A blizzard in the heartland of America signals the start of winter!

It seems Old Man Winter was just a day early as a major winter storm barreled across some mid western states on December the 20^th. Snowfall totals exceeded a foot as whiteout conditions were observed in states like Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The question now is whether this storm is the beginning of a snowy trend or just an early fluke of nature?

One thing is for sure. The temperatures in my neck of the woods have been warmer than normal. A trend that was observed in October and continues to the day of this post. In December alone the average temperature has been five degree higher than historical standards. We’ve also had plenty of rain; over nine inches all told in November and December as of the 20^th.  Now, while this system has brought only rain to southwest Missouri, there is another system that is expected to coming through on the 23^rd that might give off a bit of the white stuff.