Put The Shovels Away, Winter Is Finally Over!
BOSTON (CBS) - Is it over?? Can we finally stick a fork in winter 2012-2013?
I would say that winter is on the mat and the referee is counting "8…9…."
No, I am not about to write "April Fools" either.
I think there will be one final attempt, one last gasp over the next 48 hours and that should just about do it.
A cold front is marching steadily east and as it passes by later today, one final push of cold, winter-like air will dive into New England.
Temperatures will drop to about 40 degrees from this afternoon's high of 60 down to about 20 degrees in many 'burbs Tuesday morning. Boston will likely experience its last freeze of the season on Wednesday morning. We may not see 32 degrees in Boston again until next Fall!
So a few more days of heating the car up in the morning, wearing the heavy jacket to work and school and why not throw that favorite winter sweater on one last time, we are in the final days and hours of a winter that seemingly had no end.
A few lingering thoughts and amazing stats from this past winter:
-Boston now stands at 63.4" of snow, about 20" above normal. This would be a big enough headline on its own, but it stands out even more when you consider at the end of January we only had 8.8" of snow.
-In fact, as of January 2013, we hadn't had an above normal, snowy month, since February 2011, 2 years of snow drought! But as we know this all changed in a hurry…
-Since Punxsutawney Phil poked out his head and predicted an early spring on February 2, Boston got a whopping 54.6" of snow (3rd most ever for Feb-March). Worcester got 75.3" in the last two months, a record for Feb-March!
So what can we expect for April and beyond?
Well, take a look at the 8-14 day temperature forecast from the CPC.
And then the overall forecast for April.
All above normal for a good portion of the eastern half of the country. Yes, all signs are pointing toward a mild spring!
More good news - another important factor in our winter and spring weather in the Northeast is something called the NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation).
This is a measure of the blocking in the atmosphere in northern latitudes, up near Greenland. The more blocking that exists, the more negative the NAO. When the NAO goes negative that typically means colder air is forced south from Canada into New England and also the potential for large, East Coast storms is also high.
Check out the forecast for the NAO into April.
You can clearly see the red line headed upward, into positive territory.
So, while the forecast for the next few days may be windy and cold, hang in there spring truly is right around the corner.
Swap out the shovels for rakes and garden hoes, stow away the snowblower and break out the lawnmower, you have made it through another New England winter.
