Snow lovers don’t fret, we have the entire winter ahead

Wednesday is Dec. 1, which is the beginning of meteorological winter.

But first, let's recap the end to meteorological fall -- September through November. November ended up warmer than average by nearly a degree and a half. Our rain totals also fell short by about an inch and a half.

But now that we are in meteorological winter, a lot of folks are hoping to see snow. We saw some of that in November. On a brisk day that brought flurries, we recorded only a trace of snow. That was all we saw for the month, well below our monthly average of nearly an inch.

Statistically, snow lovers have a much better chance of measuring it in December, when the average is just over 3 inches here in Columbia.

In years past, we have seen periods with little snow leading up to December. For the 2015-2016 season, we also recorded only a trace of snow. That year, our total was 9 inches. So minimal recorded snow early doesn't necessarily translate to a slow snow season in total.

The same can be said for December. That same year, the first month of meteorological winter only brought a trace of snow. This is a good reminder that there is still plenty of time left in the season to see snow, and a slow start doesn't mean a dry end. It is, after all, just now the first day of record-keeping for winter, and we've been known to get snow well into meteorological spring.