Now, lets look back to the first ten days of last January....
We only had 1.7 inches of snow, we spent 9 of the first 10 days above average, and I think everyone was happy with the warm weather... Then the bottom fell out.

During the last 21 days of January 2007, 17 were below average, and we picked up 36 inches of snow. Quite a difference from the beginning of the month.

The moral of the story is, enjoy the warm weather when it is here, but always remember it is January in Erie, Pensylvania, and Mother Nature always finds a way to even things out.

This year, I have a feelling she'll have a score to settle since we have only had 31.5 inches of snow so far this season. On average, we would have closer to 40 inches. It is still early, though.

With the mercury expected to stay low this weekend, we though we would offer some quick, cold weather safety tips....

In a previous "Storm Team Weather Blog" post, I outlined some tips for the animals in cold weather situations. You can review that post by clicking here.

As air cools, its ability to hold moisture decreases, making snow less likely. However, there is always some moisture in the air. Also, many times, very cold air is very stable (no rising motion, that in turns cools the air even more to squeeze the moisture out), so it is harder to snow.

Now, if it were possible to reach absolute zero (0 degrees Kelvin, which is equal to -459 degrees Fahrenheit), the answer would be yes. At that temperature, all water will condense out of the air, meaning it could not snow. Reaching absolute zero, however, is not possible.

When it comes to snowfall, an average February would see 17.3 inches of the white stuff. Remember, that is on average.

Last year, however, was the second snowiest February on record. We picked up 35.4 inches of snow last year! It also had its fair share of very cold temperatures. Last year we hit -1 twice.

This year, I am thinking that we will again find ourselves with above average snowfall, and temperatures haning right around the averages. There will probably be a couple of cold snaps too, but what else would you expect in this area this time of year?