2008-2009 Winter Weather Forecasts for Georgia
With winter just a month away from a meteorological perspective, it’s time to take a look at some of the forecasts that have been issued for a glimpse of what the season will bring.
We’ll start with the always interesting and sometimes reliable Old Farmer’s Almanac’s prediction for the southeast, which includes much of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Overall, they expect cold temperatures and normal to above normal precipitation, with more precipitation in the south. Look for above average snowfall, and the coldest weather in mid to late December, mid-January and mid-February.
On the other hand, Accuweather’s Joe Bastardi says to expect colder than normal weather for much of the east, with December being the coldest month relative to normal, a January thaw, and then cold again in February. The East can also expect more snow than last year.
WSB Radio forecaster Kirk Melhuish released his preliminary winter outlook this week, and it is similar to Accuweather, with ‘bookends’ cold spells at the beginning and end of the season, and less snowfall and slightly less rainfall than average. Kirk will issue his final winter forecast at the beginning of December.
Finally, what does the Weather Service say? They haven’t done a press release on their outlook as they have done in past years, so all you can do is look at their 3 month outlook for December-January. Unlike the other forecasts, the Climate Prediction Center thinks we have a better chance than normal for warmer weather. They also predict a 33% chance of drier weather, especially in mid and south Georgia.
Georgia certainly got a taste of early cold weather this week, with temperatures about 20 degrees below normal. While it appears that most of the Atlanta area core counties managed to escape a freeze, outlying counties, including Carrollton, Dallas, Athens, Cartersville and Peachtree City all dropped below the freezing mark. Even Macon recorded a low of 32 this morning. Today was the worst of it, though, and morning temperatures should be warmer as the week wears on. The next chance for freezing weather may not be until the 9th of November, closer to the normal first freeze date.
Meanwhile, New England is digging out of its first major storm of the season. Snow totals include 17 inches in Star Lake, NY, 12 inches in Saranac Lake, NY and 10 inches in Hazleton, PA. Normally, that area doesn’t get an inch of snow prior to November 15 north, and December 1 south, so this snow was definitely early.
There’s actually a relationship between the cold weather in Atlanta and the snow in the northeast. The deep upper low that brought the bad weather to New England acted as a roadblock to the cold, high pressure air from Canada, forcing it south instead of east. Now that the low is finally moving out to sea, the cold air can move north again as a more normal west to east flow takes over down here.
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November 2nd, 2008 at 1:44 pm
How many inches of snow in the mid-atlantic and how many major blizzards and major snowstorms will we have in Philadelphia, PA?