WEATHER BEAT: Despite Mild Fall, Winter Brings Cold, Snow

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weatherbeatlogoSo far this fall has certainly been the mildest in recent history. I have lived in this region since 2001 and I can say without a doubt that this has been one of the mildest falls I can recall. Do I expect this trend to continue into December? Let’s get started!

I am going to begin my Winter Weather Outlook with December. While much of December is technically part of fall, it is the first month of what meteorologists like to refer to as “Meteorological Winter.” I believe that December will be the transition month from mild weather to much cooler weather in January through March.

In terms of snowfall in December, I expect to see anywhere from 1-3 inches of measurable snowfall. In terms of temperature, I expect to see temperatures on average to be anywhere from five degrees below average to ten degrees above average. Keep in mind, this is a general average and extremes can happen.

Moving onto January and February, I expect to see much cooler and much snowier conditions to develop. I am grouping these two months together as I expect them to be very similar. For January and February combined, I expect to see as much as 20-25 inches of measurable snowfall. Much of these two months will feature temperatures in the 30s and 40s, if not cooler.

For March, I expect winter to hang on tight. In fact, winter may have a hard time letting go, and we could see a late transition from winter into spring. Temperatures in March will remain below average. In terms of March snowfall, I will say about 6-10 inches of measurable snowfall; granted, that is months away, so stay tuned for the next update.

So, after we breakdown each month, we see a snowfall season of about 25-35 inches of snow. Keep in mind that an average season for our region is 15-20 inches of snow. For the remainder of fall, we see temperatures primarily above average while much of winter features temperatures at or below average.

This is how I see winter now, but I will offer my second installment of this Winter Weather Outlook after Thanksgiving.

My favorite thing to do is study the weather. It is truly fascinating. Nothing beats a good thunderstorm. I became very interested in weather when I lived in Okinawa, Japan for four years and was actually inside a super typhoon.

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