How's Your Winter Going? Options

[North Dakota Lif...]

I live in Northeast North Dakota (Grand Forks) and we've had a solid winter so far. We set a record for snowfall in December and we've had our usual number of Arctic invasions (we got down to -38 one morning this month). Not a spectacular winter, but not bad either.

[JLPB]

Well, if you like snow..........I live in the Pacific Northwest, an hour south of Spokane in Eastern Washington. Spokane set any number of records for snowfall in December, and considering it didn't even begin to snow until about the 12th..........and after being hammered with 75 inches in three weeks, once it stopped snowing, it stopped! After 7.5 inches on the 5th of January and 0.4 inches on the 6th, Spokane has gotten exactly 1.3 inches total. Talk about getting all your snow at once! Average for Spokane for the entire winter is about 45 inches. They are at about 80 with February and March yet to go. (I should add April, as there is an average of one inch of snow for Spokane in April). And it's been cold, too......as low as -18.

As for me personally, where I live we've probably gotten little more than half of Spokane's total snowfall. I know one day while they got 8.3 inches, we had rain pouring down all day. And I don't think it's gotten below zero here.....right at zero is as low as I've seen it. We even had a couple of days approach 60 degrees in mid-January, at least according to the bank signs.

If Spokane just gets its average amount of snowfall for the rest of the winter, the record of 93.7 inches which has held for almost 60 years will fall.

For three weeks, it was the Winter From heck........totally overwhelming. Since then.....dull.....dreary.....chilly. No major storms on the horizon.

This post has been edited by JLPB: Jan 29 2009, 10:08 AM

[Patrick Kerber]

Thus far, this winter in Seattle has been a mixed bag, with November being warmer (+4.0F) than normal and wetter (6.52" total and .62 above normal), and no snow (normal is 1.1").

December temps were below normal (-3.8F) with total precip of 4.10", which was 1.52" below normal. the big story, though was the snow, which occurred in several events and totaled 13.9". Normal for Dec. is 2.5". Seattle and environs is ill equipped to handle over an inch or two of snow and havoc was wreaked on the highways for those who dared to venture out.

Thus far January is cooler and wetter than normal (5.38" so far) with 3.9" of snow having fallen thus far.

I have to admit, however, that I was in San Diego until January 3rd and again from January 9-13. Temps alternated between cool 40s and 50s to several episodes of 80's and even 90 degrees on January 12, when my aunt and I ate outside at a local restaurant. But it's good to be home in Seattle!

[so_whats_happeni...]

Well its been a pretty good winter by me so far. January was so cold. Went below zero one morning (-2)
We have had our ups and downs in temps this whole time period too. In october we got our first snow 1.5" Throughout december it was rough but we got snow here and there. Than came january with mainly cold temps but our best chance was from overunning events. And just recently we got 6" of snow. This now brings our total to 21" for the season and our average is just under 2 feet (23") so far pretty good. As long as we hit our average thats all that matters. Anything above that makes the season even greater.

[WNYLakeEffect]

Since we're about 1/2 way through, here's how it's gone:
OCTOBER
Winter started VERY late this year. The first snowfall was around that big end of October storm, when normally we get our first snow in the first week or two of the month. October was snow-dry, not a great start to winter.
NOVEMBER
November started almost HOT. Election day was short-sleeve and shorts weather, but that quickly ended. Our first 3"+ snowfall occured on November 13th. On the 16th, we were pounded with 14 inches, some areas recieving 30. The 22nd had very heavy snow, with 8 inches falling in less than 3 hours. The lake snow bombardment continued the rest of the month, with constant snow cover from about the 13th on.
SNOW TOTAL=45 inches in 17 days
December
December sucked, need I say more? The first week and half continued with the November pattern, but by early mid-month, our snow-streak crumbed into dust. On December 10th, we lost enought of our snowcover for me to call the end of the 27 day snowcover, which is impressive for early winter. The December 19th storm was the biggest bust I've ever seen, I was forecasted to get well over a foot and got 5 inches and RAIN. That was until the Pre-XMas LES storm. It was all over the news, they were forecasting well over 20 inches for me, with Blizzard conditions. Guess what? It stayed well north in the Southtowns and Southern Buffalo Metro. I only recieved 12 inches(barely). At the end of the month, there was ANOTHER forecasting bust, but I'm sick of talking about the busts, so I'll move onto January, a much happier month.
SNOW TOTAL=45 inches
January
Couldn't have asked for a better month. the first few days were very similar to December, but that disappeared. January 8-9 featured the biggest Lake Effect Event I've ever recorded, 22 inches. It was very much a surprise storm because it wasn't expected to be very big and 1/2 through it, it was thought to be over. I ended up recieving an additional 13 inches. It continued to snow and on January 20th, it snowed harder than I've ever seen it before. It had to be over 5 inches per hour, amazing. Finally, finally, on the 28th I got my long awaited 1'+ synoptic storm, getting 13 inches. FINALLY!!!! By far, the best month of the year, with plenty of snow and EXTREME cold (Wind Chill reached something like -31*F one morning )
SNOW TOTAL=60 inches, the snowiest month yet

This year's snow total so far(4-2-09)-151 inches
FINAL end of the year prediction- 185 inches (We will see )

[GiveMeSnow]

Not too good here in Central Maryland (Baltimore), for snow lovers its been a nightmare. About 1-2 inches all this winter season and none of those inches are from one storm but dustings from many missed snow events.

[Mike W IN herkim...]

Here in upstate ny, the winter has been just like u would expect it to be.. I recieved around 10 inches in nov, 45 in dec and a crappy 25 in jan.. I hope feb and march can bring some good snows, as i thought i would make it to 150 this yr due to dec being pretty good.. I guess i will have to be happy with about 120

[LoganTyler]

Breakdown for Maine, NY thus far. Took a few minutes to setup a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (complete with all formulas to make for easy computations) at the beginning of the year to chart the snowfall progression this year, and here is where I stand at a glance up thru yesterday (Click to Enlarge makes it easier to read). Any new snowfall for a day is added within 24 hours of that day. The snowfall tracker in my signature is also updated the same time the Workbook gets updated.

1st Column- Observed snowfall by month thru the last full day (February 3, 2009)
2nd Column- Average snowfall by month thru the end of the current month (February)
3rd Column- Average snowfall by month thru Winter Season (October-May)
4th Column- Current Surplus/Deficit by month thru end of current month (February)
5th Column- Total Surplus/Deficit for by month for the entire Winter Season (October-May)

 Snowfall_2008_2009.png ( 1.38MB ) Number of downloads: 2


As you can see, it has been a great year thus far. In each of the 1st 4 months of the Winter Season (October-January), there has been an observed surplus in each month. This has led to a Total Surplus of 15.8" heading into February.

For comparison and hypothetically speaking, if I were to go the rest of February without observing another flake, I would still head into March on a Year-to-Date Surplus of 0.3". Let's hope THAT doesn't happen.

This post has been edited by LoganTyler: Feb 4 2009, 11:25 PM

[TheWatch]

Well, for awhile we were in the middle of this weird weather pattern where one day it would get cold enough to snow (but it would never actually snow, this is CA after all) and then the next day it would be 80 degrees. It made things harder for all, and really made the cold bug go get around. Now we're in the middle of our rainy season. In Fedbruary, it always rains near constantly for about two weeks and then we pretty much get no precipitation for the rest of the year. I think we're a little ahead on rainfall this year because we got a freak storm back in december, but still it's been expectedly but sadly dry. What I wouldn't give for a major thunder storm! Maybe I'll have to go to TX.

[SnowMan11]

Had a great winter this year. Received 30 inches of snow. Could of been a lot more but La Nina ruined it again. Hopefully no more La Nina after this winter.

[wxdude1964]

Another below average winter here in western VA. Less snow and rain, and slightly warmer than normal. Here is the breakdown-

Oct 2008- 1.34 precip, T of snow, high temp 80 on the 14th, low temp 25 on 20th, +1.9 average temp.

Nov 2008- 2.28 precip, 2.6 of snow, high temp 70 on 7th, low temp 13 on 23rd, (-3.1) average temp.

Dec 2008- 2.98 precip, .8 of snow, high temp 67 on 27th, low temp 6 on 22nd, +2.9 average temp.

Jan 2009- 2.97 precip, 1.9 of snow, high temp 59 on 4th, low temp (-7) on 17th, (-0.3) average temp.

Feb 2009- 1.17 precip, 2.7 of snow, high temp 65 on 10th, low temp 4 on 5th, +2.1 average temp.

Mar 2009- 2.01 precip, 5.0 of snow, high temp 75 on 7th, low temp 4 on 4th, +2.0 average temp.
(thru 23rd)
Totals- 12.75 inches of precip (about 4 inches low of average), 13.0 inches of snow (almost half of 26.6 inch avg), highest temp 80 degrees, lowest temp (-7) degrees, average temp +1.0 above average for period. These numbers are from my personal records I've collected over past 23 years. I'll complete March and report full month later.

This post has been edited by wxdude1964: Mar 24 2009, 09:14 AM

[wxdude1964]

Another below average winter here in western VA. Less snow and rain, and slightly warmer than normal. Here is the breakdown-

Oct 2008- 1.34 precip, T of snow, high temp 80 on the 14th, low temp 25 on 20th, +1.9 average temp.

Nov 2008- 2.28 precip, 2.6 of snow, high temp 70 on 7th, low temp 13 on 23rd, (-3.1) average temp.

Dec 2008- 2.98 precip, .8 of snow, high temp 67 on 27th, low temp 6 on 22nd, +2.9 average temp.

Jan 2009- 2.97 precip, 1.9 of snow, high temp 59 on 4th, low temp (-7) on 17th, (-0.3) average temp.

Feb 2009- 1.17 precip, 2.7 of snow, high temp 65 on 10th, low temp 4 on 5th, +2.1 average temp.

Mar 2009- 2.01 precip, 5.0 of snow, high temp 75 on 7th, low temp 4 on 4th, +2.0 average temp.
(thru 23rd)
Totals- 12.75 inches of precip (about 4 inches low of average), 13.0 inches of snow (almost half of 26.6 inch avg), highest temp 80 degrees, lowest temp (-7) degrees, average temp +1.0 above average for period. These numbers are from my personal records I've collected over past 23 years. I'll complete March and report full month later.

EDIT:
Almost forgot to update this!
March totals- 3.53 precip , 6.8 of snow, high temp 75 on 7th, low temp 4 on 4th, + 1.6 average temp.

Totals for winter season- 14.27 inches of precip (about 2.5 below normal), 14.8 inches of snow (about half of average), highest temp 80 degrees, lowest temp (-7) degrees, average temp +.9 above average for period. Again, these are my numbers from personal records I've kept for past 23 years.

This post has been edited by wxdude1964: Apr 7 2009, 08:43 AM

[Removed_Member_wfreeck_*]

Had a great winter this year. Received 30 inches of snow. Could of been a lot more but La Nina ruined it again. Hopefully no more La Nina after this winter.

Yeah, a weak El Nino will disrupt my winter next winter.

[SnowMan11]

Yeah, a weak El Nino will disrupt my winter next winter.

Looks like we will be heading into a El Nino winter. Signs are pointing to that.

[GeorgiaGirl]

Looks like we will be heading into a El Nino winter. Signs are pointing to that.

Question, does that mean more snow for the entire East? I'm confused .

[Removed_Member_wfreeck_*]

Looks like we will be heading into a El Nino winter. Signs are pointing to that.

Eh...

[Felixfree]

Today is 18 Jun and we still feel cold. Giveme my summer!!!!!

[so_whats_happeni...]

Ohhhh... ill tell you how my winter has been going! It ended... yea thats how its going. In my head though i still keep picturing the flakes falling from the sky!

[LetItSnowInPhill...]

Tylor....I'm south of you and my winter is still going....

[Aidan]

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