Perhaps it wasn't as ideal for delivery of arctic air into the NE as you think....I know for a fact that the February arctic shot loaded west of us, but perhaps you are right about earlier in the season.
We had an arctic outbreak that was much colder than anything we saw this past season just two years ago, so its not simply an issue of CC.....we also so immense cold a bit earlier this decade, but it loaded into the center of the country.
It wasn't a perfect pattern for the delivery of cold to the NE...it still loaded through the center of the country. Its not as bad as loading west, but our coldest patterns have it enter through SE Canada with minimal moderation.
There is always something that can be attributed to CC for those that wish to....this year it was the strong Pac jet and southeast ridge coinciding with the steep -A0 in Feb.
Yes, I was worried at the end of December, but I knew once the Jan 11 threat turned into an advisory event. I took note of the fact that an adequate west coast ridge could never sustain and models could not distinguish that until the medium range.
I don't think that is breaking news or anything new...I know you disagree and that is fine. But there have been cold winters that didn't feature much snowfall in the past. I'm sure you are going to point out differences with respect to the Pacific jet......I don't argue that perhaps CC make us more susecptible to that, but its going to take many years of data for me to conclude that this will be the rule moving forward.