Freezing rain to keep retail sales on ice

Casual Living Staff -- Casual Living, 3/9/2011 2:05:09 AM

FEBRUARY 2010 was a record-setting month, posting the coldest temperatures since the late 1980s and snowiest conditions in at least 30 years. At this time last year, weather conditions hovered near the 115-year record for the nation as a whole. Only Hawaii was spared the wrath of Old Man Winter as this was the only state without snow on the ground near the Valentine's Day holiday. Extreme cold and snow postponed the start of the spring category season by several weeks.
     Although this month's weather will not be nearly as cold or as snowy as last year, temperatures will trend below normal for much of the eastern United States, and snowfall will trend above normal for parts of the Midwest and Northeast.
     Freezing rain and ice will be a bigger problem this year with the greatest threat during the month's second and third retail weeks from the Southern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic region. With temperatures still trending below normal and snowfall above normal, the start of the season for early spring categories will struggle to make headway this year.

TEMPERATURE	NATIONAL FEB. TEMPERATURE INDEX
PRECIPITATION	NATIONAL FEB. PRECIPITATION INDEX