Winter Outlook: What global warming? It's been cool this year

November 12, 6:37 AMBaltimore Weather ExaminerJustin Berk

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Temperatures have cooled to below normal most of this year

Part 2

Every Wednesday this month, I am taking a look at seasonal outlooks this winter- primarily for snow.  Well, if the rest of this year is an indication, we are due for a hard season.

According to the National Climatic Data Center, the first 10 months of the year have averaged temperatures below normal for most of the nation.  The only exception is the desert southwest, Mid Atlantic through the Northeast.  Oh, and southern Florida.  Our neighbors in Virginia had a warmer year, but as you can see on the map, that is a small area.

This bucks the trend, and as i posted last week, Global Temperatures appeared to have peaked in 1998, and have been steady or cooling every since.

Winter Outlook: Heavy Snow

Do I write too much?  Are these posts too long?  My wife says so... so in an effort to give you the information I want to share, but not get too wordy, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

This week, we look at the outlook from  Henry M. at Accuweather.  He loves snow, and tends to have high expectations.  Here you can see snow bands in 10 inch ranges.  TypicalIy heavier snow will fall in the Rockies and Great lakes, but the banding of moderate snow is a response to the storm track that will likely be a little farther south.  That would allow colder air to push through Maryland, and bring us snowfall above normal.

Here I have zoomed in on the Mid Atlantic and Northeast.  The line of 30 inches passes just north of Baltimore, but according to this drawing, I would estimate the call here is for BWI to get 26" of snow.  That is 8 inches above the normal of 18 inches.  If you check out my Snow Almanac Page, you can see the normal snow fall for Maryland, along with past season totals.

 The almanacs are abubdant, so you can take your pic.  Each year, there is anticpitation of what the Farmer's Almanac will say.  I find this funny, their mistakes are rarely pointed out, yet if they hit a storm- Yatzee!

Below are their national outlooks, and the trend continues- above normal snowfall for us.  As I mentioned last week, it's tough to pinpoint how much snow, since we can have an active storm season, but one coastal bomb could drop our seasonal norm in one dumping.  On the flip side, strong storms can be closer to the coast, or ride overhead, and bring in air just warm enough to turn us over to ice or rain.  Either way, it continues to looks like an active season. The Farmer's Almanac is predicting a near average winter, while the Old Farmer's Almanac has us "Cold and Snowy".  Next week, Larry Cosgrove's Outlook

If you can't wait for snow, check out the video below

Video:Snow Making at Snowshoe, WV This Week