frankfort, and the fourth warmest winter on record for Lexington. Temperatures for the 2024-2024 season lagged behind those of 2022-2023, the fifth warmest winter with an average of 43.4 degrees.
Winter weather forecasts 2024-2025
While the NWS predicts a warmer and drier winter season for much of the South in 2024, Kentucky — along with nearby states like Ohio and Indiana — has the highest chance of wetter-than-average conditions, alongside the Great Lakes states. parts of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
Warmer than average temperatures are favored across southern parts of the U.S. to the eastern Great Lakes, including all of Kentucky, with the best chance of high temperatures occurring along the Gulf Coast and most of Texas.
This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: NWS predicts La Niña pattern in Kentucky for winter 2024-2025
