That's why you can "cancel" winter around the 3rd week in January after already experiencing mostly un-winterlike conditions. By the end of the 3rd week of January, if no cold air is apparent in the 2 week long range, you can be pretty sure winter is over. February is regarded as the snowiest month, and you can have snowstorms in late February into March, but winter is normally waning by the end of February. To many, winter is a period of at least of 6 weeks of seasonably cold weather with some systems that produce(d) frozen precipitation. Any snow that does fall is slow to melt. Local small ponds freeze. I know, we have this "discussion" almost every year.