Halfway Through Meteorological Winter; How We Have Faired

WOAY-TV (Oak Hill, WV): Today marks the halfway mark through Meteorological Winter, which is December 1st through February 28th or 29th during a Leap Year. With that in mind, let’s dive into what we have seen and will be seeing for the rest of the winter.

OVERVIEW: So far this winter, we have seen significant snow already, some of which is still on the ground from the storm that hit the first week of January. Temperatures in January have been frigid, contrasting to the previous on-again off-again December. Thankfully for most, February is trending in the warmer direction due to teleconnection patterns flipping somewhere at the beginning of February.

TEMPERTURES: December had lots of changes from warm to cold and warm again, with some days being in the 60° range and others having lows into the single digits. This led to a very cold start to the New Year, where temperatures have been below normal for most of January so far. Unfortunately, before we hit February’s pattern change, we will have more old to push through.

Next week, an Arctic Blast will bring temperatures into the single digits and negatives in many places across the country, including our neck of the woods. Make sure to prepare adequately with layers and warmers when going outside next week before we return to the 30-40° range. Bluefield has seen its 19th coldest winter on average thus far, and Snowshoe has seen it’s 14th coldest. These values may climb the ranks with this outbreak next week.

SNOW: Many places started December slow, with average to below-average snowfall through the area during the last month of 2024. However, January changed everything with the January 4-5th Winter Storm. That storm alone brought over 6″ of snow to many areas, especially the mountains, and it does not help that even more has fallen through the month so far.

Beckley has seen it’s 15th snowiest winter so far with 23.9″ of snow, Snowshoe has seen it’s 12th snowiest with 58.7″ (The observations at this station are taken at the bottom of the mountain, not the top), and Bluefield and Lewisburg have both seen their 24th snowiest so far. Snow will fall again Thursday and this weekend, with accumulation likely Sunday on the backend of the system. These values will rise as the month goes on with these snow events.

FEBRUARY OUTLOOK: As mentioned before, trends are dictating a warmer pattern shift with teleconnections flipping after the beginning of the month. However, we are not out of the woods in terms of winter weather. While the month should be milder overall, we can still see a cold streak with possible snow with some colder systems that could develop.

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