By MARK HANOK
Not only did we completely
miss the snowstorm
that affected the New York
City area, the exceptionally
dry weather pattern will
continue right through
most of next week, with no
major storms anywhere in
sight.
The arctic cold will be
replaced by a February
thaw this weekend, when it
will really feel like early
spring.
Once again, we’re getting
another example of
how a “reverse temperature
anomaly” that brings unseasonably
mild air to the
northern Rockies and
northern Great Plains,
combined with an ocean
storm that tracks well
southeast of Nantucket,
signals extremely dry and
sunny weather in Otsego
County.
January proved to be the
coldest January in five
years and the average minimum
temperature was the
lowest since January 1994,
and we got over two feet of
snow at our weather station
in Otego, precipitation
last month was actually
only a little over half of normal.
That’s because the jet
stream has been diving
southeastward from northern
Canada, and very cold
air contains very little
moisture.
The weather pattern will
change this week as far as
temperatures are concerned,
as we get into more
of a zonal west to east flow
aloft, and this will bring
some of that very mild air
across the Great Plains all
the way to the Northeast by
the weekend.
On Friday as a warm
front crosses our region
early in the morning, clouds
will quickly give way to
mostly sunny skies with
highs in the mid to upper
30’s. In the mild southwesterly
flow ahead of a storm
system in the upper Midwest,
skies will be partly
sunny on Saturday, with
highs from 42 to 47 degrees.
As the low pressure
trough approaches on Sunday,
mild weather will continue,
with highs from 45 to
50 degrees; skies will be
partly sunny, and there’s
the chance of spring-like
rain showers in the late afternoon
and evening.
Monday will bring a
cooler northwesterly flow,
but highs from 35 to 40 degrees
is still above normal.
Milder air will return on
Tuesday, with partly sunny
skies and the chance of rain
showers; highs in the low
40’s.
Mark Hanok is an Otego based
meteorologist.
