The Daily Times

If you spent time in Blount County this December, you might have noticed one thing: It was cold.

But exactly how cold �" and how different this December was from past years �" is a different matter. With an average temperature of 32.8 degrees �" 8.1 degrees below normal �" December 2010 was the 6th coldest 12th month Blount County has seen since 1871.

And with the cold weather came snow �" a lot of it. The average snowfall December usually sees in Blount County is 0.7 inches. This December 7 inches fell �" more than the area usually sees in an entire year.

“(The snowfall) was definitely significant,” said Frank Farrell, spokesman with the National Weather Service in Morristown.

Why was December so cold? A strong jet stream out of Canada dipped all the way into the Gulf of Mexico, causing cold temperatures as far south as Florida, Farrell said.

Compared to October and November, which saw average temperatures a little above normal �" 2 degrees in November with an average of 51 degrees and 1.2 in October with an average of 60 �" December was quite a departure from the norm. January, though, looks to stick pretty close to the averages of years past, Ferrell said.

There is a 40 percent chance that average temperatures will be below normal for the next 45 days, but over the 90-day outlook things should even out to normal, Ferrell said.

Starting on Jan. 7 or 8 and continuing past Jan. 11, temperatures will likely drop from the comfortable warmth Blount County has seen in the past few days �" warm days that have seen snow showers turn into rain. But even if it gets colder, it shouldn’t be too bad, Farrell said.

“We’re going to get some colder weather in, (but) it’s not going to be super, super cold,” he said.

And snow during the coming cold snap this January is certainly possible, but it doesn’t look like the lower elevations will be expecting the white stuff any time soon.

“There will be some (snow) probably, mainly in the mountains,” Farrell said.

As for now, warmer temperatures have turned the snow into rain, and it has definitely been falling. On the first day of 2011, Blount County recorded nearly 2 inches of rain. But even with that, the area is about half an inch below normal rain accumulations for this time of year. Rain and other precipitation over the next 90 days is expected to stay around the normal average, according to information from the NWS.

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