I think that could be the big difference from last year to this year along with the warm water off the coast (vs the cold water of last year) Of course we could get caught in a squeeze play b/w the ridge and the -NAO and end up with a rainy pattern.
Hopefully the SE ridge can fight it off somewhat...plus we have warmer SST's off the east coast-last year there was a cold pool of water off the NE coast so when that onshore flow kicked in it was cold and nasty
Interestingly he posted about how the warm oceans have clearly had an effect on the climate and that the big nationwide cold winters are a thing of the past. There will be cold regionally but the warmth has to be respected-it was a sobering post considering the source!
Same here-weeds and grass on the south side of my house starting to grow and lawn is greening up fairly quickly. Forsythia will be out within a week as well.
from a hobbyist/snow lover point of view the winter sucked, but practically speaking, no salt, no snow days for the kids, lower heating bills, no snow to clear etc...that part was a plus