LibertyBell

True we had some subzero cold in the early and middle 80s: Christmas 1980, January 1982, December 1983, January 1985. The wheels really fell off the wagon in the late 80s and especially the early 90s. Hell even when it was very cold (December 1989) it didn't snow much.

1977-78 was another winter that was great for a lot of people.

97-98 would have been the worst if it wasn't for that unexpected first day of spring snowfall, although 01-02 was a warmer winter and had the shortest period between first freeze and last freeze I've ever experienced. I had roses blooming until just before New Years and crocuses coming out in the last week of February lol

We had our latest snowfall on record that year too, April 19, 1983 1.5" here.

I had my biggest snowstorm I've ever experienced here in January 2016 (my only 30"+ snowstorm) so I would take it too. Plus some additional bonus snowfalls in February and the latest below zero temperature I've ever experienced (on Valentines Day morning!)

I noticed those are the only ones that have the temperature jump.

cloudy or sunny that day-- the lows were similar to 6-4-23 but the highs were lower

2015-16 even worse than 1982-83, same one big storm winter

what about super (+2) el ninos? I think only 1982-83, 1997-98, 2015-16 ?

I think this also happened to you in 2010-11 for the Boxing Day event.

Yes the high end el ninos create these jumps that accentuate its effects even more. It makes me wonder if these high end el ninos are increasing in frequency too.

1997: It was a chilly day in the East. The high temperature at Philadelphia International Airport was only 59 degrees, tying a record-low maximum for the date set back in 1881. The temperature at Middletown, Pennsylvania rose to 58 degrees, breaking the record-low maximum for the date of 59 degrees set back in 1915. Washington, DC only reached 58 degrees, breaking the old record-low maximum of 59 set back in 1915. Central Park in New York City only reached 61 degrees. 2002: An impressive heat burst at Amarillo, TX caused the temperature to jump to 90° at 3:21 am. The heat burst was accompanied by winds of 55 mph. (Ref. Wilson Wx. History) wow I didn't know or remember this about 1997. What was our low that morning? Wild, 1915 had one of our largest late season snowfalls ever in the month of April. Heat bursts are one thing Texas is famous for, Kopperl Texas had a severe one when the temperature rose to 140 degrees and trees and even wooden doors were burned!

correct, this is more of a typical early summer pattern.

This pattern is nothing like May though, the temperatures are going to be warmer (mid to upper 70s) as opposed to the horror we had in May. This is just a wet humid summery pattern with showers from time to time.

Oh that sucks, that el nino was likely too strong for you.

So we need to find some way to prevent or block super el ninos from happening to keep the climate from having these large jumps? How long does the climate take to recover from these environmentally catastrophic super el ninos and has there any research been done to modify, weaken or block them from happening? By the way I see how 1982-83 affected the climate for the entire 80s (low snowfall decade) but 1997-98 seems to have had a shorter time before we recovered as the entire 2002-03 through 2004-5 period was quite snowy here. The next global baseline jump in temperatures occurred in 1997-1998 and was much larger than 1982-1983. So the coldest CONUS winter of this era was 2009-2010 which ranked at #22 coldest since 1895. The coldest Northeast winter of this era was 2014-2015 which ranked as #22 coldest.

Yes, we had bad winters like 1998-99 during the 1950s too. Winters which lack snow during DJF and deliver a parting shot in March have happened before and will happen again.

Yes, nothing annoys me more with winter than having a somewhat snowy winter without a big event as the centerpiece. It's why 2002-03 ranks so high for me, it had snow on Christmas, the big 26 inch PD2 in the middle of winter and a snowstorm to close out the season in April.

That storm in February 1983 was my absolute favorite storm growing up, most of the rest of the 80s sucked for snowfall here. February 1983 is what introduced thundersnow into my lexicon lol.

Yesterday and today are ideal, I wish we could have this instead of the rainy crap or the high humidity swampiness.

it's just one day of clouds and showers though, as opposed to 3-4 days which we don't need or want

it depends on how tropical season sets up

Ray you must have done really well in 1993-94 too.

January 2016 was like February 1983 on steroids. The added moisture with that storm was definitely CC induced, there was a research paper on it. 30.7 inches of snow with 3.00 inches of liquid equivalent at JFK

So we have a few that good winters for both of us. I only listed what I consider A winters. A few of the other ones you listed were B+ here, among them 2004-05, 2008-09 and 2000-01. 2003-04 also fits into that group.