Issued 11:15 am Wednesday (2-15-23)

You may have heard the Weather lore phrase  "no winter, no spring".  With that said, is that chicken coming home to roost this spring with this 2022-23 bizarre winter weather pattern so entrenched?   Good question.  One which your Fearless One can't answer it right now.  

The joker in the deck that must play out is how quickly La Nina (cool waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean) dissipates and how that change impacts King Kong 's reign-of-terror (for winter weather lovers at least) downstream in the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

In any case, for those of you that are new residents/visitors to the Canaan and those with relatively short memories, let me advise you, March "can roar like a lion" in the WV High Country.  With March right around the corner, let's consider March's historical snow observations.

The average March snowfall on Canaan's elevated (3,250') valley floor is 24 inches.  But March can also produce prodigious amounts of snow.  The top four (out of 78 months) greatest total monthly March snowfalls on the valley floor all came in with 5 feet or more (60"+) as follows:

1)  1960;: 73.0"
2)  1971:  70.0"
3)  2013:  69.7"
4)  1999:  62.6"

The average deepest snow depth reached in March's (78 yrs.) is 15 inches.  The greatest snow depth reported is 45 inches in March, 1958.  The second greatest depth measured is 41 inches in 1993.

Despite the current 3 winter months so far logging in very low snowfall and mild temps, it's way-too-early to put the parkas, snowshoes, and skis away.  Yes, this winter's persistence has weight in predicting the future but Old Man Winter likes to visit with short notice, especially above 3,000 feet.

Just a thought, not a prognostication....

Your Fearless Canaan Weatherman
(aka:  Bob Leffler)