Halfway Through Winter: How's It Going?

There are Astronomical Winter dates and Meteorological Winter dates. Astronomical Winter dates are based on the sun. This year, it runs from December 21st to March 20th. Meteorological Winter is based on the months. Therefore, December-February. Based on Meteorological Winter, we are halfway through the season! For someone that is not a fan of winter, I'm happy.

Let's review the first half of Winter.

December:

• Average temperature was 41°, which is 1.5° above average.
• Precipitation for the month was 4.46", which is 0.31" below average.
• We had a little sleet in spots, but nothing to cause travel problems.
• Some places had single digit lows on December 19th and 20th.

Just for fun... Here's what I thought about December (in November) versus what the Old Farmer's Almanac said:

January So Far:

• Average temperature has been 38.7°, which is 1.7° above average.
• Precipitation so far is at 1.50", which is 0.04" below average.
• We have had 1 winter weather event that produced 0-3" of snowfall across Region 8. 

Again, just for fun... Here's what I thought about January (in November) versus what the Old Farmer's Almanac said:

Long-range forecast is not too far off, so far. Long range forecasting is difficult with a high degree of uncertainty! I'm pleased so far.

Rest of Winter?

• This can change, but I don't see any winter storms for Region 8 through January.
• I think I'll miss the temperature outlook that I did in November for January. We will probably end up at or above average on the temperatures. Mainly because overnight lows are staying higher due to cloud cover. 
• I still think February is going to be warmer than average. The Old Farmer's Almanac and I pretty much agree on February. While wintry weather is still possible, it will feel like an early start to Spring. Here's the outlook from November:

Let's sit back and watch! I'm still concerned about severe weather over the next couple of months. Make sure you family has a plan in the event of tornado warnings.

Ryan