Sorry but this does not sound overly enthusiastic until at least mid to late January
Larry Cosgrove:
Merry Christmas. Now if we could just make the weather seem more in season!
Contrary to media opinion, there is cold air out there, plenty of it. Not the harsh sub-zero stuff of legend, mind you. But enough to remind you of the calendar date, that it really is winter. Many in Canada and the USA will feel more chill through the next two weeks as storms break down the existing pattern. Snow will increase over the Intermountain Region, as well as around the Great Lakes and Appalachia. And around New Year's Day, some of the "white gold" may find its way into the northern Interstate 95 corridor. Ridging over western and northern Canada may help with cold air drainage into the lower 48 states.
The 500MB forecasts show an immense disturbance and trough progressing out of the West on January 6. I suspect that this is the "grand finale" for this evolving pattern. If the ECMWF/GGEM scenario holds, many of you in the snowless Great Plains and Midwest, and possibly the Northeast, will get a genuine winter storm. However, as the high-latitude ridge complex collapses as we enter the second week of the new year, a strong warm-up will likely ensue across the nation from west to east.
Keep in mind that with a stratospheric warming episode entering the Arctic Regions, and the breakdown of El Nino revving up, the second half of January and much of February could mean a "winter revival in much of the continent. It's not over 'til it's over...