Above normal temperatures ahead for most of U.P.

Heading into winter many people are worried that last year’s persistent cold will return this year.

Even though December may have started on the cold side things are about to heat up. While there won’t be any sunny and 70 days for a few months temperatures are expected to hang at or above normal heading into the new year.

There is also a lack of any major snow event in the foreseeable future.

“It looks like it’s not going to be as cold as we saw last winter because if you remember back to that it was a very persistent cold,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Steven Fleegel. “We just never really warmed up so that is what led to the record-setting cold across much of the U.P.”

The National Weather Service said it’s possible for temperatures to trend cooler closer to the holidays and the end of the year.

“If we do start seeing that trend towards a little cooler temperatures then we’ll start to see that potential, either for lake effect to come back or larger snowstorms from low pressure systems,” Fleegel said.

One contributing factor to the current rise in temperature and drop in snowstorms is the increase in Pacific air that is reaching the Great Lakes region.