Are you ready for winter?
Although winter does not officially arrive until December 21st, Meteorological winter is considered to comprise the months of December, January and February.
Perhaps the short days and cooling temperatures help set the stage for the arrival of winter weather. November and March can be chilly and some notable snowfalls have occurred during these months, however the long-lasting siege of cold, dark, dreary days with frequent snowfalls is usually confined to the Meteorological version of winter.
Winter temperatures in our area average near 40 for the daytime high and 20 for the early morning low. On any given winter day we can see 20 degrees plus or minus from these numbers making possible afternoons near 20 and nights near zero. Extremes can add or subtract another 20 degrees giving us a record low of -22 and a record high of 80, although temperatures like this are very rare We usually see on average five days with below zero temperatures and last year we only had one of these.
Snowfall averages 38 to 40 inches in the Uniontown area with 88 inches the average in our nearby mountains. Perhaps our worst winter was 1976-77 when we had 62 days with an inch of snow or more on the ground running from December 20th until February 20th, 1977. During this period we also experienced 33 days with continuous temperatures below freezing from December 26th through the 27th of January. From January 16th at 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. on the 18th the temperature stayed below zero for a total of 50 hours with -17 as the lowest.
Six additional days January had record below zero mornings. The all-time record low for Uniontown is -22 set back on January 21st, 1994.
The past few years have seen a decided warming in our winters. So far this coming season is being influenced by an LA Nina weather pattern that favors a warmer than normal December through February.
This does not mean that we will not have some cold and snowy days and it’s always best to be prepared. Furnaces and vehicles and especially tires need to be checked and ample supplies of fuel and food should be stocked.
Mother Nature has been known to change her mind and, those of you who can remember the Blizzard of 1993 on March 13 left the area with 24 inches of spring snow. Heavy snow fell from Mobile, Alabama to Northern Maine with some 55 inches in North Carolina. Remember winter forecasts are just an outlook and conditions can change quickly.
Let’s use the cool, sunny days this week to prepare for whatever Mother Nature has in store for us in the coming months.