No White Christmas

I tried holding out as long as I could but everything about the possible event before Christmas continues to say rain.  Not only that but it would appear that we will see absolutely no snow for November and December.

Off to a slow start?  That's for sure.  But you could make a case for a lot of places right now.  Syracuse just passed the one inch mark for the season.  That is almost unheard of.  Buffalo sits at three.  And the list keeps going.  Cleveland, Chicago and many places around the Great Lakes have seen some of their smallest totals to date in recorded history.  Remember, even though December has been a bust, Allentown is less than an inch off the current seasonal average thanks to October. 

While the east is missing out, the west is getting hammered.  Blizzard in Kansas, heavy snows in Denver, Flagstaff, Albuquerque and Cheyenne.  The next system brings snow all the way down into Mexico.  El Paso has a Winter Storm Watch and I'm pretty sure its not the first one this year.

By the way, it's not like we are bathing in cold air either.  25 of the 30 days in November saw the high temperature at or above the historical average.  December?  17 of the first 21.  The average high on the 22nd is 38.  In the next ten days only one is forecast to have a high in the 30's.

It's hard to say how this year is going to play out.  After all, today is only the first day of the actual winter season, but unless we get a major change in the pattern, we are not going to see any snow storms soon.  If you remember from a previous post (or scroll down) I included a predicted NAO chart.  Everything was positive.  Not a good indicator for snow in our area.  We need negative NAO to bring in the cold air and track storms up the coast.  Want to take a look at the next few weeks?

Last time I posted this disturbing chart was on my birthday and it look incredibly similar.  I'm sure you recall that since that date to today we have seen a lot of nothing.  So take a guess at what we might see over the next two weeks.  I can't even hype up anything just for fun.  Now the only question is will it be cold enough for the outdoor game in Philadelphia. 

Two of my favorite things.  Hockey and Weather.  At least I have something to look forward to.