Think about this....I have 30" on the season and 19" of it fell on January 7. The rest of the winter I have 11".....which would be far and away my futility record.
My next largest event is 3.5" on January 17th.
Think of it in terms of winter....the warm waters are analagous to well placed surface high pressure....doesn't matter if the upper levels are hostile.
Yea, no one expected this warmth....Raindance was closest, but even he was too cool. Bluewave seemed to have the right idea, but he only does 2 week increments, which is probably part of the secret to his sucess. lol
Always looked somewhat above normal, but....that area by the Bering Sea is what guidance missed. That made what was forecast to be servicable February warmth into February cancel.