I still find it hard to believe that PVD got 7.0" on May 9-10, 1977. I can't even imagine what that much snow would look like with fully leafed green trees. Not even October 2011 produced even close to that much snow around here. I wonder what the return period is for May 1977. Probably like a 500 year event.
I went to Alaska for two weeks last September. I wanted to go in the winter but I'm not especially fond of extended sub zero temperatures. But with their near record snowfall and the ratter that its been so far here I kind of regret that decision. Buffalo, NY would probably be a better place to visit. Not as cold but still lots of snow.
I took a trip up there last September (early September) and it was already snowing up in Healy! I didn't want to come back lmao I should have spent this winter up there.
Yep some people never learn lmao People get way too emotionally invested and it clouds their judgment. Models aren't even close to being accurate and people are already throwing out the next 2+ weeks.
We have had lots of late season biggies in the past. Not saying that will happen this year but the potential is definitely there. Sucks that it won't stick around for long but it's better than nothing at this point. I mean, March 1956 happened so ya never know.
I've noticed that for some reason its extremely difficult to get big snowstorms on days that are abnormally cold. Typically we only get clipper systems when its super cold. I'm assuming that this is due to cold air generally having less ambient moisture? These are the top five coldest days (by average temperature) in which PVD received six or more inches of snowfall:
1). 01/16/1965 - 8.0F - 6.4 in
2). 01/22/2005 - 12.5F - 7.0 in
3). 02/07/1967 - 13.5F - 7.3 in
4). 01/10/1942 - 14.5F - 6.8 in
5). 01/20/1961 - 15.0F - 8.2 in
People always talk about 2011-12, but at least that season had 7.6" on January 21 and then 80s and summer-like in March. These past couple seasons have had no redeeming qualities.
That's right I forgot about Dec 1981 that was another big one here. March 1984 turned to rain so we had about 3 inches of cement and yeah Feb 1989 was big on the Cape for sure.
Yeah the only big ones in the 80s I can think of were April 1982, Feb 1983, Jan 1987 and Nov 1989. So if the same holds true for us now, we might only get four big ones in the 2020s also? Jan 2022 counts as one in my area.
So when do you think things will finally change back to snowy for us? I mean, even the 80s had some big snowstorms so something has to break right eventually, no? Maybe have to wait until next season?
Yeah it's crazy how we have had so much precipitation and yet so little of it has fallen as snow. The 1980s were dry but that's pretty much the only difference when it comes down to results. Maybe the 2030s change back to snowy again like the 90s did?
I didn't realize that it was that rare for central and west areas to get that much. Has climo always favored eastern areas? It seems like even out east we get screwed a lot though. Storms that take a Dec 1992 type track and screw SE areas with rain.
I was going to mention this one as well. Beautiful sunny 60F on the 8th and I couldn't believe we were going to get that much snow the next day. Also April Fools Day comes to mind as well.
Lets start breaking some sort of records, whether its snow, cold, rain, or heat records I don't really care. I just want something interesting for a change.
This is what I mean, although I wish there was an easier way to customize records to exclude the cheap midnight highs. For instance MLK Day 2019 had a midnight high of 10F but daytime high was only 5F, Christmas 1980 had a midnight high of 35F but daytime high was -1F which is insane.
Really? That's surprising to me. I can only speak for PVD though. Both Valentines Day 2016 and 02/04/23 hit -9F at PVD. We also hit -6F on 01/16/04 and -5F on 02/21/15. For comparison, the last time we had a high temp below 10F was 01/16/94. So it just seems a lot more rare to get super cold highs around here.
It seems like it's a lot more difficult to get record low maxes than low mins. Low mins are much easier to set. I mean when was the last really impressive low max? Maybe MLK day 2019? 5F was the daytime high for PVD that day which was the coldest low max since "Cold Sunday" on 01/17/82 in which the day time high was 1F. Barring the cheap midnight highs of course.