In 'game' of winter, below normal wins

Let's take a look at temperatures for the Winter of 2014-15 as if it were a sporting event. The two teams fighting for the title are "Below Normal" and "Above Normal." They will play each other 90 times (the number of days from Dec. 1 through Feb. 28). For the sake of character brevity, we will henceforth refer to the "Above Normal" team as "A" and the "Below Normal" team as "B".

The As jumped off to a 4-0 lead, and maintained that lead until Dec. 10 when the Bs tied them at 5.

The Bs then took the lead and kept it until Dec. 16 when the score was tied at 8-8.

The two teams traded punches for the next six days before the As took control on Dec. 23, reeling off seven consecutive victories for a 18-11 lead.

The Above Normal lead grew to 22-14 on Jan. 5, after which the only tie of the entire season took place on Jan. 6. In our game, we'll give no points for a tie, and the score remains 22-14.

The Bs closed the gap to one on Jan. 15, and again Jan. 17, but another losing skid allowed the As to take what appeared to be a commanding 32-24 lead on Jan. 26.

But the drama was only beginning. You see the Bs had the As right where they wanted them. They slowly but surely closed the gap, eventually tying the As on February 7 at 34.

The As fought back with consecutive victories to take a 36-34 lead on Feb. 9.

Then something happened that no meteorological athlete could have possibly foreseen. The As had won their last game. The Bs went on a tear, closing the season with 19 consecutive wins, resulting in a convincing 53-36 drubbing of the As.

It was truly one of the great turnarounds in the history of normalcy. Not only did the Bs finish with those 19 straight wins, they won 29 of the last 33 contests!

Who can forget the night the Bs clinched the title? It was Feb. 20, and the champagne was flowing.

When interviewed that night, the Bs manager, "Negative Anomaly," said, "No one knows how hard we worked to build that 500 millibar ridge in Western North America which in turn deepened the trough in the Eastern United States. This was a team effort, and we are proud as we can be!"

"Positive Anomaly," the As manager tendered his resignation on March 1.