Plenty of years had good Decembers followed by cold and dry or mild January's before a backloaded winter. 2002-03. Even 00-01 didn't do much until 3rd week of January after the nye storm. Most years have a break of at least a few weeks
I remember waking up and seeing the back edge clearing south nj and thinking it was about over. Thankfully it slowed and pivoted and we got 6 more hours of heavy snow.
Most places that got over 2 feet did so in like 8 to 10 hours. Just crazy rates. And of course that sharp cutoff sw of Philly. Baltimore and DC completely skunked