Jordan Beck | Daily Press The Escanaba Public Works Department cleans up snow at the intersection of South 10th Street and 4th Avenue South in Escanaba Thursday. The winter of 2019-20 is far from over, but it has already been significantly snowier than average in Delta County.

ESCANABA — Sunday is Groundhog Day, and — based on information from the National Weather Service (NWS) — the winter of 2019-20 has already been significantly snowier than average in Delta County. Despite what the groundhog may predict, winter is far from over, weather forecasters say.

“We have at least two more months of potential snow,” Matt Zika, a meteorologist for the NWS Marquette Office, said.

According to Zika, snowfall totals for the winter of 2019-20 have ranged between 60 and 75 inches across Delta County. In contrast, Escanaba’s 30-year average winter snowfall is about 43 inches.

“Obviously, we’re already above normal for seasonal snowfall,” Zika said.

Though snow has not fallen every day locally, several major storms have hit the area over the winter.

“A lot of our snow came in just a couple of big snowstorms,” Zika said.

Snowstorms have been seen shortly before Thanksgiving, on Dec. 1 and 2, and on Jan. 18 and 19.

Zika noted the winter’s high snowfall totals have not been accompanied by unusually cold temperatures. In fact, the opposite has been true.

“From a temperature perspective, it’s been very, very mild,” he said.

In the U.P., December 2019 was two degrees above the long-term average and January 2020 was seven degrees above average.

Looking ahead, heavy snowfall is not expected to be seen in Delta County in the next 10 days or so.

“Indications are that we’ll actually be below normal for precipitation,” Zika said.

Local precipitation levels through March have been predicted based on NWS’ long-range models and data from the Climate Prediction Center. These predictions have proved to be somewhat difficult to interpret.

“Really, at this point, there’s not a clear signal as (to) how it’s going to go,” Zika said.

In terms of temperature, Zika said U.P. residents can expect a slight dip through the end of February.

“We’re pretty confident temperatures are going to be a little bit cooler than what we’ve been seeing so far this winter, but close to average,” he said.

He also noted that — while some brief cold snaps are possible — temperatures are not expected to be “ferociously cold” for days on end during the winter.