JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER

Do you remember the first week of 2008, when we were enjoying high temperatures in the 70's? Many folks were wondering if winter would ever return. Well, it did.

For snow lovers, this will likely be an interesting period of weather over the next few weeks. We are beginning to see a more active jet stream pattern take hold across the deep south. The end result will be increased storm system formation in the Gulf Coast states. These storms often affect southeastern NC, and our state has already received much needed rain from 2 of such systems. Sooner or later, the air will likely be cold enough that snow may be possible even here in the eastern Carolinas.

In fact, we've already seen several days with highs only in the 30's or 40's over the past few weeks alone. Still, we're not exactly setting a lot of records just yet. Back in January 1985, North Carolina recorded several all-time record low temperatures. Raleigh recorded temperatures of 6-9 degrees below 0 that year. We were also hit with a major ice storm (my kid brother was born during that ice storm, so I remember it well).

So if you like cold weather, enjoy the next several weeks. For the rest of us, we'll just wait for summer...