RICHMOND, Va. -- We continue to watch for our first big winter storm. There is the potential for that to be next weekend. Energy currently over the Pacific will track across the southern United States this week.
By the end of next weekend, the storm is expected to be across the southeastern states. High pressure over New England may suppress the storm far enough south that it moves out into the ocean and has little to no impact on Virginia.
If it moves northeasterly and just offshore, it would mean mostly wintry precipitation for much of our viewing area. However, if it tracks farther west, that would give us snow, then a mix, and then rain.
The storm is currently over 3,000 miles from Virginia, so a shift in track of 50 to 100 miles makes a huge difference on the forecast. Once the storm is over land, there will be more data available to feed into the computer models, which will give us some better precision.
We will have more updates during the week ahead on our forecast page.
December Outlook: Warmer trend for second half of month
As we move into winter and lose more daylight in December, our normal highs drop into the 40s and the lows drop into the 20s. The winter solstice, the astronomical start of winter, occurs at 5:22 p.m. on December 21.
In a typical December, Richmond receives 3.26" of liquid precipitation. This includes rain and any melted down sleet and snow. During the period of data studied, the average Richmond snowfall worked out to around two inches.
The December outlook from the National Weather Service shows that temperatures may average above normal. Our extended computer models indicate a much warmer trend for the second half of the month.
December precipitation may be above normal, continuing our wet trend this year.
We are currently at the fourth wettest year on record. Even if we just receive the normal December precipitation amount, we will jump into the number two spot.
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