Cold Winter Ahead?

Colder than normal temperatures over the last couple of days have people asking about the long range forecast for the winter. Just in time to answer those questions, an updated winter outlook for December through February was released today by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center

The outlook calls for a colder than normal winter for North Carolina and much of the southeast....




and near normal preciptation in North Carolina this winter...


Keep in mind this is a forecast that is made several months in advance. In a winter that's on average colder than normal, there could still be period of mild weather. However, this and other long range forecasts have called for a cold winter 2009-2010.

It is really difficult to speculate if that means a snowy winter is on the way as well. Only time well really answer that question. On average, the Triangle sees about 7 inches of snowfall in a winter. Snowfall amounts during a winter can certainly vary though. Some years the area sees no snow at all. Then there was January 2000 when parts of the Triangle had over 20".