uncle W

the years with a good stretch of snow cover for Newark in December starting with 1945.. 1945 had snow on the ground from the 14th to the 25th...10" at some point on the 19th...Christmas morning came in with 4" on the ground...That was gone by the next morning from a rain storm.. 1947 had snow on the ground from the 23rd and beyond...1" on the ground Christmas morning...26" storm on the 26th...est. 26" on the 26th on the ground ... 1948 had snow on the ground from the 19th to the 30th...13" on the ground on the 19th...heavy rain ended that streak... 1951 had snow on the ground from the 14th-19th... 1957 had snow on the ground from the 3rd-7th and again from the 11th-14th...est 12" on the 4th... 1958 had a little on the ground from the 8th-15th... 1959 had snow on the ground from the 21st to 27th...3" was on the ground Christmas morning... 1960 had snow on the ground from the 11th-31st...20" on the ground on the 12th...2" on the ground Christmas morning... 1961 had snow on the ground from the 23rd to 31st...est, 10" on the ground on the 24th...8" was on the ground Christmas morning... 1962 had snow on the ground from the 21st to the 26th...2" on the ground Christmas morning... 1963 had snow on the ground from the 12th-16th and the 18th-31st...5" was on the ground Christmas morning...The 5th straight year with at least 2" of snow on the ground Christmas morning... the 23rd had at least 2" on the ground from 1959 to 1964...six straight years... 1966 had snow on the ground from the 21st to 31st...8" on the ground Christmas morning... 1969 from the 25th-31st...maybe a trace in spots Christmas morning... 1970 from the 22nd to the 28th...1" was on the ground Christmas morning... 1976 had snow on the ground from Christmas night to the 31st... 1980 had an inch on the ground from the 23rd-28th... 1995 had snow on the ground from the 19th-31st...4" was on the ground Christmas morning... 2002 had snow on the ground from the 5th-11th...a trace on the ground Christmas morning to 4" Christmas night... 2003 had snow on the ground from the 5th to the 10th...est 16" on the ground on the 6th...heavy rain ended that streak... 2005 from the 9th-15th... 2008 from the 19th-24th...brown Christmas... 2009 from the 19th-26th...4" on the ground Christmas morning... 2010 from the 26th-31st...est 24" on the 27th... 2013 from the 14th-20th...

NYC averaged 22.2 in Dec 1831......-2.7 lower than the lowest December in Central Park...Average came from Fort Columbus on Governors Island NY...I found a daily record from Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn NY...Highs and lows are the morning observation and afternoon observation...Highs and lows could be a little higher or lower each day... day max...min...snow...depth... 01... 32.....23.....T.......1" 02... 32.....23.....0.......1" 03... 26.....22.....0.......1" 04... 30.....20.....2"......3" 05... 25.....14.....0.......3" 06... 25.....15.....0.......3" 07... 26.....14.....0.......3" 08... 28.....20.....0.......3" 09... 32.....24.....0.......3" 10... 30.....20.....0.......2" 11... 35.....20.....0.......1" 12... 27.....18.....0.......1" 13... 25.....16.....0.......1" 14... 23.....17.....1"......2" 15... 21.....13.....2"......4" 16... 25.....11.....0.......4" 17... 26.....11.....T.......4" 18... 17.......9.....0.......4" 19... 26.....18.....0.......4" 20... 26.....18.....0.......4" 21... 38.....24.....0.......2" 22... 24.....10.....0.......2" 23... 24.......8.....0.......2" 24... 38.....26.....2"......2" might have started as rain... 25... 34.....26.....1"......2" White Christmas... 26... 30.....20.....1"......3" 27... 25.....18.....0.......3" 28... 29.....21...10"....13" 29... 33.....24.....0.....13" 30... 24.....13.....0.....13" 31... 32.....18.....2"....13" http://www.glenallenweather.com/ex9/Very%20Cold%20Periods%20in%20the%20Eastern%20US.pdf

1883 has the best week leading up to Christmas in NYC since 1869... 1883.....max...min...LE.....snow...depth mid night... 12/19.....37......23...0.60"...5.0"....5" 12/20.....24......21......0...…..0......5" 12/21.....29......21...0.35"...2.5"....7" 12/22.....25......10......0...…..0......7" 12/23.....10...….-1...0.01"...0.3"....7" 12/24.....31...…..7...0.80"...7.3"....14" 12/25.....31......28...0.38"...5.0"....18"

most of the years with a very negative ao/nao in December had above average snowfall in NYC or a white Christmas...years like 2010...2009...2000...1995...1966...1963...1961...

NYC's greatest winters since 1957......1957-58...1960-61...1963-64...1966-67...four in ten years... the next great winter was 1977-78...one in 26 years until 1993-94 ...1995-96 was the greatest...next was 2002-03..three in ten years....2009-10 and 2010-11...2013-14...2014-15...four in six years...there are many good to very good winters not mentioned...between my 18th birthday and my 44th there was only one great winter...many of those years were painfull if you wanted snow...

light wet snow still falling...

you mean like 35" in 1917-18...3.8" in 1918-19 and then 50" in 1919-20?...

you mean there will be palm trees next to the Welcome to NY signs on the George Washington Bridge like they have on I95 entering Florida?...I think the palms start in South Carolina on 95 so they are heading north...

yeah...snowfall averages have gone uo except for the last two years...

it wasn't bad for the driest period on record...it was a colder era which helps...Newark had at least 2" of snow on the ground Christmas morning from 1959-1963...If you use Dec 21st add in 1964...

I had a back yard like that in Brooklyn that was facing SW...the house was painted white which magified the Sun in the afternoon...not to mention the reflection from the windows...you have to add on a few degrees on average for that and it made the growing season a little longer there...

the pattern is not that great but not as bad as it could be... the game starts for me in two weeks...anything before that is an exhibition unless its something like Dec 12th 1960...

we did get a noreaster and seasonably cold air with the neg ao thats going on now...there was some snow way north of here...later on in the season I can see a snowstorm that started as rain if we see a storm like Fridays a month or two later...

NYC got zero or below in Jan 1976...1977...Feb 1979...Dec 1980...Jan 1982...1985...1984 just missed...13 degrees max Christmas day...

after 1995-96 the winter of 1996-97 felt the worse for me...the following year was the worst or one of them...98-99 was very bad too...

the blizzard of 1964 was a long cold storm with winds and drifting...the blizzard of 96 was the best one of all...some short storms a foot or more... Feb 67 and Dec 2000...were less than 18 hours...Feb 1983 was another 18 hour storm... .

to bad there was no quick freeze...Ocean front is great as long as the Ocean is not on your front lawn...

the only proof they have is 100 proof...

mass transit today is still not as bad as the 1970's and early 80's...but it can get there if the decline is not stopped...the early 1980's had derailments like no other time...the mass is becoming a mess again...

most big snows melt or get washed away within a week to ten days...the storms and snow cover that last for weeks uaually have reinforcements down the line...the Kennedy inaugural storm was followed by over two straight weeks of sub freezing highs and another 22" before a thaw set in......

staten island got a foot on 3/21/18 and in early January...nothing beats 4/6/1982 for April storms...2018, 2003 and way back in 1956 NYC had a snowstorm 4" or more...

March 56 was the first for me...then Jan 1978... years between a 10" storm in NYC... March 1956...last time was Dec. 1948... January 1978...last time was Feb. 1969 March 1993...last time was Feb. 1983... December 2000...last time was Feb. 1996... last time was January 2016...

a screwy winter pattern can last six years like it did from 1949-50 to 1954-55...good thing they were the first six winters of my life...I barely remember 1954-55...

mid December is to far away to worry about a pattern change that has not happened yet...I still think the best week or weeks of winter will come in Feb... edit...I mean the pattern change before the pattern change...

there is some blocking in the forecast but nothing as extreme as those years...but then again the block doesn't need to be that strong...I'd like to see an ao at -4sd... lowest daily AO in December... 1950...-4.353...12/27...max/min 22/9 ...2.9" of snow on the 26th...biggest snow/coldest temp of the winter... 1952...-3.766...12/27...max/min 38/17..12 degrees 12/28...coldest of the winter...3" of snow 12/31... 1958...-3.814..,.12/22...max/min 29/12..cold dry...coldest temp of the month on the 22nd.. 1961...-3.959...12/26...max/min 39/30...6" of snow 12/23-24... 1962...-4.159...12/31...max/min 13/4.....coldet temp of the month... 1963...-4.470...12/20...max/min 26/11...coldest temp of the month...6.6" of snow 12/23-24... 1966...-4.147...12/13...max/min 37/31...rain and snow 12/13-14...7" of snow 12/24-25... 1968...-4.547...12/27...max/min 28/21...2" of light snow 12/27... 1969...-3.714...12/30...max/min 36/31...freezing rain 12/30-31... 1976...-5.287...12/29...max/min 32/20...2" of snow 12/28-29... 1978...-4.294...12/27...max/min 38/27...19 on 12/29...coldest for the month... 1995...-4.353...12/19...max/min 33/22...8" of snow 12/19-20... 2000...-4.688...12/29...max/min 30/17...12" of snow 12/30... 2009...-5.821...12/21...max/min 38/26...11" of snow 12/19-20... 2010...-5.265...12/18...max/min 36/28...cold dry till 20" of snow 12/26-27... 2012...-3.902...12/8.....max/min 50/44...rain and mild...