Despite Mild Perception, Winter Has Been Average
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- We had an unusually warm weekend with the temperature climbing into 60's, and we've only had one significant snowfall this season. So it's been a mild winter right? Not according to Penn State Meteorology Professor Jon Nese.
"January and February have settled back toward average. January about a degree and a half above and February will end up near average," Nese says. "So I think though the perception will be that it's a mild winter, that will be mainly because of what happened in December."
December saw temperatures 13 degrees above average.
"What happened in December was so off the charts that it really was kind of a shocker," he says. "I think the winter as a whole, your memory of it is dominated by the warmth of December."
Nese says every winter has cold snaps and warm spells.
"Nothing that's happened in the last couple months has been all that surprising to me as a meteorologist."
And he doesn't expected any surprises for the last month of winter.
