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(3:05 PM) After Strong Start To Season, Snowfall Total Takes Dive

The Jamestown region has observed a lack of snowfall leading into this year's winter season. The region's yearly average is 97.5 inches of snowfall. The cold season average from the months of October through April total accumulation is 85.5 inches. P-J photo by Jordan W. Patterson

The month of December officially brought the beginning of winter, but snowfall accumulation since November has seemingly disappeared and has yet to resurface thus far in the new year.

Monthly snowfall accumulation has been inconsistent with yearly averages as the Jamestown region observed a spike in November and a drop off in December.

The National Weather Service in Buffalo said the total average from the months of October through April, or the cold season, is 85.5 inches. Through the first week of January there has been 37.8 inches for the season. The yearly average from January to December is 97 inches.

Monthly snowfall averages for Jamestown are .6 inches in October, 9.1 inches in November, 21.9 inches in December, 26.4 inches in January, 18.1 inches in February, 12 inches in March and 3.5 inches in April.

This year, November received a total of 32.6 inches of snow accumulation, well above the average. December was in stark contrast to the previous month with 5.1 inches almost 15 inches below the average.

The first week of January has observed .1 inches of snowfall so far.

Jon Hitchcock, meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said it’s common to have a month of high accumulation and then one with low accumulation in succession.

“We have low months quite often and then you’ll have a month that makes up for it,” Hitchcock told The Post-Journal.

Hitchcock said mass amounts of snowfall will be put on hold for at least another week as a warm weather pattern will increase temperatures above normal averages of 30 degrees for the month of January.

“(That pattern is) carrying Pacific air that prevents cold air from coming out of Canada,” he said.

See Friday’s edition of The Post-Journal for more coverage.

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