Average First Snow

The colder weather has snow lovers in a frenzy for that first snow. I'm guilty of that, but let's put this frenzy into perspective with statistics.

Before I get into that, you may have seen NOAA's winter outlook. Remember, it's an outlook and NOT a forecast. A 3 month period with "equal chances" tells us absolutely nothing. They do not have enough confidence to go one way or the other. As I have said in previous blog posts, I would demand more from my tax dollars. This is in regards to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NOT our local National Weather Service office in North Little Rock.

There are private sector companies such as WeatherBell.com who put an actual number on temperature and snowfall in relation to average. In case you have missed it, check out their website. They are calling for a colder than average winter (December - February) and a snowier than average winter for much of the southern and southeastern United States.

Back to the average first snow. I have seen the first snow in November (2014) and I have seen the first snow in February. Heck, I have seen it snow on Halloween and I think that happened in 1993. Just remember, these are AVERAGES based on 30 years of data.