It’s been a mild winter for much of the U.S.

When the books close Monday night on the three month meteorological winter period, temperature surpluses are likely almost from coast to coast. It’s been mild enough here in Chicago—hard to fathom given often chilly daytime temps in recent weeks, but true—that the demand for home heating is likely to finish 8% lower than normal and 6% below a year ago. The period since Dec. 1 has run 2.5° milder than the same period a year ago.
Snow socked the major mid-Atlantic cities Thursday and Thursday night. Visibilities at New York’s JFK and LGA airports dropped to a quarter mile in heavy snow for several hours at the height of the afternoon/evening rush hour. As much as 5-9” was expected to fall in the hardest hit areas from Philadelphia north to Boston before snows move out to sea early Friday. Washington, D.C. sat beneath a new 4” veil of snow Thursday evening.