Does Our Early Winter Warmth Mean An Above Normal January & February?

JEFFERSON, OHIO

Someone today mentioned that it had been a LONG TIME since we had such a mild late fall/early December in northern Ohio. So I checked the temperatures to see if this was true.  Sure enough. He was right.

WARMEST YEARS - NOVEMBER 1 to DECEMBER 7

1st    2001              
2nd   1931  
3rd    2015 (thru December 3rd)
4th    1994   
5th    1982 
6th    1998 
7th    2011 
8th    1902 
9th    1948 
10th  1909

That's great but what are the January-February periods like in these years? The final numbers are below:

• ALL BUT ONE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE NORMAL

• 4 OF THE TOP 10 YEARS STAYED IN THE TOP 10 IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY

WARMEST YEARS        JANUARY-FEBRUARY 
NOV 1 to DEC 7            TEMPERATURE RANKS  (DEPARTURE - 30 YR RUNNING AVG)

1st    2001                9th warmest            +6.4    
2nd   1931              1st warmest          +10.5  
3rd    2015              ???
4th    1994              64th warmest          +2.1   
5th    1982                19th warmest          +6.2
6th    1998              34th warmest          +3.5 
7th    2011              10th warmest          +4.7 
8th    1902              81st warmest          +0.1  
9th    1948              8th warmest            +5.8  
10th  1909              102nd warmest       -1.0  


Unless something changes significantly, our winter outlook which featured near or slightly above normal temperatures with slightly below average snowfall should hold up.