40/70 Benchmark

Yea, wasn't intended to be a lecture or anything....I just happen to quote your post because we were discussing. Thanks, I appreciate the positive feedback. It was not perfect and I do see room for improvement...will all be discussed in May.

Very strong -QBO and high solar is a dead-ringer for +TNH....that crap about solar max always being warm is BS....solar max and conspire with certain stratospheric set ups to facilitate some of the most consistently cold regimes possible.

I also wrote about the value of 2015, despite that it was a warm ENSO....highly anomalously cold several week stretch from +TNH regime January into Feb.

Yea, we haven't had much of that...coming later this week.

Perfect way to develop a composite...come up with a cast of characters, and explain that none of them are intended to be an exact prototype of the coming seasons, and then explain the role that each season will play and when it will appear. This what I love about winter forecasts...such an art form.

But it wasn't up against as hostile conditions...March was cold.

I wrote in this year's piece about how analogs are not mean to be interpreted as precise, absolute reenactments, but rather cast of actors that each have a cameo throughout the course of a film .....some of my big ones have showed up....2014 (+TNH), 2022 (+TNH), Latter January big dog, 2000, early season reversal, 2018, late season SSW followed by record warmth.

Getting the pattern right is hard enough, but also timing it to fit the sequence correctly within these 30 day increments that the calendar is divided into? Good luck-

I swear my 2018 analog is just running 2-3 weeks behind...Feb 12, 2018 zonal wind reversal/PV split....March 4, 2026 reversal/PV split....Feb 21-22, 2018 record heat-bomb.....March 9-10, 2026 record heat-bomb. Seasonable cold and stormy pattern will follow, but unfortunately the details don't look to work out as favorably as they did that year....those are the breaks....snowfall is pretty similar, though, as January and February were snowier that year. Unfortunately, that 2-3 weeks will ruin our closing act of snowfall.

9-13" on the level...17" drift...dont ask me how, but I lost 2" Hi of 76.6* recorded on the station located right where I measured. DP is 44.1 Most resilient pack I can ever recall.

I don't blame him, though...I would have taken the under, too.

That's right....we seem to be running a bit behind my 2018 analog....February SSW was late and so isn't the record heat from February.

No, I had like 18-20" in Wilmington...Methuen had like 7-10" of sand.

You aren't the only one...like I said, this is usually reserved for higher altitudes...or maybe waaaay up in latitude, like northern ME.

Guessing March 2012 is first?

No, all of this is correct. Just messing....spot on.

Nothing tops January 1996 for me...imagine what depths could have been achieved that season if we had managed wire-to-wire cold like this season...

I wonder if @Typhoon Tiphas any theories as to why we seem to be seeing record maxes fall at a much faster clip than record mins over the past 20-30 years or so...almost as if there were a longer term warming going on of some sort...interesting-

Up from 32.2 to 73.6 DP 41.2

Having this degree of warmth over deep snow pack kind of reminds me of when I went to visit MT. Raineer a couple of times during the summer out west....

Yea, obviously a high degree of subjectivity....different strokes for different folks. This was probably an "A" for guys live Ginxy and Kev, who just want to see snow on the ground all season...I need greater numbers and depth.

It's really just a way to share an individual's winter experience and how they perceived the season, which isn't useless to those willing to share...I mean, it's almost akin to grading a paper in school....it's not necessarily right or wrong, but more about sharing a perspective in a cogent manner.

As far as the seasonal outlook grade goes, it may also end a "B"...gotta see how much ground March helps me to make up in the temp department. The fact it's whiffing on snowfall actually helps me.

Oh, I meant the winter grade as far as quality of the season. You only had 6" in the blizzard? Yikes, never thought I'd feel "lucky" having gotten 11" Sharp cut-off.

Yea, it's a solid "B" for me....the snowfall really wasn't impressive. The only reason it isn't a middling "C" is due to the degree and persistence of cold maximizing retention, coupled with the fact that the past several years had been so lean.