Which of the last three winters was your favorite?

[PrinceFrederickWx]

Three very good winters, but also very different. Which was your favorite?

 

I'd pick this year, with 2013/14 being a close second.

 

Vote. Discuss.

 

[Subtropics]

I'd take this winter every year. A relatively warm December with a HECS during a 6-8 week cold period which is just long enough for warm to not become boring before flipping to an above average March/April period.

 

Love it!

[WinterWxLuvr]

Three very good winters, but also very different. Which was your favorite?

I'd pick this year, with 2013/14 being a close second.

Vote. Discuss.

I don't agree that this was a very good winter.

At all.

[Fozz]

Definitely 2013-14, and for me it wasn't even close.

 

The past two winters were pretty good, but that one was amazing.

[gymengineer]

I don't agree that this was a very good winter.

At all.

We know, lol

[Inverted_Trough]

Definitely 2013-14.  One of the coldest winters in the eastern half of the country (although we did have one warm stretch that made our December slightly above normal).  Plenty of snow after December ended.

 

That being said, this winter was the best we could hope for in a Super Nino.  With Super Ninos you have a high chance of getting practically no snow, but conversely you also have a slightly higher chance of a HECS.  So with those possible outcomes in mind, we maximized.

[wxdude64]

Definitely 2013-14.  One of the coldest winters in the eastern half of the country (although we did have one warm stretch that made our December slightly above normal).  Plenty of snow after December ended.

 

That being said, this winter was the best we could hope for in a Super Nino.  With Super Ninos you have a high chance of getting practically no snow, but conversely you also have a slightly higher chance of a HECS.  So with those possible outcomes in mind, we maximized.

This^^^^

[gymengineer]

I picked 14/15. Some of the storms in 13/14 were warm-ish for my location so didn't stick very well for all or parts of the event (both 12/10 events, the first half of 1/21/14, 2/25/14) and 3/4/14 underperformed even though it was really cold. The super high season total was padded by a bunch of small events that melted the day-of. So, the individual events were more disappointing for me in that winter than the last one.

 

14/15 had one of the best sustained stretches of glorious winter I've ever seen. The three weeks from Valentine's Day through the March storm had snowcover the entire period and had just about everything from a good winter except for the mega-storm: white-out squall, record cold, verified ice storm, two >6" events, a positive snow bust on 2/21, and a new road-sticking event every several days. The two >6" storms were both daytime events that easily stuck on road surfaces. To top it off, having a greater than 10F negative departure for IAD in February was amazing. 

[SomeguyfromTakomaPark]

2015-2016: I'll take a big cold blizzard every time.  

[CAPE]

Probably 13-14, with last winter a close second. I want more persistent cold in winter, with snow that sicks around, so I can be outside and enjoy it. Loved the cold hiking with snow on the ground the previous 2 winters, and seeing the bay frozen over and snow covered. Watching snow come down might be all there is for those who sit inside and look out a window, but I like to be outside. This winter had no sustained arctic air, but it really wasn't expected with the strong Nino. The blizzard was awesome to track, and I enjoyed seeing a bigger event, which the last 2 winters lacked(biggest imby was 7.5" I think). It was tainted a bit for me though by the dry slot here, and the immediate warmth that followed. At least there was snow(slush) cover for a solid week. I have probably had more snow in Feb and March this winter than many, roughly 10", but none of that was around 24 hours later, so the fun was in watching it come down. Simply put, this winter has not felt much like winter, but I wont complain because the snowfall has been above average and it would have really sucked without that.

[MN Transplant]

I would generally vote for the big storm year if everything else were equal, but I had 48.3" of snow in 2013-14, which is frankly quite awesome around here.  2014-15 is a distant third.

[Bob Chill]

13-14 is an easy call for my yard. If you extract the highlights of all 3 years and jam them into 1 it would be pretty ridiculous. Each year definitely had some standout winter wx. A lot of years never have anything that stands out except despair.

[HighStakes]

Hard to beat 13/14. Almost perfect.

[PrinceFrederickWx]

I loved this winter- I'd put it in 4th place easily behind the big 3 (95/96, 02/03, 09/10). The HECS was just amazing- at first it looked like it might disappoint with the long changeover to sleet, but Saturday afternoon/evening caught us up real quick! President's Day weekend literally followed the same sequence as last year, only better- the squalls Saturday morning (some of the heaviest rates I've ever seen), the cold/wind Sunday and then the President's Day storm which was the biggest positive bust I've ever seen IMBY since 1/25/2000. Top it all off with March 3-4, which was the prettiest snow I've seen since 2/3/2010, and we have a winner.

 

It's funny, ever since I've moved to Prince Frederick its been climo+ every year! My move must've had some kind of large-scale synoptic effect. My son's only three but I hope he remembers playing with me in the blizzard when he gets older... my school age memories were during the snowless winters of the early 90's. I didn't see my first HECS until I was 13 (in 1996).

 

I expect a lot of people further north and west to choose 2013/14 but the big February storm was a dud here. Actually March was basically what saved that winter for me. Some parts of southern MD actually got more way snow this year than 2013/14.

[CAPE]

 

I loved this winter- I'd put it in 4th place easily behind the big 3 (95/96, 02/03, 09/10). The HECS was just amazing- at first it looked like it might disappoint with the long changeover to sleet, but Saturday afternoon/evening caught us up real quick! President's Day weekend literally followed the same sequence as last year, only better- the squalls Saturday morning (some of the heaviest rates I've ever seen), the cold/wind Sunday and then the President's Day storm which was the biggest positive bust I've ever seen IMBY since 1/25/2000. Top it all off with March 3-4, which was the prettiest snow I've seen since 2/3/2010, and we have a winner.

 

It's funny, ever since I've moved to Prince Frederick its been climo+ every year! My move must've had some kind of large-scale synoptic effect. My son's only three but I hope he remembers playing with me in the blizzard when he gets older... my school age memories were during the snowless winters of the early 90's. I didn't see my first HECS until I was 13 (in 1996).

 

I expect a lot of people further north and west to choose 2013/14 but the big February storm was a dud here. Actually March was basically what saved that winter for me. Some parts of southern MD actually got more way snow this year than 2013/14.

 

Was here as well. Still, that winter was fun and memorable in so many ways. Easily tops this winter for me, and as I posted, last winter is a close second. This winter was overall too warm, and the one big event was not even close to top 5 for me.

[PrinceFrederickWx]

In some ways too I think 2013/14 and 2014/15 were a lot more anomalous than this year. 2013/14 was like an oldschool winter that this region hasn't really seen since the 60's or 80's and the cold departures of February 2015 will be hard to ever beat. That three week period from 2/14 to 3/7 was very impressive (gymengineer touched on this in better detail in his post) and is something we may never see again for a long time.

 

2015/16 is sort of in line with the "feast or famine" type winters we've generally seen (for whatever reason) over the last 20-30 years or so- either a big snow or nothing at all, not very cold, etc. In other words, I feel like its far more likely we see another winter like this year than a 2013/14 or 2014/15 in the next 10-15 years or so.

[CAPE]

In some ways too I think 2013/14 and 2014/15 were a lot more anomalous than this year. 2013/14 was like an oldschool winter that this region hasn't really seen since the 60's or 80's and the cold departures of February 2015 will be hard to ever beat. That three week period from 2/14 to 3/7 was very impressive (gymengineer touched on this in better detail in his post) and is something we may never see again for a long time.

 

2015/16 is sort of in line with the "feast or famine" type winters we've generally seen (for whatever reason) over the last 20-30 years or so- either a big snow or nothing at all, not very cold, etc. In other words, I feel like its far more likely we see another winter like this year than a 2013/14 or 2014/15 in the next 10-15 years or so.

13-14 has good memories for me for a few reasons. Weather wise, I thought it was funny as hell that social media latched on to the attack of the PV thing, and as for real life weather, the dominant EPO/WPO that drove the cold despite the overall horrible state of the Atlantic, and overcame a predominately +AO, was amazing...quite different from any winter in recent memory. Despite the fact that it was almost impossible to get a pure Miller A event or anything big/amped to produce snow, I loved that we seemed to always have something to track. Lots of light to moderate events. Just a really fun winter.

[Bob Chill]

13/14 is the only winter I've ever gotten tired of tracking stuff. By mid March I was literally tired of looking at models and staying up late. It really sucks staying up for the euro when DST kicks in. Lol

[CAPE]

13/14 is the only winter I've ever gotten tired of tracking stuff. By mid March I was literally tired of looking at models and staying up late. It really sucks staying up for the euro when DST kicks in. Lol

Yes it did get tiring. Plus it was the winter the disastrous Tenman thread morphed into the epic poetry thread. How fun was that?

[gymengineer]

In some ways too I think 2013/14 and 2014/15 were a lot more anomalous than this year. 2013/14 was like an oldschool winter that this region hasn't really seen since the 60's or 80's and the cold departures of February 2015 will be hard to ever beat. That three week period from 2/14 to 3/7 was very impressive (gymengineer touched on this in better detail in his post) and is something we may never see again for a long time.

 

2015/16 is sort of in line with the "feast or famine" type winters we've generally seen (for whatever reason) over the last 20-30 years or so- either a big snow or nothing at all, not very cold, etc. In other words, I feel like its far more likely we see another winter like this year than a 2013/14 or 2014/15 in the next 10-15 years or so.

The ridiculous number of events in 13/14 makes it rival any old-school winter. So that winter severity index that Ian posted awhile ago has 60/61 as by far the most severe winter for the DC area based on DCA data. Even that winter had fewer events than 13/14.  

Despite the much greater totals in 13/14 than 14/15 at both DCA and IAD, the total number of snow-cover days were comparable. In 14/15, there were longer sustained stretches of snowcover.  

[CAPE]

The ridiculous number of events in 13/14 makes it rival any old-school winter. So that winter severity index that Ian posted awhile ago has 60/61 as by far the most severe winter for the DC area based on DCA data. Even that winter had fewer events than 13/14.  

Despite the much greater totals in 13/14 than 14/15 at both DCA and IAD, the total number of snow-cover days were comparable. In 14/15, there were longer sustained stretches of snowcover.  

This is why the 2 winters are very close for me. I put 13-14 ahead of 14/15, but not by much. It took a while to get going last winter, but when it finally did, we had sustained cold and a long stretch with snow cover, and the bay had more ice for longer than 13-14.

[Sparky]

Easily 13/14.  It was littered with medium to hefty snowstorms from early December onward and had significant snow in every month including March.  It even had a HECS in Feb, which I know not all had the priveledge to enjoy but I had over 2 feet in that storm alone.

[wxdude64]

Yes it did get tiring. Plus it was the winter the disastrous Tenman thread morphed into the epic poetry thread. How fun was that?

Yes, the poetry thread was awesome!

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Hands down, I'd go with 2013-14 even despite the HECS this year. Nearly wall-to-wall cold extending through much of March and many solid events. Including a MECS-level event in February and the St. Pat's storm. The Jan blizzard this year was great of course, but beyond that this winter was quite frustrating. Probably the most frustrating of the past 3.

[snowfan]

13/14 had snowfall in every month...

12/10, 1/2-3, 2/13-14, 3/3 plus other events I'm forgetting. The 12/10 event was best n/w. The 1/2-3 event was followed by good cold the next morning. The v day storm had really good rates before the flip/lull and the second part the next evening was good imby. The flip to heavy sleet then a few inches of snow was cool. The 3/3 event was nice for March and the day ended w a great sunset.

[Ian]

Objectively 13/14 was probably better but I'd choose this one. March snow is meh.

[EastCoast NPZ]

How is this even a poll?  

 

You've got a wall-to-wall good winter in 13-14 being compared to one that only had 1 good month (14-15) and another with only 1 good weekend (15-16).  This is insane.

[North Balti Zen]

I like HECS. So this winter trumps the others. Easy peasy for me.

[Fozz]

How is this even a poll?  

 

You've got a wall-to-wall good winter in 13-14 being compared to a one that only had 1 good month (14-15) and another with only 1 good weekend (15-16).  This is insane.

 

Different people live in different areas and have different weather preferences. Simple as that... nothing "insane" about it.

[PrinceFrederickWx]

Man, the western VA people are so full of hate with this winter... you'd think they just had an 11/12 redux! I never thought I'd see so much butthurt in a winter with a HECS.

 

And again, some areas of this forum did much, much better in 15/16 than 13/14. I think lower eastern shore probably did best in 14/15 (but I'm not sure on that). I figured 13/14 would win but I am a little surprised that its been such a blowout victory.