snow drought

it is a bit chilly here on the south end of the inland sea..and from the ex-industrial field behind the big box stores to my back yard it has been pretty dry as well...the average winter snowfall in these parts is around twenty-seven inches..the micro-climate of my back yard has logged something a bit over five since novenber...and since the ambient air temperature has insisted on climbing above the freezing point of water with ( what would have been startling regularity a few years ago...but not now ) every other week, most of what has fallen has melted...there is an alberta clipper on the way which promises some accumulation...we'll see...the meteorologists hereabouts have been concocting horror stories of "winter weather advisories" for months to no avail...their appeals to the heavens mostly unanswered...this dearth of snow is laid at the feet of the omnipotent "el nino" by the current conventional wisdom of said meteorologists...i am thinking that the strength of this "el nino" is drawn from broader climatic issues...i also wonder what this dearth of precipitation means for water tables. spring planting, and the possibility of a summer drought..the last one was in 2012...neither the gardens or i were happy about it...no doubt we will see soon enough whether there is a repeat.