Will record cold be in the mix? Not even close. We may slip to, or just below zero in a few areas, but one major ingredient is missing. The lack of snow cover is the key – snow cover plays a big role in creating an environment suitable of extreme cold. Without snow, the cold Arctic air mass will “modify” or not be able to sustain its true very cold arctic characteristics. Think of it like this, snow on the ground acts as a “natural ice box” in the environment. Snow cover also reflects incoming sunlight during the day and allows for intense radiative cooling at night. Our snow cover has been noticeably absent. Here are the snowfall statistics for this season so far:
Without snow on the ground and with little, if any chance of that changing the next week, the worst of this cold snap will not be showing up this time around.