6 more weeks of winter? Or not?

Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow this morning, so we're looking at six more weeks of winter... right? Well how about the Southern variation of Phil, Gen. Beau Lee - "Georgia’s Official Weather Prognosticator?" Gen. Lee did NOT see his shadow this morning, indicating an early spring! While Phil may be o-"phil"-cial, Gen. Lee is southern, so I think Lee trumps Phil in this game of rodent-prognosticating!

The National Weather Service may tend to agree too. Check out the maps below showing the expected departures from normal for temperature and precipitation for the month of February. They indicate a high likelihood of a warmer (in the Lower MS Valley much warmer) February than average, while below normal temps would be confined to the Northwestern states. The Midwest looks like it might have a wet month, while in the northern half of the Mid-South, precipitation could end up slightly above normal. The shaded bands indicate a 33%, 40% and 50% chance of above (or below) normal temps and precip. So while it doesn't mean we won't see some cold weather, chances are decent that our average for the month will end up above average. Bring on Spring!