Happy New Year, I hope the holidays have treated you well. I am sorry if you were the recipient of new ski equipment and are wishing for some natural snow. I was in Vermont this past weekend and I have to say the resorts have done a good job in getting their slopes open despite the uncooperative weather. A light snow fell pretty much all day in the mountains on Saturday, which left about 3-4" in some locations. Although not fully open, the trails were not crowded for a Saturday, and the skiing was pretty good - all things considered.
In my last post I discussed the unseasonably warm weather for December...and it was only about halfway through the month! The final tally is in and December was 7.2° above normal with a daily average temperture of 35.2°. This would make it the 7th warmest on record since 1795. Actually it ties with December 1852. Just for some background- 1881 was the warmest December in history with a daily average temp of 38.6°
There was not much in the way of snow, only 0.3", which would be the 3rd least snowiest since 1874. December of 1895 and 1928 top the list, with only a trace. Typically Albany will receive about 13" of snow in December.
In January, the average daily highs should be in the low 30's, with lows in the teens. On average there is about 18" of snow. Our weather for the next few days will not start out that way, as I expect temperatures to remain in the 40's for much of the upcoming week during the day, with overnight lows near 30°, and more rain likely by Friday.
A number of factors are contributing to the above average warmth and in-turn, lack of snow. The polar jet is, for lack of a better term, "stuck" up in Canada, keeping the coldest of air bottled up at the North Pole. Our storm track has been too far west and this is partially due to a blocking pattern in the Atlantic. In order for our area to get snowfall a storm track up along the east coast tracking east of the Hudson Valley is preferred, this keeps whatever cold air there is over New York. When the storm tracks through the Ohio River Valley and to the west of the state, the warm air on the east side of the storm takes over.
El Nino is also a contributor. El Nino is the warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean waters. The warming of the waters causes changes in the water currents and as a result, the weather patterns across the globe. Scientists are calling this a weak El Nino event, which for us means warmer than average temperatures, and about average precipitation. El Nino affects the jetstream and Atlantic weather patterns discussed above. On a side-note, it was also one of the reasons the Atlantic hurricane season was so quiet this past year. This topic is pretty vast, and one could get very in depth. If you would like to read more information check out this weblink. http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/MJO/enso.shtml
Maybe pool your seasonal lift ticket budget, and book a trip to Colorado for a couple days if the conditions around here are not to your liking....I hear Denver has had some snow lately 
-Brandon
