Just how much snow could Centre County see this winter? Forecasters disagree
Snow has blanketed parts of Centre County in recent days, but outlooks are split on just how much the area could see this winter.
AccuWeather and the Farmers’ Almanac predict a wetter-than-average season for much of the Northeast, with AccuWeather going further to say the biggest storms could happen at the start and end of the season.
“We’re looking at snowfall to be pretty close to our historical average for the year,” said Alan Reppert, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather in State College. “That’s around 43.8 inches for State College itself, more off to the north and west at higher elevations, and a little less into the valley and off to the south and east.”
The almanac predicts a cold winter, while AccuWeather forecasts average temperatures. Reppert said “temperatures should be favorable for snowy conditions” later in December, just in time for the holidays and ski season.
The National Weather Service, by contrast, forecasts a higher chance of warm temperatures and equal chances of precipitation coming in above or below historical averages.
Reppert chalked up the differences to how forecasters view variables affecting the weather, from El Niño and La Niña, to cold air in Canada and Russia.
“Different places might home in on one thing rather than another,” Reppert said. “It really depends on what they’re looking at, what they typically favor, for the forecast.”
What is average snowfall for State College and central PA?
State College’s longterm average snowfall since 1893 is a bit higher than the 30-year average, at 45.9 inches. The average first day of accumulating snow is Nov. 17, NWS data indicates.
Last winter, the area saw less snowfall than normal, at 20.5 inches for the season.
Since 1980, the winter of 1993-94 brought the most snow, at 109.3 inches, while the season with the least recorded snowfall was 2019-20, at 12.9 inches.
