LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — After this week's abnormally mild November weather, a taste of winter arrives soon.
"I'm very careful, as everybody is, to use the word snow, because that usually clears off the bread and the milk aisles in the grocery stores,” Chief Meteorologist Steve Raleigh said.
Many took Wednesday’s warmer weather as the chance to get outside. Western Hills Country Club golf pro Mark Welage says frost is typically a concern at this point in November. Average high temperatures for November are in the 50s, but highs Wednesday were nearly 70 degrees in some spots across the Tri-State.
"Typically November isn’t prime golf weather,” Welage said. “So they saw the forecast and whenever we have a good forecast they come out to play.”
Tom and Gina Armbruster took their grandkids to the park in Lawrenceburg, Ind.
"We brought them out to let them get some sunshine, before the rain and snow starts hitting towards the weekend. That's what I hear,” Armbruster said.
According to Raleigh, there’s a chance to see a few snowflakes this weekend, but we aren’t expecting much snow, as the ground is still too warm right now. He said our average first snowfall is November 28.
The National Weather Service’s guidelines require at least a tenth of an inch or more of snow to be considered an “official” snowfall.
"So even if it snows this weekend, it probably wouldn't officially be a snowfall," Raleigh said.
This winter is forecast to be warmer and wetter than normal.
“A lot of that has to do with La Niña. It's a weather phenomenon that changes the global patterns," Raleigh said.
El Niño and La Niña are climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that can affect weather worldwide. La Niña involves the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific.
Raleigh said there are many factors dictating the area's winter outlook. He said something called the North Atlantic oscillation changes our overall outlook.
“So as a result, even though we're expecting warmer and wetter, we could get a good blast of snow, because that North Atlantic oscillation can bring down some much colder air in one big shot,” Raleigh said.
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