DEFINE YOUR WINTER EXPECTATIONS
As I read through many of the differences and arguments in these threads, it seems there are as many definitions of winter as there are people posting. While I prefer cold and snowy, you can’t expect much more than “normal”. Please enter your definition of winter in the format below:
Type: Romanticist (Note: Type should reflect if you are a “snow hater”, “snow lover”, “realist”, “rationalist”, “pessimist”, etc.)
Temperature: Near normal – enough for the local ponds to freeze for at least four weeks
Snow: Normal, with conditions that don’t allow every snowfall to melt within 2-3 days; sustained
snow cover.
Duration: Mid December through mid March
Comments: If winter conditions have not materialized (cold, snow) by mid January, and most long range models don’t see any cold air in place for the next 2-3 weeks, I usually write off winter. Yes, we could still receive a snowfall or two, and there “can” be an abrupt pattern change, but without winter conditions by mid February, the “Romanticist’s” winter never really was.