Grade the Winter of 2014-2015

[CoastalWx]

Well, It was not a record snowfall, And B- is above avg, If i was going to grade by cold it would be an A, The part where we had 7 weeks of misses nickels or dimes is where i feel it does not deserve an A

 

So 118 is B- no matter what?

[SouthCoastMA]

96/100

[CapturedNature]

amount of snow B

sustained cold weather A

amount of snow otg/ overall snow depth A minus

excitement factor of individual events overall D

overall grade B minus.......

personal satisfaction grade (counts very little towards overall score) C minus

 

How can you not give an A+ for the coldest month on record?  Not to mention that it carried over into March.  How often are you going to get that?

[CoastalWx]

How can you not give an A+ for the coldest month on record?  Not to mention that it carried over into March.  How often are you going to get that?

 

[ORH_wxman]

How can you not give an A+ for the coldest month on record?  Not to mention that it carried over into March.  How often are you going to get that?

 

 

Well he did say "sustained cold weather"....December was a furnace. That does count IMHO. Obviously the amazing 2nd half offsets it enough for an A for cold, but I could easily see the justification for not giving the winter an A+ for sustained cold.

 

I'd probably reserve an A+ for "sustained cold" for winters like 1976-1977.

[dryslot]

So 118 is B- no matter what?

 

If we go by avg snowfall and i was in your shoes, I would give it an A+ as well, We had a 7 day period that i received 49" of snow, From that point on we had 29.70" of snow in 15 events, That's 1.98" of snow over that period, I don't feel that is worth an A

[codfishsnowman]

You had a great winter. Fantastic really .. Especially considering where you live

i average nearly 50 inches a year dude or so everyone tells me, it wasnt that amazing...fantastic for your area for sure

[CoastalWx]

If we go by avg snowfall and i was in your shoes, I would give it an A+ as well, We had a 7 day period that i received 49" of snow, From that point on we had 29.70" of snow in 15 events, That's 1.98" of snow over that period, I don't feel that is worth an A

 

I'm not busting chops, just thought 118" of snow would be a better grade even for you. It sounded like you were bitter about a few misses. So, I was wondering if there was a way to get a better grade with a seasonal total of 118" To me, it sounded like a C would be near avg? If so, then why a B- for 118"?

[codfishsnowman]

Well he did say "sustained cold weather"....December was a furnace. That does count IMHO. Obviously the amazing 2nd half offsets it enough for an A for cold, but I could easily see the justification for not giving the winter an A+ for sustained cold.

I'd probably reserve an A+ for "sustained cold" for winters like 1976-1977.

exactly you got it! im not sure the rest of them dont understand....oh wait they cannot be objective bc the unicorns trampled over them hi fiving each other in their epic esne winter....and ctvalley while being generous with his b plus is perhaps the most glass half full poster ive seen here and his grade isnt all that different from mine

[CoastalWx]

exactly you got it! im not sure the rest of them dont understand....oh wait they cannot be objective bc the unicorns trampled over them hi fiving each other in their epic esne winter....and ctvalley while being generous with his b plus is perhaps the most glass half full poster ive seen here and his grade isnt all that different from mine

 

[Ginx snewx]

Well, It was not a record snowfall, And B- is above avg, If i was going to grade by cold it would be an A, The part where we had 7 weeks of misses nickels or dimes is where i feel it does not deserve an A

i have to agree with your assessment of your winter grade if you only considered quality of snowstorms but as a snowmobiler, what would your grade be for riding season

[dryslot]

I'm not busting chops, just thought 118" of snow would be a better grade even for you. It sounded like you were bitter about a few misses. So, I was wondering if there was a way to get a better grade with a seasonal total of 118" To me, it sounded like a C would be near avg? If so, then why a B- for 118"?

 

 

I look at it as the winter season, Dec-March, We had 7 weeks or so that were substandard

[CoastalWx]

I look at it as the winter season, Dec-March, We had 7 weeks or so that were substandard

 

Alright that's fine, but what is the avg there? 80" or so? 

[dryslot]

i have to agree with your assessment of your winter grade if you only considered quality of snowstorms but as a snowmobiler, what would your grade be for riding season

 

Probably a B, We had no established base through out the season in this area

[dryslot]

Alright that's fine, but what is the avg there? 80" or so? 

75"

[Ginx snewx]

Probably a B, We had no established base through out the season in this area

Dec screwed you but I mean from Jan on it was sweet right? I really think this year was a month late on everything in my area, ponds too. how many 6 plus storms does your area average per year?

[dryslot]

Dec screwed you but I mean from Jan on it was sweet right? I really think this year was a month late on everything in my area, ponds too. how many 6 plus storms does your area average per year?

 

It was late Jan first of Feb actually, So we lost all of Jan basically and only first week of march here

[CT Valley Snowman]

I'm probably still high from all the exhaust I sucked in this year ,lol. Seriously with 21 inches above average snowfall and record cold it is possible to give this winter an A back this way but there was some very disappointing events and with 12.8 inches being the largest snowfall of the season it's just a little bit too weak for me to give it an A.

[ORH_wxman]

I'm probably still high from all the exhaust I sucked in this year ,lol. Seriously with 21 inches above average snowfall and record cold it is possible to give this winter an A back this way but there was some very disappointing events and with 12.8 inches being the largest snowfall of the season it's just a little bit too weak for me to give it an A.

 

The thread is subjective anyway.

 

 

I can run objective stats for a place...but when subjective criteria are used for grading, then the stats don't mean much. Some people have a jackpot fetish...there's no doubt about it. They'd probably give the winter a higher grade if they didn't know that someone 20 miles east of them got an extra 30 inches of snow....but since they do know, they bring it down a grade because they don't want to have less snow than areas around them.

 

For people like me who love snow during December/Holidays....I will penalize the grade for having a disasterous showing during that timeframe. So no A+ from me. But still an amazing winter.

 

For people like dryslot who want a snow riding base from December through March...they will penalize the horrific 7 weeks prior to late January harder than the rest of us might.

[Ginx snewx]

The best objective stat is snow depth days

 

http://www.wermenh.com/sdd/index.html

[CoastalWx]

Well in areas that really don't have much of a snow pack normally or perhaps more of a high variance....not sure how objective that is. 

[Ginx snewx]

Well in areas that really don't have much of a snow pack normally or perhaps more of a high variance....not sure how objective that is. 

It definitely shows the character of a season on the whole and includes snowfall and temperature incorporated for each individual station, ie what the winter was like much better than total snowfall for a year.

[CT Valley Snowman]

actual vs forecasted snowfall amounts for a person's area in a given storm has an impact as well. it goes both ways as pleasant surprises can help increase the grade, but for me it worked the opposite

[CoastalWx]

It definitely shows the character of a season on the whole and includes snowfall and temperature incorporated for each individual station, ie what the winter was like much better than total snowfall for a year.

 Yeah I know what you mean. I've seen a lot of snowy winters torch away snow, and then others not as snowy, keep some.  I don't know.

[Damage In Tolland]

The thread is subjective anyway.

 

 

I can run objective stats for a place...but when subjective criteria are used for grading, then the stats don't mean much. Some people have a jackpot fetish...there's no doubt about it. They'd probably give the winter a higher grade if they didn't know that someone 20 miles east of them got an extra 30 inches of snow....but since they do know, they bring it down a grade because they don't want to have less snow than areas around them.

 

For people like me who love snow during December/Holidays....I will penalize the grade for having a disasterous showing during that timeframe. So no A+ from me. But still an amazing winter.

 

For people like dryslot who want a snow riding base from December through March...they will penalize the horrific 7 weeks prior to late January harder than the rest of us might.

You also ..like me..have a raging snow pack fetish

[ORH_wxman]

You also ..like me..have a raging snow pack fetish

 

 

Yes...this winter had two extremes on that front...the epic pack getting north of 40" for my measurements for the first time since 2001, but on the flip side, we went nearly 7 weeks with bare ground. Just some penny snowfalls that didn't last long. Awful.

 

But I give the snowpack grade an A anyway because of how long it lasted into March and early April and of course the extreme peak depth in February...the woods at Winter Hill are actually still 100% covered. Pretty deep in spots.

[Ginx snewx]

You also ..like me..have a raging snow pack fetish

yep me too, give me depth over time any day. Love blizzards obviously but just looking back on my pics, wow what a year. The North Foster Coop AVERAGED 31 inches of depth for all of Feb, I averaged 26, rather incredible and blew away any year I have records for and also the same for North Foster

[ma blizzard]

solid A barring a 4/87 redux

[HimoorWx]

A++ here. Hands down. I don't care how bad December through 1/24 was.

Absolutely for this area!  Four storms between 18 and 30 inches in 3 weeks is just unbelievable.  Now that the snow is gone and I look back at my pictures from after the last storm, I am even more in awe of how much snow was on the ground!  Incredible.

[tamarack]

If we go by avg snowfall and i was in your shoes, I would give it an A+ as well, We had a 7 day period that i received 49" of snow, From that point on we had 29.70" of snow in 15 events, That's 1.98" of snow over that period, I don't feel that is worth an A

 

Same sort of reasons why I preferred 93-94 with 87" above 95-96 with its 139" (both in Gardiner.)  The earlier winter had sustained cold with interesting snow events, while the latter managed to wash away a 28" snowpack in mid January, then do the same to a lesser pack in mid Feb.  For all its snowfall, that winter was an inconvenient mess, ankle-deep in slush for a lot of the time.  93-94 had 55% more SDDs than 95-96 and actually achieved a taller pack, albeit by just 1". 

 

Winter 2014-15 will finish 5th for SDDs, about 100 behind the 2,489 for 08-09, and the max depth of 31" places 6th.  We do have a good chance of taking down 2002-03's 146 days with at least 1" snowcover, as the current pack (19" this morn, probably 16-17 now) only has to survive until Monday for the win.

 

My temp and snowfall grades are calculated on the A=4.0 scale, with an A+ getting 4.33, F getting zero, and months given different weights appropriate to their average snowfall.  For extraordinary months I've given a 5.0 A++, with 4 such grades over 17 yr: 

--March 2001, 55.5" snow with 48" on 3/31.  Farmington's snowiest March of 123 yr records, by a foot.

--April 2007:  37.2", and see above, with April in place of March.

--March 2014:  Farmington's coldest March on record.

--February 2015:  Same as above, and 3rd coldest for any month (Jan 1982 coldest, Jan 1994 2nd.)