Winter has begun….well, meteorologically speaking anyway:
Meteorologists and climatologists use December 1st-February 28th for climatological uniformity when needing to compare/contrast past data for the winter season even though most of us would rather delay (or even cancel) the start of winter. Before we head down the road it bit farther, let us look back at meteorological fall, shall we?
In a nutshell, it was a very warm fall for southern New England with all four of those sites finishing in the top-5 warmest (Providence the warmest!) It was also a dry fall for much of the region but no drought status thanks to that sou’easter back on October 29th. Moving forward, December looks chilly after the middle of next week. A rainstorm will sweep through New England late Tuesday-Wednesday and while doing so will send temps up near 60! The back side of the storm will be colder and perhaps cold enough to see the rain change to a few snow flurries early Thursday morning before departing. After the storm is out of here, I think the jet stream takes on this look for the rest of the month!..
In terms of snowfall in a pattern like that, it’s a bit more murky but if you like December snow, you need cold air, something we haven’t had too much of in recent years–which has kept the December snow in check as well..
In any event, between now and that rainstorm middle of next week, the weather is quiet! The weekend weather will offer seasonable temps (mid 40s), little to no wind (that’s key this time of year!!) but also a fair amount of clouds both days.
Enjoy!
~JR