Alert: Rain Arrives Ahead of Schedule

Could it be our winter is warm this year because of La Nina. I remember winters when I was younger, we didnt get much of any snow. One winter, I remember wearing shorts over Christmas. Then the next winter, it snowed a LOT.

Our above average temps are those 2-3 day stretches of unusually warm weather affecting the overall average as you guys posted a week ago. By next winter, at least La Nina will shift. Maybe La Nina cycle is a contributing factor to our unusually warm stretches.

I myself am a snowlover and its a bust for sure. I'm not ruling out a good snow before the winter is over, however, odds are lower then usual.

We had a little freezing rain this morning in Wellsville, PA. Probably less than a tenth of an inch on my asphalt driveway around 8:30 am. I saw 4 abandoned cars on my 12 mile commute through hilly back-roads, one of which I got out to make sure it was abandoned as it had slide down an embankment a ways. Give me snow over ice any day.

Chris...The pattern is pretty typical La Nina....progressive...without anything locking in....However the brief warm periods have been above to well above average versus the colder periods which often have been around or slightly above normal.....so the warmth has won out and I believe will continue to do so. Agree with you about snow...keep your expectations low.

ChrisfromVA: We're enjoying a typical La Nina winter. But as I posted earlier it's not terribly, unusually mild. We're having the usual albeit short but sharp cold spells from time to time. The cold air is coming in dry and warm air advection is establishing before precipitation arrives. Our rare snowy spells are tending to arrive as "clippers" from the west rather than as big southern storms. That's why we're not seeing very much snow. One concern is that our rainfall is somewhat low here. This week's two storms will help. (It's possible thst early rain arrival could also mean early rain departure.)