Near-freezing weather headed out for a while
By BRENDA SOMMER bsommer@leader-news.com

If you liked bringing in the New Year all bundled up against brisk winter weather, it's good you enjoyed it while you could.

While the temperature tonight is expected to drop down to near or below the freezing mark, the days to follow begin a warming trend that will have Wharton County residents almost back to wearing shorts again by Saturday.

Both the National Weather Service and The Weather Channel predict tomorrow's high will be around 52 degrees, with a low dropping only to 50 degrees. By Friday, the high is expected to be at or near 70 degrees, with a low of 55 degrees that night.

Saturday has about a 30 percent chance of showers, but should hit a high of around 75 degrees, The Weather Channel predicts, and the trend of highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s should continue through Monday night.

Texas' weather has bobbled from warm to cool every few days for most of the winter, the result of "La Niña," a fluctuation in the oceanic and atmospheric circulation that lasts several months.

The most recognizable feature of La Niña and its opposite, El Niño, is a warming or cooling of the waters in the eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean. If those waters are warmer than normal, it is called an El Niño. If colder than normal waters are observed, it is termed a La Niña.

Forecasters say that the 2007-2008 winter season is expected to be in a La Niña of moderate intensity, characterized by warmer than normal temperatures and below normal precipitation. This has been the case so far in Texas, and is expected to continue into the spring.