Cold & snow still nowhere to be found

The official first day of winter is fast approaching and with the exception of a couple of decent winter storms, the Plains have been pretty much snow-free. The heavy wet snow that fell on November 8/9 mostly covered Colorado with areas on the High Plains receiving 10-20"+

Now in mid-December, look at how much of the US has no snow on the ground at all (less than 20%), but that's not really a total surprise. Last year at this time, only 16% of the country had snow cover. 

3rd full week of December: Temperatures

It still looks milder overall, meaning highs mainly in the 50s with lows in the 20s. This doesn't mean we could have some snow (especially if it comes overnight), but it wouldn't likely stay for long.

Christmas week:

This is why we have been saying for the past two weeks, no white Christmas. It's just too warm! And there's plenty to go around this year. Even the Dakota are likely to be unseasonably warm. I wouldn't be surprised if we are close to 60° on Christmas Day. This will be a gift for some of you.

Precipitation:

Odds don't appear to be in our favor for much moisture between now and late December. There are smaller systems approaching from the West, but if they are able to generate some rainfall, it will more than likely end up south or east of Kansas. 

Will January turn cold? We mentioned this in our winter forecast that January and February have some strong signals of near or colder than average weather. It still looks like that will happen, but the coldest air may not be at the beginning of January - it may come mid/late month. Northwest wind pattern aloft could put much of the central and northern US in much colder weather.