To gain better insight forecasting into the season ahead, looking to similar weather patterns of the past can suggest likelihoods of temperature and precipitation trends. Meteorologists look at monthly data from Dec - Jan - Feb to determine a winter season average and define that period of time as Meteorological Winter. An average winter in the Paducah and surrounding area shows an average temperature of 37 degrees (January being the coldest), average precipitation total of 12.18" and average snowfall of 9.0".

The National Weather Service in Paducah has historical data that covers eight of the past El Nino transitioning to neutral episodes in the past 75 years. This includes the Winter Seasons of 1952-1953, 1958-1959, 1991-1992, 1992-1993, 1994-1995, 2002-2003, 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. I have extracted those winter periods and their corresponding temperature/precipitation records. The results are shown on the two maps above. In a large majority of these episodes, temperatures averaged above normal. Precipitation was less convincing of any trend and resulted in being fairly close to average.
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TEMPERATURES: In two cases, 1951-1952 & 1991-1992, both winter seasons reached top 10 warmest of record for the Paducah area. In many of the winter cases, the preceding November also registered warmer than average. Alternatively, the following February averaged colder than average. It can be concluded that while the entire winter experience is milder than most, the end of winter is likely to become a little more harsh. The winter cases analyzed are shown in the graph to the left. Blue bars represent the recorded temperatures and the pink line represents the difference from the climate average shown in dark blue.

SNOWFALL: Snow chances each winter are always of most interest. It's a uniquely polarizing weather type....people either love or hate it! Three of the past winter cases set records as top 10 snowiest winters. 1992-1993, 2002-2003 and 2004-2005 had some big time snow events. While most cases registered below average snowfall for the season, only 1991-1992 measured a trace of snow, and also corresponded with the warmest season in this case. Overall, snow chances are most likely to remain close to average with an increased chance for bigger, single events.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be releasing it's Winter Weather Outlook by mid-October. I will post their outlook for comparison when it is released. Here is a look at what is summarized in the information I provided above. Here's hoping Winter will turn out just how you like it!