Thursday, 4:30 PM
Mild winter seen ahead
(Josh Reynolds of The Boston Globe/file)
Last winter, many shovels sat idle because of mild temperatures and a lack of snow. Forecasters expect that this winter may be similar.
By Globe Staff
The air is getting crisper and cooler. Leaves are fluttering down from the trees. Soon winter will put the area in its icy grip.
But there's good news today: Forecasters say the winter months are likely to be milder than usual.
Ken Reeves, director of forecasting operations at AccuWeather.com, the commercial weather forecasting company, said temperatures overall will average 2 to 3.5 degrees above normal, a little warmer than last winter, when temperatures averaged 1.7 inches above normal.
Reeves said that after a mild October, the weather will turn noticeably cooler in November. Then the weather will turn relatively warm again in January and early February.
"During the heart of this cold weather season ... we are going to be looking at the greatest departures from normal temperatures to the warm side," he said, noting that colder temperatures will return in late February and March.
Reeves emphasized that the numbers are averages and that individual cold days and snowstorms could still happen.
Neal Strauss, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Taunton office, also predicted a mild winter.
"We're thinking that, yes, we will be looking at, in general, milder than normal conditions" during December, January, and February, he said.
The mild temperatures are expected in part because of cooler water temperatures near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, according Mike Halpert, the head of forecast operations at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center. The phenomenon, know as La Nina, can push the jet stream north and bring milder temperatures to New England.
"We are not saying that the whole winter every day will be warm," Halpert said, "but we’ll expect to see less cold air outbreaks."
