The Whistlepig(s) across America have spoken. Winter shall continue for 6 more weeks! Phil out in Pennsylvania as well as Ms. G here in Massachusetts (Drumlin Farm) both saw their shadows, which according to legend means we have more winter ahead of us. The first Groundhog Day was celebrated in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in 1887 and origins of the special day can be traced back into Germany! In terms of Punxsutawney Phil, 102 times the furry rodent predicted more winter, while on 18 occasions an early spring was predicted (there are a number of missing years. #Coward). His accuracy rating for his forecast is around 39%. Sorry champ–that aint gonna cut it these days. Ms G is a relative newcomer to the prognosticator party (2008)–we’ll give her a few more years before we throw any shade (see what I just did?)
As for my thoughts on the next six weeks, I would venture to say status quo with the first 6 weeks, with perhaps a return to what we saw in December versus January. That means a little more cold than what we saw in January but persistent, deep cold appears unlikely as mild days are likely to reappear. These mild days are likely to occur around storms, which means the messy mix theme we have seen for several storms is likely to continue.
It appears the next few days will be just that—some cold followed by a storm early next week that will temporarily dislodge the cold but in doing so result in some snow & sleet before ending as rain. the timeline of that storm is slated for Tue-Wed. Tuesday being the cold/snow day while Wednesday we would see rain & mild temps before the cold races back into New England after the storm.
One thing is for sure….we will pick up gobs and gobs of daylight the next 6 weeks and with that I can guarantee the arrival spring, sooner or later.
:o)
~JR