One of the most common questions I get when I’m out and about is are we going to have a bad winter? I try to tell people at that point that I’m not a meteorologist, I just watch the weather very closely as a part of my job. I rely heavily on my partners at the National Weather Service and try to get my information directly from the scientists. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center issues seasonal outlooks and these are what I use to make my judgements. I figured I would give an update on the eve of the official start of winter before I looked in depth at the Christmas weekend forecast.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) released updated outlooks for winter 2011 – 2012 indicating it should be a fairly “normal” winter for Northeast Kansas as far as snowfall, but there is an increased chance that it will be a warmer winter than average.
For reference the average total snowfall for Jefferson County is 17.3″ and the average temperatures for Jefferson County in January are 37.6 degrees for the high and 18.2 degrees for the low. January is historically the coldest month in Jefferson County with an average daily temperature of 27.7 degrees.
Below is the graphic from the CPC.
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