Will Ice Storm History Repeat Itself?

The overall cool weather of the past few weeks got me to thinking about past Decembers.  As far as our climate typically plays out here in the western Carolinas, January and February are more favored months for ice storms as opposed to December…it’s easier to have the necessary cold air firmly in place.  Despite that, the first week of December in 2002 brought a major ice storm to the Upstate, with heavy snow in some mountain areas.  Three years later in mid-December of 2005, another major ice storm passed through.  Forward another three years, and it’s December of 2008.  And it’s been rather cold lately.  Just stating the facts.

There’s no certainly no evidence of any “three-year cycle”...1999 didn’t bring any December ice storm, for example…so plain bad luck would seem to have been a factor.  Looking ahead…while current weather patterns may not be a true indicator of what we see the rest of the month, there is no sign of any major winter weather event for the Upstate out through the next ten days…which gets us through mid-December.

But based on recent history, many of you will be keeping your fingers crossed for the next few weeks…