How is your winter shaping up?

[hedgehog]

Here in Upstate New York at the east end of Lake Ontario, things are mighty strange. This area is notorious for 200+ inches of snow a year. So far - nothing. It looks line early November out there. Predicting weather more than a few days out is a crap shoot, but one extended forecast shows only a few days below freezing into mid-January! We may get a late season massive snowfall, but it looks like we're due for a record warm winter.

[FSogol]

1. I would be remiss if I didn't point out that winter doesn't begin until the 21st.

That said, it'll be in the high 60s this weekend here in Northern Virginia.

[hedgehog]

2. Is that normal for you?

[FSogol]

8. Nope, it's a very warm Autumn. I've been seeing buds on my cherry tree and new growth

on one hydrangea. The herb garden and some butternut squash plants are still doing fine in the yard too.

It seems to me that winter is coming later and later each year. Jan/Feb used to be the worst, now Feb/March are bad.

Here is a picture I took of a turtle at Hidden Pond park last Dec 27 (2014).

[Lizzie Poppet]

3. Very wet, so far.

It was starting out cold, but the latest very, very wet front that moved in is warm (enough so that it may have torpedoed what was looking to be a promising ski/snowboarding season). We've had street flooding here in Portland, with more to come.

[hedgehog]

4. I'm guessing the flooding is something new.

[Lizzie Poppet]

13. Kinda-sorta.

There's an interesting history of flooding in Portland (some wonderful old sepia-toned photos of makeshift wooden bridges across inundated streets, etc.). Minor street flooding isn't uncommon. We're pretty well set up for dealing with rain, an obvious necessity here, but the combination of fall (leaf-clogged storm drains) and really heavy rainfall does the trick.

[2naSalit]

7. I heard about that this morning

and there is already a "state of emergency" going on in the northern panhandle of Idaho. That storm will also affect my area with warm temps, high wind and more precip. Yesterday was the first day in weeks where it got above freezing, got a bunch of wet snow that we'd like to hang on to for a while but if it rains today, that's going to be an issue at some point.

[Lizzie Poppet]

14. Yeah...and there looks to be more to come.

Good luck up there!

[2naSalit]

5. So far

we are having a skimpy but not devastating start to the season. I'm up on the continental divide between ID and MT-7100ft. Been pretty cold for several weeks and yesterday it warmed up and we got over a foot of wet snow, might rain today and snow a little more tonight. Ten days ago I was seeing nightly lows of -20F, lasted a little over a week. Had a usual "first snow" that was just like this snow today. Makes for good base when considering ski and snow machine activities.

Hope it keeps coming and sticks around all winter, water from here provides for a lot of the west.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

6. Unseasonably warm this week here in N. Texas. nt

[NV Whino]

9. Amazingly enough, wet.

It's been great so far, just a little at a time. On the downside, one of my clients has lost two big oaks. Not health because of drought, moist ground, crash.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Been Warm Here

Weekend before T'giving it was colder than typical. Snow and ice. Then, warmed up for the holiday, rained like heck on Friday and Saturday, was quite nice on Sunday. Since then, we're right around freezing at night, but daytime highs in approaching 50.

Way milder than the last three winters. (Northeast Illinois. Chicago area.)

[Glassunion]

11. Same as last year here in eastern PA.

Motorcycle season rarely goes this late into December. Last year I did not put the bike away until the 28th of December.

[hedgehog]

12. I saw a motorcycle last week, but the week-end rallies seem to have finished

(I'm right on a favorite part of the route).

All the classic cars are under cover now - they sprayed brine on the roads when we had some black ice so the cars are put away until salt season is over.

[Glassunion]

18. So far this year, there has been no need to salt.

So, I'll keep riding until they call for snow.

I'm booking the storage unit today, but most likely will not put the bike in for a few weeks.

[NeoGreen]

15. Bout' the same as you Hedge...

...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/122844012

Here on the east end of Lake Erie.

Where a 116-Year Record of the Latest Date with No Measurable Snow in Buffalo NY...

... died on December 4th...



http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/weather/no-snow-in-sight-and-record-looks-to-shatter-20151203

December 3rd in 1899 was the record until last Friday...

And according to the Weather Underground....



That record will be broken every day for the next 9 days...plus...



Update:
The record will be broken every day out to December 17th...

[hedgehog]

17. Around here, we figure that the snow gods will find a way to even things out -

so an open winter will end with a bang of 6 feet of snow over 2 days! Either that, or an ice storm

better be sure you're stocked up on beer and batteries!

[NeoGreen]

19. Yeah...

...I know....I have been tracking the temperature of Lake Erie at the Buffalo water intake.

Warmer than usual lake water = more snow when the jet stream finally remembers we're here.



I received about 4-feet in less than 24 hours last year, and I was on the tail end.

Better make that 2 cases.

[WillowTree]

16. Strangely not cold. Not that I'm complaining, you understand.

[B2G]

20. El Nino.

It's what's for winter.

[Blue_Adept]

21. Cold and bleak

Central Mass, so I know where you're coming from on the strange aspect. We've had a lot of warm days overall, far more than usual, and have seen the extended prediction as well that we might not see real significant snow until the end of January.

After the heavy winter last year, I won't mind a weaker one this year. Right now it's damn grey out and very bleak.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

22. 50's to almost 60 during the day, near freezing at night in Rhode Island

And looks like it will remain pleasant for the next as well.

Much like last year, warm....until we got killed in late January with blizzards for weeks.

[ileus]

23. Winter bite with the largemouth is still pretty tough.

[footinmouth]

24. Snow free in Buffalo New York

It's delightful.