Macon's unsettled weather could continue into 2016

When it comes to recent bouts of unusual weather, blame El Nino.

Climatologists tracking the seasonal pattern of unusually warm Pacific waters believe it will influence conditions for months to come.

"Anything's possible, almost, in this extreme El Nino," Bill Murphey, Georgia's climatologist, said. "We've had some bouts of severe weather, and I'll be honest with you, we're not out of the woods yet."

National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Nadler agreed El Nino is still in control.

"The peak of El Nino may have already occurred, but it will definitely be a player moving forward through the spring," Nadler said.

December was the warmest and wettest month on record for Macon with 12.62 inches of rain, which is 8.58 inches above normal,  and an average temperature of around 58.6 degrees, which is 10.6 degrees above normal.

The month's average high temperature also was a record with about 69.5 degrees.

It was even warmer than ever in the mornings with December's low temperatures averaging out to 47.6 degrees. Dec. 9 was the only morning Macon dipped to the freezing mark.

The month saw 17 days of highs of 70 or higher.

Record highs were recorded with 78 degrees on Dec. 28 and 79 degrees on Dec. 27.

A high of 78 tied the record for Christmas Day after a high of 77 tied the record on Christmas Eve.

"Bottom line, it was a warm December," said Murphey after poring over the month's temperature extremes.

He expected to see a break in 70-degree weather for a while.

"It's going to get cooler... but it's not going to be a strong cold outbreak," Murphey said.

Highs generally will be more seasonal in the 40s and 50s with lows in the 30s and 40s.

"The really, really warm days are done for a while," he said.

For Tuesday and Wednesday, lows will dip to the upper 20s and only warm to the 40s.

Current trends show a slightly greater chance of below normal temperatures in Middle Georgia and southward with wetter conditions through spring.

As was the case in similar El Nino patterns during 1973 and 1993, late season snows could be on the horizon heading into spring.

February 1973 brought Macon's record snowfall of 16.5 inches. Twenty years later, a blizzard hit in March 1993.

A dip in the polar jet stream helped the midstate begin to dry out over the past weekend as lows dropped back into the low 30s for the first time in weeks.

Murphey is not ruling out swinging back to a brief period of unseasonably warm weather this season.

In the short term, Middle Georgia won't likely see much rain until the latter part of this week.

While the bulk of Georgia's December rain fell in the northern counties, the southern counties could see more rain in the early part of the year.

"That's going to help southeast Georgia because that's the drier part of the state," he said.

Parts of 15 counties from Chatham to Echols have been abnormally dry, according to last week's Drought Monitor.

El Nino "hasn't lost any of its punch," Murphey said, so anything goes for the next few months.

"Look for it to start weakening late spring as we go into summer, then a neutral phase, and from there -- we'll see what happens."

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303 and follow her on Twitter @liz_lines.

This story was originally published January 3, 2016 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Macon's unsettled weather could continue into 2016 ."