'Tisn’t the season
A winter lateness record in Buffalo; Philly might be next.
As reported, Buffalo has set a record for the longest wait for measurable snow at the National Weather Service's official measuring station.
And based on what the computer models are spitting out, that record is going to become tougher and tougher to match, even if the planet gets warmer.
It's not just Buffalo that is snow deprived. Syracuse, which actually is significantly snowier than Buffalo on average, has measured only 0.8 inches so far. By now, it usually has had over a foot.
The lake-effect snows just haven't been happening as the cold fronts that howl out of north country that typically lift moisture out of the Great Lakes just haven't been happening.
As for the north country itself, we were in beautiful Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, last week and those folks still were waiting for their first official centimeter.
As for us, the official thermometer at Philadelphia International Airport still awaits its first 32-degree reading of the season. It got close right before Thanksgiving, but didn't quite make it.
As of tomorrow, this will become the second longest wait for that first official freeze in 142 years of records. It didn't happen until Dec. 5 in 1931. The record is Dec. 11, set eight years later in 1939.
The long-range forecasts foresees no flirtations with freezing.
One thing we know for certain: Philadelphia will not break a record for the longest wait for measureable snow.
That belongs to 1972-73 in perpetuity. Not a single measureable snow occurred that winter in Philly.