During January 2024, upper ocean heat across the equatorial Pacific Ocean plummeted. The Pacific basin upper ocean heat anomaly has slipped below the El Nino threshold.

Late last week, there were reports of record-fast speed of jet airliners crossing the Pacific Ocean propelled by an unusually intense jet stream. Typical air speed of jet airliners flying at 37,000 to 41,000 feet is in the 550-600 mph range. Late last week, reports of air speeds near 825 mph were reported enabling trans-Pacific flights to arrive 90 minutes earlier than scheduled.

Flash Flood Warnings for life-threatening flooding is occurring across Interior East Texas and Southwest Louisiana. Flooding is also present in many parts of East Texas to central Arkansas and across the western half of Louisiana. More extreme rain is on the way centered on Louisiana the next 2 days.

The erosion of the arctic air mass comes at a cost. A large ice storm in-place now in the Mid-South States extends to the Ohio Valley tonight. Ice accretion near or above 0.25 inches, which is enough to cause power outages, extends across AR/MO and near Chicago and eastward into tomorrow.