Let's be real for a minute. Most everyone here loves winter weather, and to some extent cold weather for at least part of the season. So it's disconcerting to see the back and forth swings in the models, especially after the last week of things looking to move in a better direction. Honestly, I wouldn't worry very much except that it's not really a one-off run or one-off model cycle that has shown a reversion to a warmer pattern in the longer range. We've seen this trend slowly emerging for a few days. Given that, given that there is a lot of historical precedence for things like this coming to fruition, and given that any really good sustained cold looks have been getting pushed back, as usual, all season, you have to give more weight to the probability that it is going to get mild again, as opposed to the models being wrong.
We can spend time here dissecting long range maps, looking at the possibilities that a storm might do this or that. We can do that because that's what we do here. But in reality, given the way the pattern appears to be shaping up, a big winter storm has to be given very low odds, as it stands right at this minute.
None of this means the models are right or will be right or can't change tomorrow. But looking at seasonal trends and listening to what the best forecasting tools that we have are saying to us, there is a preponderance of evidence to suggest that milder solutions are in our future for a while.
Now, as this relates to the board mood, we have to maintain a pleasant atmosphere, at the very least in this thread. That means, if we're going to espouse a point of view or contradict someone, it should be done with some evidence or rationale. It also means, that we ought not taunt other members in a passive-aggressive manner in order to get under their skin. In this thread, let's discuss the pattern, pros and cons. Wishcasting up snowstorms at 360 hours is not reality. Bittercasting warmth at 384 is not reality. Making a decent pattern post but topping it off with a comment like, "this sucks hahaha the snow lovers are gonna hate this one", isn't a good idea. Put that stuff in the Whamby thread.
And regarding the Whamby thread, it's not set up as a place to leave respect and decorum at the door. There's going to be griping in there. This is a well-known fact. Going in there and complaining about the complaining going on in there is really kind of silly. If certain posters bother you, just ignore them. It super easy. Trolling somebody just to get them to attack back isn't nice and isn't helpful to the board.
The intent is for this place to be a place where everyone can come and discuss weather, whether they have a deep meteorological knowledge or not, and not feel shamed for doing it. If you want to vent with others in the Whamby thread with other venters, ok. If you hate that kind of thing, it's really easy to stay out of that thread. The site doesn't magically take you into it when you login.
We all want the site to grow and become the best weather forum out there. That can happen. But we all need to help to make it that way.