La Nina in the Pacific assures drought in Texas

For those of us living in Texas this is NOT good news. CNN offers this winter weather forecast.

Washington (CNN) -- The Southern Plains of the United States are likely to see a continuation of a severe drought this winter, while the Pacific Northwest will be colder and wetter than average, according to data released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

La Nina is expected to influence weather patterns across the country for the second year in a row. Weather officials say with La Nina in place, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and other surrounding states are unlikely to get enough rain to alleviate the ongoing drought.

"Ninety-one percent of Texas, 87 percent of Oklahoma and 63 percent of New Mexico are experiencing extreme or exceptional drought," said David Brown, director of the Southern Region Climate Services based in Fort Worth, Texas.

Parts of Texas and Oklahoma are more than 30 inches below average in rainfall this year, with little in the forecast to predict the trend is going to change as the winter months approach.

It looks like I need to replace my st. Augustine grass lawn with cactus or something similar. Oh, and reduce my steak-based meals since the price of beef will continue to climb.

Note - this is a weather forecast, not a discussion of climate change. Weather is not climate.

Today is a miserable weather day.

Right now it is raining and thundering. The sky is overcast. The radio has announced that there is a sever thunderstorm warning here, as well as a tornado warning for the county 50 miles north of me. Since four tornadoes hit the Dallas-fort Worth area a little over a week ago, one of them taking out the grocery story 2 miles north that I frequently shop(ped) at, I am taking it seriously.

So is my Westie. He hates thunder and he hears tornado conditions long before I do. He has spent the last three hours barking at the sky and the thunder, interspersed occasionally with the more frantic bark that he goes into when tornado conditions are near. (False bark, so far.) As a terrier he is a small dog with a terrific bark.

Think I'll close up shop here so that the lightening doesn't take out my computer and grab a novel. I need to read something that drags me in and pulls me along, unlike a history book which is a much more subtle pleasure, but is harder to block out the thunder and the barking.

Besides, it's not like last week in which each hour brought something more interesting or newsworthy than the previous hour. I really don't think Alberto Gonzales will resign today, and no Congressmen will be arrested. Their investigations seem to be at a stage a bit earlier than that. [But not much longer.]