Meteorological winter ends; one for the records
Although there are still some flakes in the forecast, the three-month meteorological winter ended at midnight last night. So it's a good time to add up the damage and answer some questions I've already been getting from readers.
SNOWFALL BY MONTH:
December: 23.2 inches (Average: 1.7 inches)
January: 7.5 inches (Average: 7.0 inches)
February: 49.7 inches (Average: 6.4 inches)
Seasonal total*: 80.4 inches (Average: 18.2 inches)
*Through Feb. 28
WINTER SUPERLATIVES (for Baltimore):
Snowiest winter: Old record: 62.5 inches in 1995-96
Snowiest December: Old record: 20.4 inches in 1966-67
Wettest December: (8.06 inches melted precip.) Old record: 7.44 inches in 1969
Snowiest February: Old record: 40.5 inches in 2002-03
Snowiest month: Old record: 40.5 inches in 2002-03
DAYS WITH AT LEAST 1 INCH OF SNOW AT BWI-MARSHALL:
December: 3
January: 2
February: 6
SNOWIEST DATE OF WINTER (Midnight to midnight): Dec. 19, 2009: 20.5 inches
BIGGEST STORMS (at BWI Marshall):
Dec. 18-19, 2009: 21.1 inches
Feb. 5-6, 2010: 24.8 inches*
Feb. 9-10, 2010: 19.5 inches
* estimated due to measuring error at BWI
And, just for the record, here's how AccuWeather.com, back in October, predicted the winter would turn out.
And here's a bit of how the National Weather Service predicted it in an October story in The Sun: Looking back over previous winters in the Baltimore-Washington area during El Nino events, Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Climate Prediction Center, said, "If you add all the years together there is a tendency for above-average snow ... We've seen with El Nino winters[like this one] a couple of years with absolutely no snow in this area. But we've also seen winters with some record-breaking snows. It's a feast-or-famine type of situation."
I guess we got the feast, Mike.
(SUN PHOTOS/Frank Roylance)
Comments
Amazing numbers. Curious as to how February ended up for the month in regards to average temperature.
FR: February ended with an average temperature at BWI of 30.9 degrees. That is 4.6 degrees below the long-term average for a February in Baltimore. Only six days met or exceeded the daily averages. February 2010 ranks now as the fifth-coldest February for Baltimore in the last 40 years. (Both 2007 and 2003 had colder Februaries.) The all-time record-cold February here is 24.3 degrees, in 1934.
Posted by: Steve J. | March 1, 2010 11:11 AM
Goodbye winter...thanks for the memories.
LOL to all who've bought snow blowers and snow mobiles, etc. because we probably won't have a snowfall over 6 in. in the next 5 years.
Posted by: Eve Redman | March 1, 2010 11:23 AM
Wait, wait... what are those green things? ;)
Posted by: kam | March 1, 2010 4:34 PM
Great read by Bastardi, and great additional tidbit by stormydayfriend in the comments regarding the NAO. What a Winter. I just got back from Hawaii, and I can't tell you how much I hate snow and cold right now. Two weeks of shorts and tanks'll do that to anyone.
Frank. I "live-blogged" the tsunami non-event on Facebook, if you're interested: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1271086323 Scroll down a little bit, I've got a whole series of posts about the events as they were unfolding Saturday morning in Maui. It was surreal, to say the least.
Posted by: Gregory Hill | March 1, 2010 11:06 PM
Hi Frank, What is this nonsense about meteorological winter ending on April 31st?
Parts of Maryland have been hit by very large snowstorms in March. The famous "Blizzard of 1888" was on March 11-12. Also there were large snows in 1867; March 15-18, 1892; March 3-4, 1909; March 24, 1924; March 29, 1942 was the "Palm Sunday Snow Storm"; and last but not least March 1-2, 2009. All but two of these storms occurred before the Vernal Equinox. Still winter in my book. Let's not put those snow shovels away quite yet!
Jim Dawson, Trappe, Md.
FR: Assume you meant Feb. 28. Heck, we've had snow in April, even a trace in May. I guess those storms you list would be considered spring storms by the meteorologists.
Posted by: James Dawson | March 2, 2010 10:59 AM