UNUSUAL WARMTH CONTINUES
Saturday, January 7th, 2006 -- 11:42 AM
It?s been a historically balmy start to winter. Todd Shea of the National Weather Service in La Crosse says the period from December 21st through January 5th is the fourth warmest recorded in La Crosse ?and the warmest since 1932.The average temperatures this time of year should range from the low 20s for highs, to the single-digits for lows, but persistent cloud-cover and a stubborn weather pattern have prevented temperatures from getting close to those averages.
"With the cloud cover, we've had very little change from high to low temperatures each day from the mid-20s to upper-30s or so. It's been a string of those (days) for two weeks," Shea says.
In fact, the average high temperature during this stretch is 35-degrees, nine-degrees above normal; but the average low temperature is 29-degrees, a whopping 20-degrees above normal.
"It's probably the low temperatures that have brought the temperatures up more than anything. It's a bit abnormal," Shea says.
Shea has been forecasting for twenty years. He warns Mother Nature has a way of evening things out, so we may experience a wet and cold snap eventually. But, while the extended forecast calls for a changing weather pattern over the next week, temperatures are still expected to remain unseasonably warm for ?as far as the eye can see?.
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