National Weather Service Says Chicago-Area Below Snow Accumulation Average
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- While a groundhog may be a nice distraction when it comes to predicting the weather, WBBM went to a more authoritative source for an overall sense of the winter, so far.
"We're certainly lacking this winter, so far."
Meteorologist Ricky Castro, with the National Weather Service said, with some variation, we're at 10-inches of snow, so far, and the average for this time is 20 inches.
To the North, Milwaukee's about where we are. But across the lake in Michigan and Indiana they've been hammered.
"South Bend has had fifty-six inches and the normal is forty three point eight inches, so a foot of snow above normal," he said.
Castro said what's really been the story of this winter, so far, is wild temperature swings.
"We've had the first January that had five days or more of zero or below temperatures and five days or more of fifty degree temperatures," he said.
It all averages out, Castro said, to normal temperatures. But how we got there is certainly not normal.
And he said over the next ten days snowfall is likely to get closer to average, as well.