Some places received more snow than others during the winter storm

New York State received 55.8 inches of Snow over the Last Three Months of the “Bomb Cyclone” on Dec. 31, 2001

A winter storm that wreaked havoc across the nation over the last week brought a combination of snow and frigid conditions to a large portion of the country.

The storm was nicknamed a “bombcyclone” as it moved over the Great Lakes and brought all kinds of weather conditions. New York state in particular saw heavy snowfall that stranded even emergency vehicles and caused widespread outages.

The city in western New York got a whopping 55.8 inches of snow this month. The last time Buffalo has received this much snow in a monthly period was back in December 2001, with a whopping 82.7 inches.

Near Watertown, Copenhagen, a village in New York’s Lewis County, was buried in snow. The snowplows had a hard time navigating the roads because it was so difficult.

The Michigan area had a daily maximum snowfall of over 10 inches on Sunday. This beats the old record of 8 inches received back on December 25, 1992.

Early-Spring Record-Cleanth Impacts Climate in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern U.S. Cities and Regions

Brad Rippey, aWeatherman with the US Department of Agriculture, told CNN that spring is coming early in much of the Southern and Eastern US. “Here in the mid-Atlantic, that means everything from budding trees to crocuses in bloom to spring peepers making lots of noise — and in February, no less.”

In the more than 100 years of records, Charleston, West Virginia, had only hit 80 degrees three times in the past century. With this week’s warm weather, it will mean that four of the last six years will have temperatures of at least 80 degrees in February, which is their normal high on June 1.

Seager said that the possibility of human-made climate change is increasing the likelihood of strange weather. More damage can be brought if it goes on.

On the Great Lakes, ice coverage reached a record low for this time of the year — the same time that the annual maximum extent of ice usually occurs. The ice cover of the lakes was only 7 percent covered as of last week, which is much lower than the 35 to 40% expected in the middle of February.

The decline in Great Lakes ice each winter may not seem like it has any harmful impact, but that ice acts as a buffer for large, wind-driven waves in the winter, scientists have reported. Without the ice, the coastlines are more susceptible to erosion and flooding.

Ayumi Fujisaki-Manome, a research scientist at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research at the University of Michigan, said low ice coverage could also set the stage for another severe lake-effect snow storm like the one Buffalo, New York, experienced in December.

The lake surface water can be absorbed by storm systems and fall to the ground as snow, according to Fujisaki-Manome.

At Vermont’s Lake Champlain, the annual ice fishing tournament was cancelled last weekend when three fishermen died after falling through the ice. One man’s body was found hours after he was expected to return home from the lake, while the other two died after their utility vehicle broke through the ice.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/23/us/early-spring-record-warmth-impacts-climate/index.html

The Northeast Has a Warmer Winter, and Canada is Warmer than Ever: An Empirical Study of the Impact of Temperatures in the Early Stages of Climate Change

Burlington, Vermont, had its warmest January since 1884, while Montpelier had its warmest January since 1948, according to the Burlington National Weather Service.

Robert Wilson, a professor of geography and environment at Syracuse University, said the Northeast as a whole is now a “fast-warming region,” with winter seasons warming faster than summers due to the climate crisis.

“In coming decades, winter — as most people understand it — will get shorter and warmer, with less snow and more rain,” Wilson said. Snowmobiles, cross-country skiing, and downhill skiing are threatened by this.

In many parts of the country the plants are in bloom much earlier than usual, a sign that spring is around the corner.

Daffodils, forsythia, and cherry blossoms are just some of the plants that are beginning to leave the East. Theresa said the plants are responding to very early warm temperatures.

Exposure to chill in the winter, exposure to warmth in the spring, and day length are some factors that plants respond to in order to wake up in the spring.

“As nice as it feels to have temperatures in the 70s and 80s this time of year, the fact that it’s not ‘normal’ can have a profound impact on the ecosystem,” Rippey said. It is possible to damage fruit crops that have been bloomed by late-winter warmth.

India issued its first heatwave alert, with temperatures in some states reaching 39 degrees Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) – up to 9 degrees Celsius (16.2 Fahrenheit) above normal, according to data released by the India Meteorological Department on Monday.

“The heatwave warnings as early as February is a scary situation,” Krishna AchutaRao, a professor at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, told CNN.

In order to monitor the impact of rising temperatures on wheat crops, India has formed a committee.

Europe had an extreme winter that broke January temperature records in several countries. Concerns about the region’s rivers and lakes has arisen because of low levels of snow and rain.

The River Po in northern Italy is fed by snow from the Alps and the lake has reached an all-time low. There are fears Italy, which declared a state of emergency last year after its worst drought in 70 years, may face another drought.