There hasn’t been much to talk about since missing out on the big snowstorm that hit the Carolinas a couple of weeks ago as things haven’t been very good for snow lovers across the mid Atlantic. On the bright side, as much as I would love to see a big snowstorm for Christmas, if we can’t have wall to wall winter conditions from Thanksgiving to March, then December is probably the best month to forfeit. After all, our biggest snow storms generally come in the second half of winter, so if we have to have a cruddy snow pattern, we might as well get it over with in December. Of course, a bad December does not mean that things will improve in January or February, but in the case of this year, there’s is a lot of chatter that things may change for the better around the New Year, and maybe for the much better.
Mid to long range models are suggesting that the abundance of precipitation that we’ve had over the past 7 months will continue, and most important, that our current cross-country zonal flow of Pacific air will eventually buckle resulting in a ridge in the western US and a trough in the east. That should translate to warmer conditions out west and colder in the eastern half of the US. Though the change is still a couple of weeks away, just about every model is now showing that not only will the trough happen, but that it may be persistent. Combine that with the high latitude blocking that is also showing up on some models, and the necessary ingredients could be lining up for some good snow opportunities after the first of the year.
Hopefully there will be more to talk about in the next week or so.
The Weather Mill 