Rating the Winter of 2014-2015

[North Balti Zen]

Six out of 10. Complete bust until Feb. 14 - but have to go better than middlin' just because these last three weeks have been so memorable.

 

Still, I look for snowfalls of 10" or more for a truly memorable great winter, and this hasn't had that. And the crap weather until Feb. 14 cannot be ignored.

That said, the stretch from Feb. 14 on has been insane.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

 

 

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. 

 

That's a tough one.  "Liking" is a bit subjective of course.  I'd personally put last year over this one, but can understand what you're saying.  Other than December, last winter just kept on giving right on through the end of March.  This winter was late to get going, but once it did it was right up there with last year.  The second half of February alone will be memorable for a long time, especially that week from the 14-21st.  I still can't believe the cold during that period.

[weatherCCB]

8 out 10

Great backloaded winter.

Plenty cold and sustained snow cover

Had several single digit lows and over 2 feet of snow since 2/14/15

Like the saying goes, "it's not how you start, it's how you finish "

And this winter is "finishing" strongly. Might even have some fight left in her.

[Fozz]

Maybe my 8/10 is too generous... this year was fun but for me it doesn't come close to last year. Last year there was never really anything for me to complain about... it was a wall to wall winter from early December to late March with good snows all the way through. Right up there with 02-03, at least for my backyard and southern PA.

This winter was banal and even miserable from December to 2/13, which to me is a large chunk of the season. But the comeback was spectacular, and certainly better than the 2/14 to March period last year.

[mattie g]

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.

 

But you were the one who asked about last year, and I think it's fair enough to use it as a reference point.  It may have been primarily a backloaded winter (I got 37" from Feb 12 on!), but it maximized almost all available potential.  This year has had an impressive stretch of late winter, but it hasn't gotten to the same lofty heights as last year.

 

I rate a winter based on what I get in my backyard, as well as against what happened locally.  I also prefer a frontloaded winter to a backloaded one.  It's personal preference.  If I hadn't been on the lower end of totals for pretty much every event this season, I would have given it a better mark.  As it is, it gets a 5 because most of the winter was lame and MBY "minimized" potential for most events based on local reports.

[aldie 22]

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

Yeah you better have edited lol

[nw baltimore wx]

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.

 

The last three or four weeks has been a 10/10 but December and January were pretty disappointing.  However, 130% of climo snow, the 2nd coldest February ever, the 4th (or 5th?) coldest month ever, a frozen Chesapeake Bay, and a three week snow pack are worth something on their own, and together certainly make the winter better than a 6.  However, I wonder how everyone's ratings would be had this been front loaded winter like '89 - 90.  That winter had an awesome Thanksgiving to Christmas period but then was pretty much a dud.  I just wonder if some of the scores are skewed high because all the things that I listed are fresh in our memory.  In any event, you're right that my 6 is too low.  Your 7.5 seems like a more reasonable overall winter rating.

[mappy]

i love Fozz who is all "its better than 6, but less than 8"

[Fozz]

i love Fozz who is all "its better than 6, but less than 8"

 

I love mapgirl who tweets her snowy pic to local mets, and then calls this winter "meh"

[mappy]

I love mapgirl who is all about tweeting her snowy pic to local mets, and then calling this winter "meh"

 

Is that honestly the best comeback you have?

 

1. It was very pretty this morning, on a small scale I'd give my landscape a 9/10 this morning

 

2. one very pretty snowy morning does not equal the entire winter, which I found to be meh for my backyard. 

 

so try again. or just stop. 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

But you were the one who asked about last year, and I think it's fair enough to use it as a reference point.  It may have been primarily a backloaded winter (I got 37" from Feb 12 on!), but it maximized almost all available potential.  This year has had an impressive stretch of late winter, but it hasn't gotten to the same lofty heights as last year.

 

I rate a winter based on what I get in my backyard, as well as against what happened locally.  I also prefer a frontloaded winter to a backloaded one.  It's personal preference.  If I hadn't been on the lower end of totals for pretty much every event this season, I would have given it a better mark.  As it is, it gets a 5 because most of the winter was lame and MBY "minimized" potential for most events based on local reports.

 

Yeah, evaluating a winter in many ways in purely subjective, with perhaps some quantitative value thrown in (snow amount, for instance, or combined snow/cold).  That makes it hard, I suppose, as everyone has their own opinion on what's good.  I can see what you're saying, and yes, just comparing last year to this one on snowfall alone...this winter doesn't much compare except for the last 5 weeks.  Though in the end, this winter will be memorable for me (in a good way).  I was speaking in an overall climo sense I guess.  The question I posed in response to Ji was not so much asking about last year as a whole as it was commenting that December that year sucked too, just like this one, and nobody is saying last winter was lame.

 

We've had a lot of putrid to not-really-memorable and under-performing winters in among a few really good and memorable ones (well, the bad ones are memorable in a bad way!).  I've been here since the summer of 2001, so my first winter experience was one of the worst (2001-02), followed by one of the best the next year.  There have been several years where other than perhaps one decent event, there's nothing much I can recall that stands out.

[Fozz]

Is that honestly the best comeback you have?

1. It was very pretty this morning, on a small scale I'd give my landscape a 9/10 this morning

2. one very pretty snowy morning does not equal the entire winter, which I found to be meh for my backyard.

so try again. or just stop.

Getting snippy again?

You reached climo, had an impressive last few weeks, and got to take your toddler out in the snow several times. Most normal people would be happy with that... if you're not, then fine, but then don't call me out for thinking this winter is ~ 7/10.

[aldie 22]

Pattern 0

Surprise storms 10

[mappy]

Getting snippy again?

You reached climo, had an impressive last few weeks, and got to take your toddler out in the snow several times. Most normal people would be happy with that... if you're not, then fine, but then don't call me out for thinking this winter is ~ 7/10.

 

I didn't call you out for thinking its 7/10. I called you out for telling others how you think they should feel about the winters they experienced in their backyards. 

 

First you get on and say 6 is too low, then 8 is too high. That is what my post was doing. 

 

How you feel your winter was, in your backyard, is up to you. Let others feel what they want. 

[mappy]

Nice deletion on "getting snippy again" Fozz 

 

smh 

[CAPE]

Pattern 0

Surprise storms 10

Pacific side was mostly pretty wicked good. Second winter in a row we did well overall with almost zero help from the Atlantic, and not much from the AO.

[Fozz]

I didn't call you out for thinking its 7/10. I called you out for telling others how you think they should feel about the winters they experienced in their backyards.

First you get on and say 6 is too low, then 8 is too high. That is what my post was doing.

How you feel your winter was, in your backyard, is up to you. Let others feel what they want.

I never told anyone what to think.

[mappy]

I never told anyone what to think.

 

OK fozz. 

[nj2va]

7.5/10 - before yesterday, it would have probably been a 4 or 5/10.

 

Too cold for my liking which knocked the score down a bit; but yesterday put me above climo on the season (and gave me a 5"+ snow for the 1st time this winter). 

[Ji]

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.

my December was great last year

[Ji]

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

I didn't track stuff and have a place to vent so I had no idea how I felt in 86-87 except I enjoyed the snow

[Bob Chill]

Everything has been rehashed well. I'll go 8/10 because this winter is in the top 20% of winters for cold and snow since I moved to MD in 1972. I lived elsewhere from 92-99 so I missed the supertorm, 93-94, and 95-96. If I lived here during those I would prob drop to 7-7.5/10. 

 

A combined rating of 13-14/14-15 is a 10. Beats the back to backs I experienced in both the 70's and 80's by a good margin.

[StudentOfClimatology]

8/10, more winter than you can ever ask for around here. I base this off a lot more than just snow.

- Amazing snow squall and high wind event to start it all off..only about 1" here but it fell in about 15 minutes with zero visibility.

- True ground blizzard that night with clouds of snow being blown 70 to 80ft off the ground. Also loudest windstorm I can recall since the one in February of 2011..gf actually had to sleep with earplugs in.

- A snowstorm at 14 degrees followed two days later. Very rare for this area.

- Historic cold followed, fell to 0.7 degrees, which was a record for my station..beat 2013-14. Crazy considering it was late-ish in February.

- Got 4.5" of snow from a lake cutter, under a 70kt southerly LLJ. Lol.

- Legit ice storm during the day in early March..how often does that happen?

- Biggest snow of the season topped it off a few days later, accumulating on everything. Ended up with a little over 5" (over 8" in Germantown, where I got to experience a true deathband).

This was a great winter by DC area standards, in my opinion.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Everything has been rehashed well. I'll go 8/10 because this winter is in the top 20% of winters for cold and snow since I moved to MD in 1972. I lived elsewhere from 92-99 so I missed the supertorm, 93-94, and 95-96. If I lived here during those I would prob drop to 7-7.5/10. 

 

A combined rating of 13-14/14-15 is a 10. Beats the back to backs I experienced in both the 70's and 80's by a good margin.

 

 

8/10, more winter than you can ever ask for around here. I base this off a lot more than just snow.

- Amazing snow squall and high wind event to start it all off..only about 1" here but it fell in about 15 minutes with zero visibility.

- True ground blizzard that night with clouds of snow being blown 70 to 80ft off the ground. Also loudest windstorm I can recall since the one in February of 2011..gf actually had to sleep with earplugs in.

- A snowstorm at 14 degrees followed two days later. Very rare for this area.

- Historic cold followed, fell to 0.7 degrees, which was a record for my station..beat 2013-14. Crazy considering it was late-ish in February.

- Got 4.5" of snow from a lake cutter, under a 70kt southerly LLJ. Lol.

- Legit ice storm during the day in early March..how often does that happen?

- Biggest snow of the season topped it off a few days later, accumulating on everything. Ended up with a little over 5" (over 8" in Germantown, where I got to experience a true deathband).

This was a great winter by DC area standards, in my opinion.

 

 

Hear, hear!!  

[87storms]

I probably could have gone 8 instead of 8.5 but I think people are forgetting how lame our winters can be. We didn't get a HECS or maybe even MECS but we had snowstorms and being able to skate on frozen streams and experience record breaking cold should count for something. Gotta judge it based on cold as well as snow.

[H2O]

I rate this winter 12 Fozz ratings divided by meh+ a backloaded winter - the square root of crappy dec

 

that all equals a number of...............................8

 

 

First part was a bummer but second half rallied and any season that i get above climo is a good winter regardless of how I got there. 

[Ian]

I hate cold so hopefully we don't see another month like Feb for another 20 years. The mid-Feb to now stretch was a good winter though. At least the worst came once sun angle season was underway? 

[snowfan]

7/10

Would've been better if Dec and Jan were not so blah.

The two year running totals in this area are great.

[WinterWxLuvr]

Maybe my 8/10 is too generous... this year was fun but for me it doesn't come close to last year. Last year there was never really anything for me to complain about... it was a wall to wall winter from early December to late March with good snows all the way through. Right up there with 02-03, at least for my backyard and southern PA.

This winter was banal and even miserable from December to 2/13, which to me is a large chunk of the season. But the comeback was spectacular, and certainly better than the 2/14 to March period last year.

LOL, there you go Fozz. Adapt your own personal opinion to fit everyone else's. Serious question..why would anyone else's thoughts impact your own? It's YOUR opinion.

[AlaskaETC]

I gave last year a 9/10, so this one is a 7.5 or 8/10 for me. I loved the fresh arctic air in late February, reminded me of Fairbanks in November. The snow-on-snow-ice-on-snow-ice-on-ice-snow-on-ice series was amazing too. A very interesting second half.