Rating the Winter of 2014-2015

[WinterWxLuvr]

Perhaps a bit early. We could easily have another event or two, but most would consider that the cherry on top.

My feeling is that this was a good winter. Probably an 8 out of 10. We punted my favorite winter weather month, December, but came back strong with about 10 weeks of solid winter. Plenty of cold, lots of snow cover, frequent events. It's 3 straight for me with 30+, and counting....perhaps.

It was also a great winter on the forum. Many laughs, true family atmosphere here in the MA forum.

Hard to ask for much more (but always do.......our psychosis knows no bounds).

Post your thoughts of the winter here........whenever you think the time is appropriate.

[NorthArlington101]

It's hard for me to give this winter more then a 7/10 when we almost reached the top of the Winter Cancel Index. But it's been an amazing few weeks.

7/10 as is, room for a few extra inches and an 8/10 if necessary.

[WEATHER53]

For cold it was a 9 on scale of 10 and for snow it was a 7.75.

[Fozz]

8/10

Not one of the all time greats like last year or 09-10 or 02-03, but definitely a solid winter with a long stretch of snow cover, two significant storms in the 6-9" range, and some record breaking bitter cold along with it all, and a total of more than 30".

Huge comeback compared to where we stood a month ago

[87storms]

my grading is different.  i don't like the cold and feel like we had a lot of it lol.  anyway, basing it off of how cold it was and snow, i'd go 9/10 for cold, easily.  we had a few legitimately silly cold days.  i'd go 8 for snow.  i think this was an all snow MECS or HECS away from being a 9/10 winter.

 

overall grade: 8.5

 

i had four storms of 4"+, a snow squall, a couple ice storms, and an icy bay and potomac.  that's a solid winter.

[clueless]

8/10. The cold was consistent and never backed down. Another unexpected windfall late in the game made it pretty memorable. Maybe next year we can score a big coastal...

[hosj III]

14/15: 7.5/10

13/14: 8/10

12/13: 3/10

11/12: 2/10

10/11: 6/10

09/10: 9.5/10

 

Only winter I would give 10/10 to is 1899 for the combo of crazy snow and crazy cold. Maybe 1922 which was probably 3' or just under IMBY.

[MN Transplant]

7/10

Positives:

Good stretch of snowcover

Impressive cold in Feb

22" of snow, above median

Negatives:

Most of the winter was a dud.

Relative low snow totals in area (22" vs 20-21" average) vs others with + climo

[CAPE]

8

 

Mostly for the Feb cold, long stretch of days with snowcover, and some crazy snow rates in several of the events we did get. December and much of Jan was suckish though, with way too much 33 and rain. One of the worst starts to a winter that was outlooked by about everyone to be cold and snowy. Cohen needs to go back to the drawing board.

[Ellinwood]

5. A little cold is fine, but that was way too much cold. Getting to seasonal seemed like a one day heatwave in February. Snow amount for the season and from storm to storm was good, with two storms hitting over 6". Having ice stuck on the sidewalk for three days sucked when I was trying to get to/from my car. December was nice.

[mattie g]

7/10

Positives:

Good stretch of snowcover

Impressive cold in Feb

22" of snow, above median

Negatives:

Most of the winter was a dud.

Relative low snow totals in area (22" vs 20-21" average) vs others with + climo

Give this man a gold star.

Although I'd give it a 5/10 based on the same comments above.

[aldie 22]

Cold 9

Snow 9

Snowcover 9

December 0

Total 7-8/10

[Stormpc]

7/10.

Crappy December.

Very cold realtively dry Jan, except when it needed to rain.

Excellent February with cold and snow.

Great start to March, but we are likely done.

If you remember, we did not have much to track mostly all of December and January. We got the rug pulled out in January a few classic times.

February saved what would have been a dud.

[Ji]

5. Dec and January was pitiful. Feb and a spring storm saved winter. Too harsh? 70% of my winter was spent in agony. #neverforget

Edit: 6.5

[nw baltimore wx]

5. Dec and January was pitiful. Feb and a spring storm saved winter

 

Yes.  I'll give it a 6.

[mappy]

meh, 5 or 6/10 for me.

[Fozz]

Yes. I'll give it a 6.

I think any winter with 30"+ deserves at least a 7. I added a point because the frigid cold and lasting snow cover brought weeks of deep winter.

FWIW, I'd rate last year a 10/10

[PrinceFrederickWx]

Too early to rate, and I honestly think it might not be over yet. I'm going to do a poll later this year with this. No doubt the period from 2/14 onwards has been awesome as well as historic, but it is hard to ignore the fact that the first 2/3 of this winter was a total dumpster fire. A lot of it, I think, comes down to whether you prefer front-loaded or back-loaded winters and whether you like lots of moderate events vs one HECS, etc.

[NinjaWarrior2]

8/10, was a great winter compared to what we would normally get with +NAO/AO, beginning could have been better though.

[winterymix]

I'd say 7.5 which seems close to the consensus here.

 

pros:

 

-got to use the snowblower more than once

-got to use a snow measuring board and report to LWX

-got to weigh the models with a bunch of you, fun! --despite what some say, the models continue to improve, especially for those that understand the standard atmospheric levels, understand bias and understand how to weigh model   consensus/trends/outliers 

-we got some chatty METS into our sub-forum

-got to see measurable snow with +AO and +NAO

-the deep cold may reduce the number of tics, mosquitos and horse flies

 

cons:

 

-Boston ruled while we drooled

[ravensrule]

Yes. I'll give it a 6.

I am surprised you went so low. I am giving it 7.5/10 and if we get one more storm above 3" i will raise it to an 8.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

7/10, I'd say (last year would get an 8).  In terms of sheer coming-from-behind, it's close to a 10.  It will be a winter that's remembered and looked back on (in a good way) for a long time just because of that I think.  Stunning how the last 5 weeks just turned things around.  I was seriously tempted to start a poll in early February on the over/under chances that DCA wouldn't crack double-digit snow for the season, haha!

 

This year was reminds me so much of 2006-07, at least the February portion, in how back-loaded it was.  That, and the extreme cold in February.  Except this year was better in terms of overall cold and definitely with the amount of snow.  It's also similar to last year (though with less snow) in terms of the overall pattern and the cold.  The DJF period this season might have actually topped 2013-14 for the temperature departure.  I doubt this March ends up as cold as last year, and the snow yesterday might be about it I have a feeling...though the snow/ice this first week is obviously remarkable and reminiscent of last March.

 

The Good:  Cold January and very cold February...and 1st week of March.  Kept some kind of snow cover from Feb. 14 through now (though it was spotty as of Wednesday night with the rain).  Epic week of cold and snow from Feb. 14-21, ushered in by one of the coolest snow squall and wind blasts I've ever experienced (got 2" from that in less than 2 hours).  Ice storm at the beginning of March, probably about the longest duration one I've seen in my time here.  Most ice events have been a light glaze for a few hours before it warms up quickly; this one stayed cold throughout and I got ~1/4" or so of ice.  Great snow event yesterday, in the 1st week of March...edged out the snow from Feb. 21 in terms of amount (and at least this one didn't change to rain, and it won't be near 50 degrees the next day!).  The Feb. 21 event was striking in terms of how unusual a manner in which we got decent snow...southwest wind into a very cold air mass for hours before the surface warmed.

 

The Bad:  Wasted a lot of the cold in January.  Watched New England get plastered again and again, while we got cold/dry then warmer/wet.  Other than the over-performing clipper the 1st week of January and some surprise amounts from bands on the southern end of the first Boston blizzard (I scored a couple inches), it was painful following snow events which turned into non-events for us.

 

The Ugly:  December, pure and simple.  Ugh!  And the Super Bowl storm (Feb. 1-2) which looked good for us for awhile, then all guidance locked in on going well to our north 3 days out, and of course it pounded Boston while we got dreary light rain and drizzle.

 

For any FSU fans out there (I know there are a couple I've seen!), I'd compare this winter to the NCAA/BCS championship game in 2014 (the last BCS one!).  FSU (heavily favored!) fell way behind Auburn, 21-3, midway through the 2nd quarter.  I about gave up out of frustration by that point in the game.  They then mounted a remarkable comeback win, punctuated by that final drive in the last minute of the game.  Throw in the fake punt and the 100 yard kickoff return they got, while outscoring Auburn 31-10 the rest of the way.  That's kind of how this winter felt...started with fail and worry early, then a stunning finish.

[gymengineer]

5. Dec and January was pitiful. Feb and a spring storm saved winter. Too harsh? 70% of my winter was spent in agony. #neverforget

Edit: 6.5

Did you hate 86/87? That was like 90% of nothingness, and none of the three storms were even HECS by themselves. 

[Wonderdog]

5 out of ten. A good winter for me is snow, not cold. Could care less about cold. We've been on a good streak lately and may not be done so my rating could change. What was proven this year was that even the mid-Atlantic can get meaningful snow regardless of a crappy pattern with a raging AO and NAO.

[Lowershoresadness]

10. It snowed more than an hour on multiple days.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

5. Dec and January was pitiful. Feb and a spring storm saved winter. Too harsh? 70% of my winter was spent in agony. #neverforget

Edit: 6.5

 

December last year was almost equally as pitiful, would you then give last winter only a 5 or so as well?  Pretty much everyone got their climo or better this year, which is what most forecasts were calling for (though we did it in perhaps an unexpected way).  Nobody was saying "epic winter!" at all, so pretty silly if anyone was expecting that.  While it's true that the snow in February and early March this year "saved" our snow totals, I wouldn't write January off completely.  It was pretty cold that month overall, and we didn't exactly get shut out (though lots of disappointments).

 

ETA:  While we did great on snow last year, don't forget just how much of that fell in March which is pretty lucky.  I got ~16" myself that month.

[mattie g]

December last year was almost equally as pitiful, would you then give last winter only a 5 or so as well?  Pretty much everyone got their climo or better this year, which is what most forecasts were calling for (though we did it in perhaps an unexpected way).  Nobody was saying "epic winter!" at all, so pretty silly if anyone was expecting that.  While it's true that the snow in February and early March this year "saved" our snow totals, I wouldn't write January off completely.  It was pretty cold that month overall, and we didn't exactly get shut out (though lots of disappointments).

 

ETA:  While we did great on snow last year, don't forget just how much of that fell in March which is pretty lucky.  I got ~16" myself that month.

 

I can't speak for Ji, but assuming we're done with snow for this year, MBY didn't quite reach half of last year's snowfall (24" v. 50").

[CAPE]

December last year was almost equally as pitiful, would you then give last winter only a 5 or so as well?  Pretty much everyone got their climo or better this year, which is what most forecasts were calling for (though we did it in perhaps an unexpected way).  Nobody was saying "epic winter!" at all, so pretty silly if anyone was expecting that.  While it's true that the snow in February and early March this year "saved" our snow totals, I wouldn't write January off completely.  It was pretty cold that month overall, and we didn't exactly get shut out (though lots of disappointments).

 

ETA:  While we did great on snow last year, don't forget just how much of that fell in March which is pretty lucky.  I got ~16" myself that month.

Agree. Very good points.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

I can't speak for Ji, but assuming we're done with snow for this year, MBY didn't quite reach half of last year's snowfall (24" v. 50").

 

I'm not close to what I got last year, either.  Doubt anyone really is.  I got ~45" or so last winter, and currently stand at ~27" for this one.  Personally, I don't think it's that fair to compare totals to how good last winter was...what's the point?  At that rate, every winter sucked compared to 2009-10.  I'm evaluating relative to overall snow climo, the amount of cold, and the fact that we got some good events in there.  Not as many as last year, and no HECS-level snows, but a couple of solid moderate events at least.

[gymengineer]

10/10 would be the big three (95/96, 02/03, 09/10). Last season was definitely an "A" for me (50+" of snow, repeated cold snaps, a top-10 in my lifetime snowstorm) but a step below the big three, so a 9/10. 2010/2011 would be a 5/10, and 2011/2012 would be like a 1/10. So, I think this season is a 7.5 or 8 out of 10 for me so far. 

 

However, does anyone else like this season a bit better than last? By numbers, there's no way I could rank it above or tied with the last one. But I think I actually like this season a bit more than the last one for two reasons: Valentine's Day through today felt like I wasn't in the DC suburbs, but rather somewhere in the upper Midwest. The frequency of events and constant snow cover resulting from those events (not from a 24" blizzard snow-cover slowly fading away) is very unusual around here-- it was completely wintry here for 3 straight week. Also, the two biggest events this season were during the daytime. The two biggest last season hit their peak in the overnight, when I was asleep, and by the time I woke up, the main roads were already plowed. It's magical to experience a 6"+ snowfall all during the day.