Didn’t say there would be no cold. Sure we’ll get some cold but doesn’t look like anything long lasting if you look at the broader picture. Your map is a snapshot in time.
Yeah we did better than expected but most of the storms had the s ones to our north and the 12/20 on warmth will more than wipe out the early month negative departures. A big PV up north and a +AO and +NAO do not look good for cold for at least the first half of January if not longer.
The blizzard came at the end of the cold snap-we were below freezing 12/25 to 1/5 or something like that. it warmed after the storm, but the snowcover did last awhile
yeah in the past I always looked at President's Day as the end of anything that would be long lasting on the ground or even come at all. But the last few years have seen a March resurgence in snows and even snowpack (last year we had 10 inches and it hung around for close to a week)