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Green Christmas expected

ESCANABA — Today is officially the first day of winter, but according to the National Weather Service (NWS), area residents are unlikely to see significant snowfall in the near future.

“We do have an observer in Escanaba … that has seen 3.2 inches of snow so far this season,” Jordan Wendt said. Wendt is a meteorologist at the NWS’ Marquette office.

Trace amounts of snow fell on a few days in Escanaba, Wendt said. However, these amounts were not included in the total.

The amount of snowfall included in this total was lower than the amount of snowfall seen at this point in the winter of 2017-18.

“Last year by this time, they saw roughly 8.2 inches,” Wendt said. A total of 16 inches was recorded at this point in the winter before that.

Wendt also noted while November temperatures were recorded as being three to six degrees below normal on average in Delta County this year, this has not been the case during the current month.

“In December, we’re running a couple degrees above normal,” he said.

Because of these factors, Wendt said snow is not likely to fall locally by the start of next week.

“The chances of a white Christmas … would probably be grim,” he said.

Looking further ahead, Wendt said the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) is leaning slightly towards the possibility of temperatures being higher than normal in the local area for the remainder of December, January and February.

“So far, they have a 37 percent (chance) of above-normal temperatures,” he said. However, he noted that this chance is not particularly high — the CPC has also stated that there is a 33 percent chance of normal temperatures and a 30 percent chance of below-normal temperatures in this time frame.

Additionally, the CPC has stated there are 33.3 percent chances of precipitation rates being above average, below average or average in the county through February.

“I’d say that’s pretty typical,” Wendt said. He emphasized the predictions are for averages, and temperatures and precipitation rates are likely to fluctuate over the next few months.

NEWSLETTER

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