Is winter over? No sign of snow in the forecast for Boston
By Terry Eliasen, WBZ-TV Meteorologist, Executive Weather Producer
BOSTON - Well, the Malden mayor called it first. He declared winter is over! His "declaration" was essentially done to end parking bans for his city and, based on the lack of snow out there now and the mild forecast ahead.
This, of course, begs the question, could he be right? Can we legitimately stick a fork in winter this early?
My first instinct is to laugh and say, "Are you crazy?" Anyone who has lived in New England for any length of time surely would know better than to prematurely call for an end to winter. Not only is February the snowiest month, on average, of the year, but March is "snow joke" either.
BUT, I have to admit, we have had some conversations about this very topic in the weather office over the last several days. Consider the following:
-Boston has had just 7.9" of snow so far this season, the 10th least on record through today's date. Worcester has just 17.5", currently in the Top 20 for least snowiest to date.
-Both cities are more than a foot below average. Worcester is actually more than 2 feet below the average to date.
-The outlook for the next couple of weeks is, in a word, warm.
-There is NO snow in the forecast for at least another week and I could very easily see how that could extend out even farther. This would bring us toward late February with bare ground.
-A week or two of warmth this time of year will bring about all sorts of signs of spring. We will see trees and bushes budding and crocuses popping. Not to mention the days are getting longer each day and the sun angle is getting higher and higher.
There are some signs that we could get into a colder pattern around the end of February and early March but, snow and cold in March have a much different "feel" than they do in January or February. Sure, we can still have big snowstorms, especially in the first half of March but, that time of year, the snow is typically vaporized or melted in a few days.
Bottom line, the mayor of Malden is NOT crazy. There is reasonable logic behind saying that winter is on the ropes! Will it snow again? Most likely yes. Will we care when it does? Maybe not. We shall see.
Case in point, check out the forecast for Friday! We will challenge record high temperatures in southern New England as we near 60 degrees in the afternoon.
The weekend will be a bit cooler, but still largely above the average. We are still keeping a close eye on a storm system that will brush by to our south later on Sunday. Best chance of some precipitation will be south of Boston, but there just doesn't appear to be enough cold air around for anything but rain (sound familiar?).
Lastly, next week looks to bring more mild temperatures, more rain instead of snow, and who knows, maybe even a run at a few more record highs. The beat goes on.
An early glance at Valentine's Day - Tuesday looks quiet, storm free and in the 40s.
