Snow drought developing

From a climate standpoint, December should be the snowiest month during the winter season.  This December, however, is looking anything but.  And for those who are not the biggest fan of snow, this comes as welcomed news.  Unfortunately, the lack of snowfall early in the winter season could have an impact on the months to follow.

Measurable snowfall, 0.10" or greater, only fell on one day this month.  That was on the 21st and it wasn't much - a whopping 0.10".  There have been several days where a 'trace' of snow fell but that is usually anything under 0.01"...so not much at all!  On average, December should receive 11.3" of snow.  So far we're 10.5" below average!

Now, you may be thinking to yourself how could the lack of snow be a bad thing.  Well, for starters the snow helps to insulate the ground.  And with no snow or very little snow on the ground when temperatures drop below freezing or further, frost can sink to greater depths in the soil.  So, if we continue with these cold snaps - even though they may only last for a couple days - it could cause the frost depth to grow greater.  The greater the frost depth, the higher the likelihood it would have an impact on pipes freezing.  Similar to what happened last winter.  The good news is December has been, overall, a warm month so there hasn't been much of an opportunity to really deal with the freezing cold.  But, temperatures could fall back below average next week and stay that way through the middle of the month.

Also, as we get closer to spring the frost depth can help us get an idea of how much, or little, potential there is for spring flooding and runoff.  For agriculture, the frost depth can help predict spring soil moisture and the impact of soil microbiology which then has an impact on spring planting.  So while you may not want the snow, it's actually important that we do get snow during winter.  And having it come late in the winter season doesn't help a whole lot because as the old saying goes, 'The damage has already been done'.