According to local forecasters, D.C. residents are likely to experience a fairly normal winter season compared to the record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season.
Washington residents should expect this winter to "feature normal temperatures with slightly above [average] normal snowfall," according to a long-term forecast at CapitalWeather.com, a D.C. weather blog.
During an average winter, D.C. will get approximately 17 inches of snow, according to records kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Unlike last winter, the forecast says weather patterns will be fairly consistent throughout the season.
"There is no indication that this winter will be severe," said Bob Ryan, chief meteorologist for NBC 4. "We should certainly expect a fair amount of variability this winter. We've just come out of a period of variability, including a very dry September and a very wet October."
Although long-range forecasts cannot pinpoint the weather for a particular day, they can still be helpful, Ryan said.
"There's no way of making specific forecasts for a given day this far in advance," he said. "However, general outlooks for large areas of the country can be very helpful in giving us an overall idea of how the general weather pattern will play out."
No matter how hard the D.C. area gets hit this winter, it should be a different experience for AU freshmen who are still getting accustomed to the District's climate.
"It's going to be different because everybody's going to be freaking out about the snow here," said Charlie Kilby, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs who lives outside of Chicago. "In Chicago, you'd need to have a foot of snow on top of the buses for people to be concerned."
"I've never seen snow before," said Sarah Morrison, a freshman in SPA. "I'm going to have a snowball fight as soon as humanly possible."
Topper Shutt, chief meteorologist for WUSA 9, also said this winter should be a fairly normal winter. Like CapitalWeather.com, Shutt said he thinks this winter will have three distinct periods.
"Without being too specific, I'll say that this winter will start out cold in the beginning, middle [range temperatures] in the middle and cold again at the end," he said.
NOAA's official winter forecast, produced by the Climate Prediction Center, predicts the D.C. metro area has equal chances of seeing either a warmer or colder-than-normal winter. The report also says there are equal chances of seeing either a drier or wetter-than-normal winter. The forecast, which was released on Oct. 12 and updated Oct. 20, will be updated for a final time on Nov. 17. Winter begins on Dec. 21.
