Latest / CattleUSA Daily / 215: Winter 2025 Forecast: Long Cycles, Storm Signals, and Ag Impacts with Gary Lezak
Transcript
- 0:00In today's episode with Gary Lezak, we are breaking down the
- 0:03weather cycle. Happy beginning of December.
- 0:07We are finally to a point where the weather cycle has fully set
- 0:11up. And so Gary is breaking down our
- 0:13winter weather forecast today. He is talking about weather
- 0:17droughts are shrinking or growing in certain areas of the
- 0:20United States. We are talking about winter
- 0:23storm systems and what we can anticipate across the entirety
- 0:26of the United States. We are talking heat and cool
- 0:29pattern, like is it going to maybe heat up a little bit in
- 0:33the middle of December and in January are we going to get an
- 0:36ice storm? We are breaking all of those
- 0:38things down today on the podcast.
- 0:41Before we jump in, if you are watching on YouTube, make sure
- 0:44that you are subscribed to our channel that you take a second
- 0:46to like this episode. If you're on any of our podcast
- 0:48platforms, make sure that you are subscribed to our show and
- 0:51take a second to go right and review it as well.
- 0:53And without further ado, let's go ahead and hear from Gary.
- 1:00Welcome to the Cattle USA Daily podcast, your go to source for
- 1:04the latest livestock markets, industry insights and the
- 1:07updates shaping agriculture today.
- 1:09I'm your host, Lauren Moylan, a passionate advocate for
- 1:12agriculture, here to keep you informed and connected.
- 1:15Now let's dive into today's episode.
- 1:24Gary, welcome back to the podcast.
- 1:27How are you? How is life in beautiful
- 1:30Colorado? We got some snow here in Kansas
- 1:34yesterday, so I'm praying that you guys got some in Colorado
- 1:36too. And the slopes got a little bit
- 1:38of snow and all the things, but no.
- 1:42Nothing. No.
- 1:43We got snow in Kansas before you did in Colorado.
- 1:46Kansas City had five inches of snow yesterday.
- 1:48Here in Golden, we had 1/2 of an inch on Saturday, so that was
- 1:53our first snow .2 inches of snow fell in Denver.
- 1:58Now that's about the change as a storm coming in tonight.
- 2:01That four to 10 inches of snow is likely in the foothills and
- 2:04the mountains have been getting snow, but they're about 37% of
- 2:07average snowfall, which is very, very, very bad start.
- 2:11That is crazy. We'll see what helps.
- 2:13But yeah, the pattern setup, it's exciting.
- 2:15I'm working on the winter forecast.
- 2:17It is an epic winter forecast. I'll say it out loud because I
- 2:20know what everyone else's winter forecasts are from, from
- 2:24company. ABCD might see five different
- 2:28winter forecasts out there. They show you one page.
- 2:30Oh, look at that. We're going to be equal chances
- 2:33of this and equal chances of that, and you get all excited
- 2:36about it and it means nothing to you.
- 2:38Ours is about 40 pages long and it's taking forever for me to
- 2:42get it done. Lots of effort into it and I'm
- 2:45going to show a little bit of it with you today as if that's OK.
- 2:48Absolutely. Absolutely.
- 2:50I am very excited to see it. We've been talking about it for
- 2:52the past few weeks as this pattern has been setting up and
- 2:56as we've been kind of diving into this new cycle.
- 2:59So it's a very exciting time that we get to dive in.
- 3:03So I would love to see it. Gary, let's start there.
- 3:06Absolutely. So let's do it.
- 3:08Can you see my screen? Not yet.
- 3:11Are you? Yeah.
- 3:12Well, then we're not going to worry about it because it's not
- 3:15going to let me do it. So it's OK.
- 3:17I won't share it with you, but I'm going to call it up myself
- 3:19and tell you what I'm showing you.
- 3:20Basically the pattern for the season is setting up.
- 3:24The weather pattern is cycling regularly.
- 3:27The LRC is something I discovered back in 1987 and 1988
- 3:32and I have a mural on my wall right over here and I'm going to
- 3:35put that in my presentation that you can go and see.
- 3:38If you just go to weather2020.substack.com, you'll
- 3:42see the link below. We have a 50% discount right
- 3:46now. But anyway, point is, go in
- 3:48there and you'll get the full report and we'll track it for
- 3:52you in the year ahead. Basically, why long range
- 3:55weather is predictable. Every winter follows a unique
- 4:00atmospheric pattern. All right, so this year's
- 4:03pattern is unique. It hasn't snowed here in Golden.
- 4:07It's going to snow tonight. And I looked and saw the weather
- 4:09pattern that was developing, that's creating the snow for
- 4:12tomorrow. In the past 60 days, there was
- 4:14not a pattern like it. So this cycle is a very long
- 4:17one, almost for sure. The LRC is the centerpiece of a
- 4:22big atmospheric puzzle. In my presentation, I'll be
- 4:26showing that puzzle. The corner pieces are La Nina,
- 4:31the Arctic consolation, North Atlantic isolation, and Enzo
- 4:36basically. And you have the PDLPNAMJL
- 4:40things you might have heard of. But the big centerpiece is the
- 4:44LRC, what I discovered back 40 years ago, and you can go 30-40
- 4:50years before me, this famous meteorologist, Jerome Nemias, he
- 4:56was close to discovering what I found independently 40 years
- 5:00later. He called it the index cycle.
- 5:02But he didn't realize that the whole pattern repeated over and
- 5:06over again. Like last year there were
- 5:09tornado outbreaks. They are on that rhythm.
- 5:12Last year was about a 4041 day cycle and every 40 to 41 days
- 5:18there were tornadoes across the United States.
- 5:21So we have this pattern that is set up so far.
- 5:25It is unlike any patterns ever happened before, which is one of
- 5:29the characteristics of my whole hypothesis that I've been
- 5:33sharing for 40 years. Every year is unique and this
- 5:37weather pattern is about to produce snow.
- 5:40Here tonight where I live finally for the first time, is a
- 5:44pattern that hasn't happened before.
- 5:46Why is it taking this long for the snow in Colorado?
- 5:49It's ridiculous. Kansas City, Manhattan, you're
- 5:52not supposed to have snow before Golden Co.
- 5:56It is is extremely rare. And this is the latest snow,
- 6:00first snow ever here, however, So now we know the pattern is
- 6:04cycling. What does it mean?
- 6:06What does it mean for you to work with Weather 2020 and
- 6:13understand the benefits for agriculture?
- 6:16What we're going to be able to predict as we learn more in the
- 6:20next week or two. Which weeks will be wet?
- 6:22Which weeks will be dry? So if you have a three-week dry
- 6:28spell forecast for March 15th to March 30th, then maybe you want
- 6:33to get your planting in early. But what if our model shows what
- 6:37then and the three weeks are April 1st, April 20th, you know,
- 6:41oh gosh, that's perfect for my planting.
- 6:43So you can start planning, get Peace of Mind and and you plan
- 6:48your operations for planting, what type of seed to use.
- 6:52Then you go look at our windows, which weeks are expected to be a
- 6:55cold snap right after planting? Could there be a hard freeze?
- 6:58Could that be a danger? You can look at our model
- 7:01predicts that to the LRC model from January through September
- 7:04has this data for you something that you've never had ever in
- 7:10your arsenal to use as an advantage.
- 7:14And it's accurate. It's accurate.
- 7:16It's not 100% accurate. All right, I'm not claiming that
- 7:21I have some people around me going Gary, why don't you admit
- 7:24when you're wrong? I'm like, OK, let me see when
- 7:27was I wrong There, there. We will admit when we're wrong.
- 7:31For example, hurricane season. We predicted a rather active
- 7:37hurricane season and the United States did not have one
- 7:40landfall. I know what happened now.
- 7:43We were the most accurate three years in a row.
- 7:47This year we might come in 10th place.
- 7:49So three years in a row, like the Chiefs going to the Super
- 7:53Bowl, 3 years in a row. They might not make the playoffs
- 7:55this year. We'll see they better.
- 7:57That doesn't mean they're bad like everyone says all of a
- 8:00sudden. Maybe next year they'll bounce
- 8:01back. Well, the LRC will do really
- 8:03well. So I'll admit when we're wrong.
- 8:06Hurricane season, I know what happened.
- 8:09There were some parts of that that were right.
- 8:12My point is we're not 100% accurate.
- 8:15I claim 50 to 60 to 70% accuracy on these predictions.
- 8:20Believe it or not, those models, you look at your app, when you
- 8:23look at it and it's a snow a week from tomorrow, those are
- 8:27only 20 or 25% accurate, just so you know.
- 8:30So when we say 50 to 60 to 70% accurate, that's really good.
- 8:34I want to be 100% accurate, believe me.
- 8:37And I put that pressure on myself every every day.
- 8:39So anyway, Lauren, I know I'm just talking and talking and
- 8:42talking. The pattern is set up.
- 8:45What does it mean for your location?
- 8:46The winter forecast is out. We're going to share it.
- 8:49I'm going to be heading to Grand Island next week and I'm talking
- 8:53to a group of crop experts out there that I'm going to be in in
- 8:58sharing this with them. And so we're going to spread the
- 9:00word about what we can provide as an advantage for you.
- 9:04We have some tools that I think you should all have.
- 9:08Absolutely. What is so, what is the pattern?
- 9:10What are we seeing right now? I know we aren't 100% fully set
- 9:15up in the cycle yet. We've still got a few more days,
- 9:18but what is the cycle showing right now, especially for our
- 9:22Midwestern states? I know it's kind of different as
- 9:24we go to different regions, but what are we seeing right now?
- 9:27We were talking about some drought concern a few weeks ago.
- 9:29We were talking about like predictive rainfall and storms,
- 9:32all those things. What are you seeing right now as
- 9:35we prepare for winter? The droughts are either
- 9:38expanding or contracting. Last year for the fourth year in
- 9:42a row for agriculture, we have had an accurate forecast for you
- 9:46predicting whether the drought was going to be a concern or not
- 9:49in most locations. Last year we predicted the
- 9:51drought would be contracting which means shrinking and it did
- 9:56until about August and September when it started to expand a
- 9:59little bit. So we know in August and
- 10:01September was expanding. Since September 3rd, drought
- 10:05conditions have decreased or maintained themselves or we're
- 10:10still monitoring it closely. I'm looking at it right now from
- 10:15September 30th to December 1st. It's gotten a little drier in
- 10:19Iowa, South Dakota, but they just had a significant snow
- 10:25storm and that likely will be shrinking.
- 10:30Florida has been getting drier, but the Corn Belt itself is
- 10:34slightly decreasing on the drought conditions.
- 10:38But as we go into the spring, we're going to monitor that
- 10:40closely. The pattern is a very wet one
- 10:44for Southern California, a wet one for North Dakota, but for
- 10:49Nebraska, for Iowa, for Indiana, Illinois, the trend has been to
- 10:55be right near average. So we're still analyzing that
- 11:01pattern to see what the impacts will be this winter.
- 11:04But just know that the drought conditions have been slightly
- 11:10letting up a little bit over the plains.
- 11:13And so that's that's what's going on.
- 11:15But overall, our model, the LRC model shows dry weather over
- 11:21Colorado and South Dakota specifically and near or above
- 11:26average for Kansas, eastern Colorado.
- 11:30So that's what the trends are right now is for near to above
- 11:34average precipitation across Kansas and not drier than
- 11:38average. What are your thoughts on winter
- 11:41storms and what we're going to be seeing as we prepare for all
- 11:46of that? Because December 1st hit and our
- 11:49first snow came and I know we're all kind of buckling up here in
- 11:52Kansas getting ready for true winter to hit.
- 11:55So what are your thoughts on just kind of winter storm
- 11:57predictions and things like that as we move forward?
- 11:59Well, the part of the pattern that just came through with your
- 12:01first snow will cycle back through probably around the
- 12:04first few days of February, the way it's looking on his long
- 12:07cycle. So you didn't have a a major
- 12:11winter storm yet? That was a small one.
- 12:14It's still interesting watching this evolve.
- 12:17There's a there's a part of the pattern that has storm systems
- 12:21intensifying as they head across Montana into western Nebraska
- 12:27and South Dakota and then they start to form into a storm right
- 12:33over Omaha, NE down to Kansas City and then they move off to
- 12:38the east, northeast. There have been eight of those
- 12:43systems in this first cycle. So that's interesting for Iowa
- 12:47where it was drier until very recently to get more moisture
- 12:52and significant snowstorms like they just had.
- 12:55But western Kansas and the Colorado, a concern when that
- 12:59happens. But that's Phase 1 of this
- 13:02year's LRC. There are two phases.
- 13:04Phase one, what I just told you about, there's a phase two of
- 13:07these big troughs form down the West Coast and bring California.
- 13:12It's rain that warms up the eastern third of the country,
- 13:16maybe eastern half of the country has our to care retreat.
- 13:20But I see an amplification of that western through once or
- 13:24twice happening which could lead to a major ice storm over parts
- 13:29of Oklahoma, eastern Kansas, western Missouri.
- 13:33So something to monitor closely. I haven't identified exactly
- 13:37when that may happen yet, but more likely, now that I think
- 13:40about it, mid January for that possibility of a rather
- 13:45significant system. Good for moisture, but could be
- 13:47bad for impacts on people's lives.
- 13:50Yeah, absolutely. It is definitely so fun to sit
- 13:54back and see this pattern set up and see what we kind of have in
- 13:58store for the next few weeks. So, Gary, as we move forward and
- 14:02as we kind of start to round out this podcast, as we just look
- 14:05into the next few weeks into December, what are your thoughts
- 14:09for those next few weeks as we finished setting up the pattern
- 14:11and kind of get rolling on phase one again and start cycling back
- 14:14over? Well, when it goes to phase two,
- 14:17which is going to happen here, I expect that by mid-december,
- 14:20that should be a big warm up over the eastern half of the
- 14:23country. So that's due in two weeks.
- 14:28We'll have to watch to see if it over amplifies.
- 14:30So it over amplifies then we have a major storm while it's
- 14:34warming up. So that could be in that storm
- 14:37would track from Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, N into the
- 14:42Great Lakes. So something to watch for the
- 14:44middle of the month. Some models have been starting
- 14:46to show that I've already I already have that in the
- 14:49presentation for the winter forecast that's going to come
- 14:51out later this week, but that's something to look for.
- 14:55Then after that goes by a big warm up in the east and
- 14:58impossible major storm in the middle and the West.
- 15:01Then we go back into that pattern that's going to produce
- 15:04potential Arctic blast later in the year or in January.
- 15:09So we'll be monitoring all of the above.
- 15:11Yes. Any other?
- 15:13Highlights or anything in your winter forecast report that we
- 15:17have not touched on today that we need to talk about?
- 15:21No, just one thing to always give a mind.
- 15:23I have to remind myself, the LRC provides the blueprint of the
- 15:28atmosphere. So we are able to predict the
- 15:32blueprint of the atmosphere. That's what the LRC provides and
- 15:36I put a lot of pressure on myself and our team at Weather
- 15:392020 to get it right. But we're not going to be 100%
- 15:43accurate. It's just as I talked about
- 15:45it's, it blows my mind that we know what's likely going to
- 15:49happen in the next year ahead. And so that's just something
- 15:53that to pay close attention to. Absolutely.
- 15:56Thank you so much for your time today, Gary.
- 15:59I am so excited to talk next week and the week after and just
- 16:03as this pattern continues to evolve and take shape and what
- 16:07this winter is going to look like.
- 16:09Just breaking all of that down with you to all of our
- 16:11listeners. If you are interested in
- 16:12anything Gary and I talked about today, head to those show notes
- 16:15down below. We've got that sub stack link,
- 16:17the exclusive discount link for Weather 2020 with our Cattle USA
- 16:21partnership, all of the different things that you could
- 16:23possibly need down there. Thank you for listening to
- 16:25another episode and we will see you all next time.
- 16:29Have a good one y'all.