Could it happen: A Year Without a Winter? There are reasons for North Texans to begin asking the question this week, which marks the midpoint of what is usually the year's coldest season.
The daily high temperatures during January were, on average, the warmest ever for the month – 68.3 degrees, a figure that broke an 83-year-old record. The normal high is 54. A cold snap hit in early December, but since winter officially began Dec. 21, there have been only three days when the high was below normal. And there was only one hour – around daybreak Jan. 14 – when the official thermometer at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport fell below freezing.
Needless to say, there has been no winter snow or ice. "We're kind of stuck in a rut," said Jennifer Dunn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. "It really has been a year without winter, and it's not likely to change soon."
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"Usually, we have a red-light/green-light situation around here, where it gets warm for a while, then it gets cold. But this year it's all been green light," said Dave Forehand, who is in charge of plantings at the Dallas Arboretum. "The problem is that it's been so warm that they're all ready to go." The arboretum's Japanese magnolias, which usually bloom in mid- or late February, are in full glory. That's fine, as long as the weather stays warm. This week, he said, marks the point of no return. Buds are far enough along that a cold snap would damage them.
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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/020106dnmetwinterless.123eb840.html