Winter Weather History

Here's a little winter weather history we thought you might be interested in. Since last week-end we've been hearing our recent snow fall ranked anywhere from 4th to 6th heaviest since they started keeping records. That got us wondering.

Some have called this a blizzard which is not quite accurate. With a blizzard there is high winds to go along with the snow fall, causing drifting. Fortunately the winds were fairly calm this past week-end. With the amount of snow that fell high winds would have made conditions much worse. Some houses would have been buried. Communities would still be doing some serious digging out if it had been a blizzard.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS) the snow we had starting last Friday through Wednesday evening ranks sixth (6th) heaviest in weather records. Totals for February 2010 through Wednesday, February 10, is 29.6" of the white stuff. The previous record in this century was set in 2003 with 25.3" of snow. Record keeping goes back to 1884, fourteen years after the Weather Bureau was started.

The five heaviest snow months in recorded history are as follows:

#1 - January 1978 with 40.2"

#2 - December 1890 with 36.3"

#3 - March 1993 with 34.1"

#4 - November 1950 with 32.3"

#5 - January 1994 with 30.1"

For the Winter 2009 - 2010 Season we have had 57.8" of snow fall in our region. Normal average for a whole Winter Season in our region is 40.6" according to the NWS. The snowiest Winter Season in recorded history is 82" that goes back to Winter 1950 - 1951. Normal snow fall for February in our region is 8.5". As of Wednesday evening we're above average by a little over 21 inches.

We dodged the bullet Tuesday and Wednesday. We only got a dusting of new snow on top of what is on the ground. In some area's just east of Pittsburgh they got nearly 8" of new snow.

Now we have to hope and pray for a slow snow melt until this stuff is gone. Give it a chance to slowly sink into the ground and gently flow down our streams and rivers. Maybe that ground hog did us a favor!

ole nib