Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Winter, What Winter?

Who would have known that the snowstorm on the Cape would be the last one we would see for weeks. Basically, if you missed out on that one, you will probably go a good month in between significant snows. For the entire region, the last significant snow occured on January 14th. We may have to wait a while to see another good sized storm. It seems like a more favorable pattern is always seven to ten days away, but thats it. That favorable pattern for cold and snow seems to want to stay in the not too distant future and not occur. We are briefly going to go to a cold shot that will only last 18-24 hours before relaxing. Tomorrow will not be cold, but chilly with highs seasonable, in the upper 30's to low 40's. Then we get into some rainfall on Friday, a rainy day, with temperatures in the mid 40's. We stay warm this weekend and continue the warm pattern into next week with highs generally in the 40's and 50's. We may have a rainy 'Super Tuesday' (perhaps "Super, Super") with highs very mild with highs pushing 60 degrees perhaps. So you will have no excuse for not voting on Tuesday. We may start to cool down later next week, but there are no signs of any real deep settling cold into the Northeast for the foreseeable future. More like quick-hitting cold shots that last a day or two and move on out.

February is quickly approaching and I thought I would put out an outlook for the 'snowiest' month of the year. This year doesn't look to provide the whallop we usually deal with, though, so for non-snowlovers, this is your month again.

FEBRUARY OUTLOOK FOR BOSTON AND ITS SURROUNDING SUBURBS_______

Boston....February 1st 37/22

Boston....February 29th 42/27

The average snowfall for the month is around 12.7 inches, coming in as the snowiest month on record for Boston. Many powerful Nor'easters are common during this month. We may remember the Blizzard of '78, the President's Day Blizzard in '03, and the President's Day Blizzard II in '05. This is the month in which we usually get our largest snowstorms. However, this year looks to be a lot more tame compared to past February's. Daytime average highs come up as well with the warmest temperature on record at 70 degrees. However, we can still get some of the harshest cold air the Arctic can deliver with the record low for the month at -18 degrees. So keep the shovel handy this month, but know that the light is at the end of the tunnel. Only about 6-8 more weeks of wintertime weather.

Nearby Suburbs....February 1st 36/16

Nearby Suburbs....February 29th 41/21

Spring is coming right around the corner, but this month still reminds us that we are in the grip of old man winter. Snowfall for Boston's nearby suburbs usually averages around 20 inches for the month. We pick up some of the biggest snowstorms this month as in the Blizzard of '78 when many suburbs picked up 2-3 feet of snowfall. Spring warmth will try to make its way to New England this month and severe weather will be common in the Southern US. Its a temperature of extremes and BIG STORMS. Watch out!

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