As far as the snow season goes, we've got off to an average start through December. Compared to last year, we're ahead of last December's data and ahead of last season's totals on some metrics. That says a lot more about how exceptional last season was with its amazingly low snowfall.
January was a bit of an upside down month. It was both warmer than average, suggesting a northerly storm track, but the southern stations received more snow, suggesting a southerly storm track. The most notable storm in Penacook was 1.1 inch of sleet, freezing rain, and more sleet. Then some more rain and freezing weather to turn it into armor plating. It's quite rare to get that much sleet from one storm here.
The main feature in February was not snow, but warmth, with five days in the 50s and three in the 60s, all in the second half of the month. My maximum snow cover for the season reached 19" on the 13th, and was down to a trace at the end of the month. Mt Mansfield reached 102" on the 17th, and lost 40" from the by the end of the month.
March's script appears to have been switched with February. No days in the 60s, local maxima kept getting colder, more lows below 10F, and the average temperature was colder than February and nearly as cold as January. A snow storm that straddled March and April brought me 12.3" and several comments on it being the 20th anniversary of the April Fool's day blizzard in Massachusetts.
Snow doesn't last long in April, and that storm melted by the 5th bringing what should be the end of our snow season. On the other hand, cool and wet weather in the last two weeks is expected to continue into May. May 9th is the 40th anniversary of one of the biggest May snow storms in southern New England, but we aren't expecting a repeat of that.
Location | October | November | December | January | February | March | April | May | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | |
Fairhaven MA | 2.6 | 2 | 22.7 | 17 | 12.4 | 46 | 8.7 | 16 | ||||||||
Marlboro MA | 10.7 | 12 | 11.2 | 21.5 | 23 | 148.5 | 14.5 | 94 | 1.5 | 4 | ||||||
Pepperell MA | 0.2 | 0 | 19.4 | 79 | 12.9 | 69 | 33.9 | 269 | 22 | 106 | 4.6 | 15 | ||||
Poland Spring ME | 2.8 | 6 | 31.9 | 155 | 8.4 | 240 | 45.4 | 483 | 17.9 | 290 | 8.7 | 57 | ||||
Bow NH | 29 | 172 | 12.1 | 262 | 30.7 | 462 | 23.1 | 321 | ||||||||
Bristol NH | 1.9 | 1.9 | 26.8 | 186.2 | 8 | 344 | 28.2 | 488.5 | 22.9 | 118.5 | 12 | 12.7 | ||||
Penacook NH | 0.2 | 0 | 24.5 | 152 | 9.7 | 183 | 20.3 | 265 | 20.3 | 86.5 | 6.5 | 27 | ||||
Mt. Mansfield VT | 11.5 | 89 | 18.1 | 152 | 53.2 | 1091 | 25.9 | 1661 | 43.3 | 2270 | 50.2 | 2577 | 10.3 | 2448 | 1.8 | 702 |
Location | Snowfall | Depth Days | Persistence Quotient |
---|---|---|---|
Fairhaven MA | 46.4 | 81 | 1.7 |
Marlboro MA | 60.9 | 280 | 4.6 |
Pepperell MA | 93 | 538 | 5.8 |
Poland Spring ME | 115.1 | 1231 | 10.7 |
Bow NH | 94.9 | 1217 | 12.8 |
Bristol NH | 99.8 | 1151.8 | 11.5 |
Penacook NH | 81.5 | 713.5 | 8.8 |
Mt. Mansfield VT | 214.3 | 10990 | 51.3 |
Name | Location |
---|---|
Dennis Bollea | Fairhaven MA |
Wayne Cotterly | Poland Spring ME |
Steve Gunn | Bristol NH |
Paul Hansen | Marlboro MA |
Jim Hilt | Bow NH |
Paul Venditti | Pepperell MA |
Ric Werme | Penacook NH |
I think depth days is a great statistic, and I'm surprised that it is catching on slowly outside of the NE Weather Spotters mail list. I never expected that the NWS would embrace it quickly, but I had hoped that TV meteorologists would start using it, in monthly summaries, if nothing else. It would be nice if ski areas would use it, but they may not wish to if they are not likely to be #1 consistantly. (And if only one area reports depth days, it would not be a good comparative statistic.) The University of Vermont has graphs of snow depths at Stowe through many seasons.