I think he was departed by then. I’m pretty sure that I am the only one of us who met him, we used to all be on mirc back about 20-22 years ago. I had dinner with him in Hingham at this fish place. He had an iPhone-wasn’t yet available on Verizon. We were checking out the ETA for the snowmageddon DC storm to see if we had a shot, He was reeling but the line snapped and we know what we ended up with.
It depends. I think most of us in eastern areas considered 2014-15 A+ due to 80-100 inches in a 30 day period. This despite flirting with futility at this point in the season. Had we received half that amount most of us would still grade it A-/B+. Tying the grade to constancy of winter means 98% are flawed.
MJO forecasts suggests that the weeklies won’t make anyone happy today. While guidance is better on the ensemble products one has to wonder what kind of staying power any change to cold is later this month or February.