Winter Forecast

"I'm so glad Adrienne is back in action. Now I don't have to live with her to get up to date forecasts! But Adrienne, please tell us there is some hope in the near future. Is the rest of the winter going to be this treacherous?
Lauren"

Okay, I can't claim much success with long term forecasts, but neither can anyone else, so I will try here to give you some idea of what to expect this winter. I think we are safe for another week or two from a nasty spell like the one we had before Christmas, but we can expect at least a few more of them before winter is over simply because that is typical in these parts. Huge temperature oscillations like those we saw in the last few weeks become less likely as winter progresses and the major weather systems move south of us; so although we will probably experience the same bitter cold it will approach slowly and won't be as shocking, but will stay longer and be more depressing. Also as a result of these systems moving south we tend to get less precipitation in the coming months. I'm inclined to think that any exciting snow storms we get will come in the next two weeks; after that it will be boring and cold, averaging in the twenties, with an occasional dip into the single digits and an occasional day above 35, and a few snow showers with accumulations of about an inch and a half.


According to the Climate Prediction Center we have a 33 percent chance of below average temperatures and a 50 percent chance of above average precipitation 8 to 14 days from now. I don't know what this is supposed to look like and they don't really clarify, but maybe you can make something up.