Has Northern Virginia's Winter Been Boring?

While a snowstorm described as "epic," "record-breaking" and "historic" dumped 40 inches of snow on New England over the weekend —  the Washington metro area has been pretty much status quo, with temperatures in the 30s and 40s and a little wind and rain.

Has the area’s winter been boring so far?

January 2013 temperatures were about 4 degrees warmer than average.

This winter’s snowfall has been less than average. In January, the Washington metro area received 3 inches of snow. The new year has brought just a few dustings. Areas to our north and west have seen a bit more.

The average snowfall for our area in January — based on data from 1981 to 2010 — was 5.6 inches. The typical February has seen 4.8 inches of the white stuff. In other words, we’ve had a light season even by Northern Virginia standards.

February of 2010 — “Snowmageddon!” or “The Snowpocalypse!” — was our most recent real anomaly with 32 inches of snow in February alone, divided between two major snowstorms. Ironically, January of that year was also unusually warm.

In November, meteorologists in the Washington area were divided in their predictions for this winter: WJLA’s Brian van de Graff told Patch he thought this winter would be a little colder than average and just above average precipitation going into the season.

The outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, or NOAA, in October called for approximately equal chances that the East Coast will have above or below normal precipitation and temperatures.

Despite what Punxsutawney Phil and Potomac Phil both said — that we’re expecting an early spring — it’s still winter. That means there’s still a chance for winter to act a bit more… well, wintery.

Are you happy we haven’t seen much snow this winter, or would you like to see at least one storm big enough for a snowball fight? Tell us in the comments!