Star Date 3 Dec 2018 Monday

Captain's Log

Happy Monday and welcome to meteorological Winter (1 Dec - 28 Feb). :) If you don't like that answer, the Sun says its still Fall until 21 Dec 5:23pm EST.



The strong cold front swept off the East Coast this morning ushering a nearly nation-wide cold snap making THIS WEEK (3-9 Dec)the coldest in 5 years (10th coldest of the past 30 years), tad wetter than last year and snowiest in 5 years for the U.S. overall. CLICK ON IMAGES FOR A LARGER VIEW.

log 3 dec 6A system moving out of the Rocky Mountains looks to bring heavy snow pretty far south into Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri into the Middle Atlantic. Need to watch this system toward the weekend for the Middle Atlantic and coastal Northeast as the pattern is somewhat favorable a bigger snow event from D.C. to New York City. See our Facebook page for daily updates on this system.

log 3 dec 7

NEXT WEEK (10-16 Dec) looks to get a thaw after such a cold, snowy and wet Fall. This will be a week to 10 day moderation event which is favorable for Holiday store traffic and gift sales. Seasonal category sales are off the charts this Fall so a bit of a slowdown for those items. For the U.S. overall the week trends warmest in 3 years (13th warmest of the past 30 years), wettest in 10 years (2nd wettest in 30 years) but snowfall least in 4 years.

log 3 dec 5

Fall to date has been pretty epic trending the snowiest in 13 years, coldest in 16 years and wettest in 30+ years for the U.S. overall. Fantastic for seasonal merchandise sales. For the Winter overall we still expect the coldest/snowiest conditions in 5 years with Polar Vortex issues come middle January through most of February!

log 3 dec 8

Snow cover across the U.S. will increase this week but we're already at pretty lofty levels with 43.7% of the U.S. covered vs only 9.7% this time last year. That's going from the least in 15 years to the most in 15 years so more good news for snow categories.

log 3 dec 3

In terms of a White Christmas, last year was snow covered for nearly half the country with two back-to-back above average snow cover Christmas. Pretty good chance this year will make 3 in a row.

log 3 dec 4



The good news about December is it ends the hurricane season. An active season to say the least with over $60 Billion in damages to the U.S. WTI's season ahead outlook did exceptionally well both in terms of number of systems and highest risk areas for land falling systems.

log 3 dec 2





log 3 dec 1Tracks for the 2018 season show the Pan Handle was hardest hit as was the NC-SC border and Portugal.

log 3 dec 9



Happy Hanukkah this week and then only 22 days until Christmas! The Kirk's went to Longwood Gardens in Southeast PA this weekend to enjoy all the decorated Christmas Trees...see video for the beautiful displays.

Have a great week and follow us on social media for daily updates.Facebook,Twitter,YouTube,PinterestandLinkedin

- Captain Kirk out.