We have had a fairly seasonable stretch of weather, despite our big snowstorm before Thanksgiving which caused all those travel headaches, not to mention logistical headaches when fairly widespread power outages were experienced.

Now there are signs that a ridge may be building in the west by the end of the month. Whenever you have a strong ridge set up out that way, it allows for a strong corresponding trough to dip into the eastern U.S., which opens the floodgates for cold Arctic air to spill down the east side of the high pressure system (a/k/a ridge).

This is what happened all last winter, except for the one January thaw we had. When this happens, it creates a buckle in the atmosphere, allowing the polar jet stream to travel in a more north to south orientation. Low pressure systems travel down the polar jet, as it dips towards the gulf, picks up moisture, crosses to the Atlantic picks up more moisture and warm air from the Gulf stream, and heads back north towards New England, interacting with cold air to our north, creating an active snowy pattern.

Of course, there are micro-differences with each system and patter, but overall we could be heading into a colder and snowier pattern, so stay tuned!