Winter is taking its own sweet time, with this November among the least snowy ever

Thanksgiving's landscape looked more like Halloween, and if that felt like a treat, you'll like the forecast.

Feeling tricked? Keep your fingers crossed.

So far this November, only six-tenths of an inch of snowfall has been recorded at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. If no more snow falls by the end of the month, Thursday, forecasters at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen say this would be the least snowiest November since 2009, when just a trace of snow was recorded.

"Our storms come from the southwest to the northeast, but the storms so far have had a more westerly flow," meteorologist Michelle Margraf said Saturday. That's meant lots of rain for the Pacific Northwest, with precipitation remaining west of the Rockies. "By the time the flow comes over us, it's a drier air mass," Margraf said.

She specified that this has not been a dry November so much as a less snowy November, because there has been some precipitation. But as for snow, this month could end up rated as the 18th least-snowiest November, according to weather records going back to 1875.

There's no strong cause-and-effect data for what happens after a November with below-normal snowfall. Weather Service records show varying outcomes for the rest of the winter after brown Novembers.

The temperature and precipitation outlook through Dec. 4 offers little promise for any snow accumulation, Margraf said. Normal highs during the first week of December are in the lower 30s. Highs Sunday and Monday are forecast to be in the 50s.

"People who are looking for a snowpack will have to wait," she said.

You may be able to get those outdoor lights strung after all.

Kim Ode • 612-673-7185 @Odewrites