North American snow cover at 3rd-highest level on record

Well, this has been quite a winter. It opened with a thread I'd done about 1,000 North American all time cold records being broken inside the same week, and it's closing with the 3rd highest snow cover in American history. Climate is taking many forms and change, many directions.

As of Tuesday, North America is covered by the third-highest amount of snow this late in the season since records began in 1966, according to NOAA's U.S. National Ice Center.

Only 1969 and 1978 had more snow cover at this point in the year, according to Sean Helfrich of NOAA's National Ice Center.

That's a lot of snow!

As for the U.S. alone, over 50% of the nation is snow-covered, the most for March 5 in at least the last 10 years.

Great Lakes ice extent is also very high: 91% of the Great Lakes are ice covered, the second-highest percentage on record.

Source

Someone turn up the heater! It's coooooold out there!

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I was just talking with my g/f about this last night. Here in NW AR, we've had 5 snowstorms this year. I've read that a colder North America can mean a warmer SW Asia. Push and pull; like a good game of chess.
Anyways it's truly an honor to be able to put my first post in a thread of yours, Wrabbit. I've read your posts and comments for over 2 years as a lurker. Carry on, good sir.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Snow in my area is about normal but the cold is hanging on quite strong .NE . I feel a bit sorry for my southern neighbors who dont usually get this much cold for this long .Spring is not too far off and then the grass to mow and the bugs to swat .

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


This certainly has been the coldest winter in North Carolina since I moved here 17 years ago. Normally at this time of year I am getting the vegetable garden ready for planting, but it looks like that will have to wait a few more weeks.

Another thing I noticed about this winter is that the numbers of wintering over birds is higher this year where I live. I really enjoy seeing the Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Dark-eyed Juncos and White-Throated Sparrows. I've made sure that my feeders stay stocked this winter.

Please somebody, turn up the heat. In my 50+ years I do not recall the cold ever sticking around for this long. We would have cold spells but they would only last a week or so then the melt would happen then re-do. The worst week/s of the year were usually in February, mid to late. This one has been since the first of January and we are still cold, -12 C as the low and -5 for a high. The snow has not even had a chance to melt and we have had plenty of it.

I remember last summer it we had a frost the morning of July 1st weekend, that is late, really late even for Southwestern Ontario. We had a community yard sale that weekend and all the roofs were covered with frost as was the grass. There is a little warm up coming in the next few days, but nothing that is going to make a dent in these snow piles. The long range indicates it is going to only be at or below freezing until the 20th of March with at least 6 days of snow as well. brrrrrr.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Tell ya this ... I'm on the other side of the Earth from ya. This is the mildest winter I can remember in Korea (about the same latitude as Maryland). Seems like all the arctic cold came pouring down on your side of the world this year. I don't miss it a bit ... but I feel for you folks on the home front.

-Cheers

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Melt from the snowpack is going to be ugly here (Montana). In my specific area there is going to be at least minor flooding that will start this weekend and go off and on into May maybe June. If we have a rainy spring (which I suspect we will), then it is going to be bad. Really bad. On par or worse than 2011 when the local river crested at an all time high and 1/3 of the town was flooded, we had to evacuate our home (outside of town) three times, and could only reach it to check on it by hiking cross country (the roads were flooded).

reply to post by redhorse


I hope that melt off isn't too bad. I recall a couple years of severe Spring flooding since I first came into the Midwest in the 90's and it can be ugly, to be sure. That would be just about right though, wouldn't it? I mean given how things have been going lately. Why not?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


While weather like this happens, the frequency of severe weather has been excessive in the last few years. In 2010 a huge tornado tore off the roof of the Metra in downtown Billings (about 40 miles from us, but we still saw the brunt of that storm), in 2011 there was that monumental local flood I spoke of, and in 2012 everything was on fire. I spotted the Dahl fire (huge fire) maybe 2 hours after it started and we evacuated the horses and our daughter to my folks for that one. The second fire (which was closer but smaller) we just waited and sat on the front porch and watched the planes dump on it.

While to a point there is a cycle; we have a wet year and everything grows like mad and then the next year it burns but as I said, the severity and frequency is unusual. 2013 was quiet and I finally got some things done, but it looks like here we go again. It's just bang, bang, bang one weather mess after the other... Local Infrastructure is just not set up to handle this; these are old earth berm/rammed earth dams and levees and part of the reason why the town flooded at all is because the levee broke, twice. It might be okay if we could restructure and plan for that river cresting at 15 or even 20 feet instead of 11, and more efficient drainage systems than "Oh it doesn't go across the road very often, we can manage". I don't know where that money is supposed to come from though. If some of the folks around here at ATS are right about HAARP and it affects the weather they want us to friggin MOVE out of Montana I'll tell you what.

I've got pictures from the flood and the fire, but I don't know if folks would really care and I'm not sure how to post them.

Just wait until the summer. With all this snow melting, expect flooding, HIGH humidity, mosquito population to go through the roof, oh and probably rain, lots of rain.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Thanks for the info, Wrabbit2000
If this is the 3rd highest on record -- Where's Mine?
Have really enjoyed the multiple cool spells this season! Wish I/we could count on them every winter.
I remember 1978...having been 'stationed' in Idaho Falls, Idaho. It snowed my last day there - May 31st. And - that place did have a lot of snow (when I was there).

But, we beat the hoary winter back and thankfully, its spring now, a few days too late, perhaps a week later than it should have been. Yes it did the dirty deed of snowing lightly for us in the semi desert, the first couple days of March, but now its over, light rain rid us of that and the earth reached the right angle for spring, because the quality of light changed, and was more energized and spring like.

Want to add, my friend, told me that this year was a regular cycle of cold, when the sun changed polarities, so every 11-12 years, there was a cold longer winter.

Just for comparison, many of us in Britain have just experienced our first ever winter* with not one single flake of snow being observed! Officially the least snowy winter ever**

Bl**dy yanks pinched it all


* for meteorological purposes, northern hemisphere winter is 1st Dec - 28th Feb

** by which I mean in the last 4,600,000,000 years - albeit that some equally snowless winters have also occurred, though not recently

I still have varying depths in my yard, from a foot to about 4 feet, depending on where the wind and my shovelling put it.
It looks like the weather might start to warm up in the next week or two.

People need to learn to appreciate the snow. It's good for the ground. Replenishes the water levels.
It's a good thing.

Where I'm at, a record was set in late February for snowfall (beating out 1939). I know Kansas City recently broke a record from the 70's with freezing temps. I heard from friends back east things like "this is ridiculous" this winter. Family in California are suffering from not enough moisture. I suppose time will tell if these extremes will keep going at this pace. It might be good to have a lot of snow for fire season and growth but it also presents a flood risk so hoping those in these areas plan ahead.

In our area (western Kentucky) Spring is heralded by jonquils aka "March flowers" which usually show their first blooms as early as late February. I have seen them begin blooming in January if we were enjoying a mild winter. Right now, in what we've come to expect as a normal Spring, these flowers would be blooming in profusion by this time. Our wedding was held in the midst of a whole big patch of them on March 9, 1991 and we've never had a anniversary that they weren't in full bloom. As of this afternoon, the ones peeking above the snow still have very tightly curled buds. The majority are still under the melting snow.
But I would hasten to point out that the present snow is the first measurable snow we've had this season. We've had three ice storms followed by a dusting of snow but no snow storms until the present one. It was preceded by an inch of ice as well. I have hope that I will be able to get my car out of the driveway tomorrow, the first time in 8 days.
I was recently going through some old family photos and came across a picture of a birthday party held on January 15, 1955. Everyone in the photo was in short sleeves, even the baby. The party was held on the front porch. Pictures from 4 years later show the child standing in snow up to her waist, probably about 18" deep.
A dear friend who lives in Indiana now and I were talking about their winter. They've had snow almost constantly this year, the first time she has experienced a winter like she expected when she moved there 7 years ago. She observed that their winter has been more like the winters she remembers from her years growing up here in western Kentucky. We always had lots of snow, enough that we always had our sleds, skates, snow suits and all the other fun-making stuff for winter stored so that we could get to it easily. Our snowiest months were usually January and February when it wasn't at all unusual to miss two or more weeks of school due to roads being snowy.
Thanks for the post Wrabbit!

El Nino is coming back soon.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I'm writing this to all of you at 2:30 in the morning from a hotel room. (Sorry for the dramatic opening you can insert crashes of thunder if you would like). The flooding I spoke of has possibly come into fruition sooner than I expected. We got a knock on the door from the local police at about 10:20 p.m. telling us we should evacuate (that is a new one, last time they knocked on every door BUT ours. The only reason we knew was because we heard the sirens screaming up and down the road). This officer was informative and seemed genuinely rattled by what he saw of the river. He said we have two hours. After calling for some reinforcements from my farrier and his 16 year old son to help load four horses in the dark, on ice with flashing lights, sirens and people yelling. We did in fact get all four horses loaded. The first two were easy, but the last two... (one is notoriously argumentative about the trailer, and the other is a barely handled yearling filly who is scared of her own shadow) not so much. It was enough of a rodeo that my farrier did a pretty decent victory dance when we were done. A friend was gracious enough to let me keep my horses with her.

Well we had longer than two hours, and I personally suspected that this round of flooding would not be as bad, but better safe than sorry and I don't blame them for being gun shy after the last one in 2011. So my husband my daughter and I plus three dogs are in a hotel room praying that the local DES and law enforcement are wrong, and we will be able to go home tomorrow. But real life as it is happening disruption due to this crazy weather.