Winter taking its sweet time arriving this year

Although it seems strange to see people in New Hampton, Iowa pushing lawn mowers and taking bike rides at the beginning of December, meteorologist Jeff Boyne says that although it isn’t exactly normal, it isn’t all that unusual, either.
“It happens,” Boyne, who works for the National Weather Service out of LaCrosse, said. “About one-third of the time, there is a trace or less of snow on the ground in New Hampton.”
Boyne said that over the last 119 years, 32 percent of the time there is no snow on the ground, while 22 percent of the time there is six inches of snow or more on the ground by Dec. 1.
The average, according to Boyne, is about four inches of snow on the ground. He added that the average high temperature this time of year is 34 degrees, while the average low is in the upper teens.
It’s warmer than that so far this year. High temperatures this week have been in the mid-to-upper 40s, and 50s are expected through the weekend. The overnight low on Saturday is predicted to be about 30 degrees, while Sunday’s low could be around 41.
And there’s no snow in the foreseeable future.
There is a good chance of some scattered showers on Monday morning, and then temperatures could take a bit of a tumble. The expected high on Tuesday is 33, and on Wednesday, it’s 27 — with lows in the teens Tuesday and Wednesday night.
“We’re definitely below normal,” said Boynes. “We’re above normal in temperature, and below normal in snowfall.”
Boyne said that this follows a similar pattern to last year, although the year before that, there were between eight and nine inches of snow on the ground at this time. In 2014, it was 6.3 inches. Back in 1991, there were 21 inches of snow in November.

*/

“We seem to think that there should be a lot of snow on the ground by the end of November, but that’s not always the case,” said Boyne. “Some years, we don’t see a lot.”
 
For more of this article, see Friday's Tribune.