Six more weeks of winter? Maybe not

Central Illinois might not see another significant snowfall this winter. (Photo By Mario Tama/Getty Images)

BLOOMINGTON – Punxsutawney Phil called for six more weeks of winter Thursday morning, but Central Illinois could see an early spring.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Patrick Bak said the above-average temperatures are probably here to stay.

“Our weather pattern has been such that we’re getting more of our airmasses out of the south or from the Pacific. We haven’t really had anything but little blips of Canadian air intruding into our area so that has sort of kept us on the warmer side,” he said.

Bak said Thursday we could still get a few cold snaps, but we probably won’t see a significant snowfall.

“We could get some snow, but at this point we don’t have any strong indication that there’s a major snow event coming,” he said.

Thanks to those warmer temperatures, snow totals are down significantly.

WMBD 31 Chief Meteorologist Marcus Bailey said Peoria reported .6 inches of snow in December and 7.9 inches in January. That 8.5 inch total is still below average. Bailey said Peoria should have gotten 13.1 inches by now.

By comparison, last year at this time Peoria had gotten a total of 31.5 inches. That number does not include the 12+ inches Central Illinois got in last year’s blizzard.

There is not a reporting station in Bloomington-Normal, but Bailey said totals for the Twin Cities would be similar.

Paul Morello can be reached at paul@wjbc.com.