EastonSN+

How could you say that when we had more snow events after that. If winter ended we would have no more snow.

Also if we look to 2010-2011 as another "front loaded" La Nina, look how many snow events we had starting February 1st: February 1-2. 1 to 5 inches. February 21. 4 to 8 inches. March 24-25. 1 to 3 inches. So no, winter did not end after January. It just felt that way because that was the end of the train of KU events.

I'm comparing typical La Nina conditions versus what we had. Usually in a La Nina we torch by mid/late January, we had a couple extra weeks. Yes snowfall is subpar and in fact we had more snow in a more typical La Nina (17/18 well above average snowfall) than this colder one. The drought conditions hurt us and the snowfall department so far.

I personally think this winter is a big win considering our front loaded winter lasted all the way to February which is late. That shortens the hostile environment to just two to three weeks when the shorter wavelengths counter the RNA. Also the mjo wave per below weakens in the warmer phases and of course moves East so we should be in the cooler phases by the end of February.

Did those years also have strong blocking in the first half of the season?

That may be a good analog, how was DC and the southeast that year? Of course not expecting a historic Gulf of Mexico snow storm LOL.

2008 2009 was an underrated winter. A very icy winter with a lot of snow cover days. Seems overlooked with all the other Winters which featured KU type snowfalls.

Yeah I think I remember these. I remember one March which was following a relatively snowless season. We had a snowfall event which is only supposed to be 2 to 4 in and ended up being 5 to 10 followed by a vigorous clipper which gave three to six. What's interesting is it does not seem to follow temps. Those Winters were warm and we had a snowy late '90s March which was also warm. Then we've had snowy marches which were frigid years. The volatility during March and the change of seasons make it an extreme wild card, but in no case at this point where one can say that there's no chance.

I think in looking at the past we have to look for low snowfall, cold average temperature La Nina Winters and see where March ended up. Probably not that many so with a small sample size it's going to be a wait and see scenario. Mjo progression is in our favor.

I think we're a long way away from losing March as a snowfall month. Again it's Decadal. The '90s had snowy marches, the 2000s did not, the 2010s had snowy marches. So far the 2020s have not.

Yeah a few smaller events or a moderate one would be great and match what we've had so far. Would still consider a big win and not a "winter is over" scenario.

Hopefully another jump South and colder so Southern New England can benefit too.

I don't know why but I feel like it's a victory when the Mid-Atlantic and the South do great snowfall wise even when we don't (seems to be happening a more lately since 2018). Also the colder temperatures, longer into the season, has helped the ski resorts make snow which is a definite positive. So yes a negative snowfall wise but a positive temperature wise, unless one likes warmer weather, which I had must admit I love warm weather when it's not snowing LOL.

I mean there's only a handful of big snow storms, if you're talking 12 plus, in the history of Central Park for March. So it was never in history a large snowfall month. That being said there are plenty of snowfall events for Central Park in March and even April. I mentioned this before, however March snowfall tends to be Decadal, which yes does argue against snowfall this decade, similar to 2000 through 2010 where it never ever snowed in March or very rarely. Opposed to the 1990s or the 2010s where it snowed a lot in March. So there's a different reason for less snowfall. That being said is somebody going to go into any December and say nope no snowfall can't happen? If nobody does that, why do they do that with March? All I'm saying is there's no reason to say there's no way or it's a pipe dream that winter will return. Unless somebody has irrefutable evidence to this effect, I cannot see any reason to believe this especially given shorter wavelengths and the mjos progression.

The craziest thing about March 2014 was the suppression even though the entire winter the nao and AO were positive. All the suppression was due to the polar vortex proximity.

Yeah 2002 2003 was the rare wall to wall winter.

See this is an interesting scenario where temperatures were not the issue, which is rare excluding the 70s and '80s. In this case we had the fast pac and a drought which may be cause and effect. So we could be heading back into mid-February with a less hostile background state from a la nina perspective, however still deal with low precipitation and DC and the Delmarva reap the benefits again.

Why do you believe this, could you provide statistics please?

See I don't understand why this is the sentiment for a lot of posters. We literally have had snow, 6 inches, in April in Central Park. March is a slightly snowier month then December. Yet we put much more hope in December than we do March. If I lived in Central Jersey or coastal Jersey or Southwest Long Island then yes the timeline is a little shorter, the same as December. Just go to Ray's winter storm archive or look up events and in no way, from Central Park to Northern New Jersey to the northern half of Long Island and Eastern Long Island through Connecticut does winter end the last week of February or the first two weeks of March. Can we have an early spring, sure, just like we could have a late winter in December. Yes if you want deep snow cover that last week's and weeks then January and February is it usually except March 2015 which was frigid and snowy throughout the entire month into April.

Exactly! This was a huge win temperature wise we just failed in the snowfall department as Blue Wave mentioned the fast jet which unfortunately benefited the deep South with historic snowfall as well as average snowfall for the Mid-Atlantic above average for the Delmarva. Our bad La niñas are when the RNA kicks in early to mid January. We love El Nino's because we lose December which we care less about than losing one to one and a half months of January and February.

So in La niñas we know March can be snowy. La niñas work against winter weather due to the RNA. Don mentioned that as we get to the second half of February the RNA has less of an effect due to shorter wavelengths. So if the La Nina pattern kicked in mid-January, which is more typical, we would be talking about a solid month plus of an RNA kicking up the southeast Ridge in the heart of Winter. Now we're talking about the beginning of February until the RNA becomes less hostile which is mid February perhaps the last week so 2 to 3 weeks. That's a huge win for a La Nina.

Right, however speaking specifically of timing, I thought La niñas typically kick in the beginning to mid January not the beginning of February. The RNA becomes less of a factor mid February which would only lead to 2 to 3 weeks of hostile winter weather background state. Our area typically does not do well in La niñas because we lose half of January and half of February, an entire heart of winter month. El Nino's are better, as December's are typically not as snowy for our area, therefore we have a better set up in the heart of the winter months of January and February.

Right, however I believe the warmer weather kicks in in mid-January typically. This year is more like 10 11 or 09 08 where the La Nina affects were later than usual. I believe 17/18 is more standard where after the first week of January where we had the big storm it warmed up for the second half of January all the way through February before we had an epic March. The later the effects of the La Nina like this year the less of a hostile winter weather period. The reason La Nina's typically are snowier in March is because rnas are less hostile as Don pointed out. We could literally be looking at only a 2 to 3 week La Nina warmer than average temperature scenario before the shorter wavelengths combat the La Nina RNA pattern. Going into the season if someone were to say we're going to have a moderate La Nina and only 2 to 3 weeks of hostile La Nina effects everyone would sign up.

I think this is a win scenario if you like colder than average temperatures as this La Nina kicked in a little later than usual. Also March can be snowy in La niñas (as Don mentioned going to the latter half of February RNAs are not as hostile). Therefore, if one likes winter weather, we may only have negative effects 2 to 3 weeks which is a massive win in a la nina.

I may be mistaken however isn't this La Nina a little delayed affects wise? I thought the first or second week of January is when the La Nina pattern typically kicks in with this year being a couple weeks later than normal.