Happy TGIF!!!! :)
What a difference a year makes! Meteorological Winter (Dec-Feb) is going out like a lamb this year with the warmest last day of February in over 25 years for the U.S. as a whole. Nearly the entire country trends 10 to 40 degrees warmer than last year with the Southern half of Florida the only area trending colder. Last year 28 Feb was the #1 coldest in over 35 years for the U.S. as the Polar Vortex remained parked over much of the country. And, over 60% of the U.S. was blanketed in snow - a near record for so late in the Winter season. This year less than 23% of the country will have snow on the ground.
Here in Eastern PA as an example we were suffering through high temps in the low to mid 20s last year on the 28th...this year middle 50s and low 60s...Capt Kirk will take it! Chicago will trend some 36 degrees warmer than last year so thumbs up to that PA rodent prognosticator Punxsutawney Phil for an early Spring prediction.
With meteorological Winter ending on 29 Feb it appears we've had the #1 hottest Winter in 121 years (thank you El Nino), the wettest in 6 years and 3rd least snowfall in 25+ years for the U.S. overall. We'll have a detailed recap on Monday.
Now the bad news - the Plains and Upper Midwest likely to get an 8-12" moderate snow storm as we turn the calendar to March. See our facebook fan page for a video animation of the storm's potential track. It will turn briefly colder in the East but we expect this pattern to flip flop back to the West Coast in March with cold and rain returning to California. And we have to watch for a frost in the valleys of California for the 2nd week of March!!!
Have a great weekend folks! - Capt Kirk out.
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http://www.weathertrends360.com/B2B/Episode/1