More Mild Weather

From the Pantagraph:

Normally, the pattern goes that March will come in like a lion and leave like a lamb, but that’s not going to be the case this year, according to Ed Shimon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

When March arrives on Thursday, McLean County can expect mostly sunny skies with a high of 46. Hardly lion-like.

But not all that unusual compared to the mild winter the Central Illinois area has had so far. And with the exception of some possible thunderstorms Tuesday night, we can expect another mild week, Shimon said.

Sunshine is in the forecast for today, with a high of 43. Clouds roll in Tuesday with the possibility of showers and maybe some thunderstorms Tuesday evening. But the sunshine returns on Wednesday with a high near 56.

So is winter over? By this point last year, we had already had our last measurable snow.

“You can never be sure,” Shimon said. “Just the other day we were talking and someone mentioned we once had a 10-inch snowstorm in April. That’s not likely with the type of winter we have had here, but the winter is starting to wind down and you can probably count the number of measurable snow systems we will get from this point, on just one hand.”

So far, this winter has produced less than 50 percent of normal snowfall while temperatures have averaged four to six degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service. This is in stark contrast to the last three winters which produced above normal snowfall and below normal temperatures. So far this year, Bloomington-Normal has had 7.8 inches of snow, about 9.9 inches below normal.

Without snow to talk about, and the rain isn’t expected to arrive until tomorrow, many Central Illinois residents did report high winds over the weekend. Wind gusts measured at 45 miles per hour were recorded Sunday in McLeanCounty, although no damage has been reported. Logan County reported wind gusts of 36 miles per hour.