March can be a very tricky month in the Mid Atlantic. Even though at this point in the season Spring is right around the corner, “Old Man Winter” usually doesn’t give up without a fight! But this year may end up being a little different. The arctic cold that many of the seasonal models predicted for February never really materialized as the mild El Nino pattern continues to chug along across the Northern Hemisphere. We were able to get some snow for the snow lovers, but the really cold stuff stayed up in Canada. Moving forward, the ECMWF ensemble (image above) shows nothing that I would consider cold. There’s a couple of chilly days, sure. But nothing terrible. Given that March is right around the corner, and the angle of the sun is getting higher and higher with each and every passing day, we’re just simply running out of time if you’re a winter weather fan. It would take a pretty dramatic pattern change at this point and I just don’t think it’s in the cards this season. Remember though, it can still snow in mild patterns. We’ve seen it before. All it takes is for everything to line up just right or a system to come in at night and you can get a good thumping. So even if the temperatures never really get bitter cold, we may still be able to squeeze out a little bit of snow somewhere. But outside of this freak possibility, I think it’s safe to say winter is pretty much done.
