HoarfrostHubb Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Dropping from a B- to a C+ now... March has really been good for nothing but below avg temps and little snow Dec was meh... Jan was pretty bad for snow Feb rocked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIPPYVALLEY Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Dropping from a B- to a C+ now... March has really been good for nothing but below avg temps and little snow Dec was meh... Jan was pretty bad for snow Feb rocked I've got to grade low despite slightly above average snow and constant snow cover in my front yard since early Dec. December was pretty good here, January had 3 full weeks of meh', February was decent but we have had a total of 3" of snow since February 18th. (Meaning March suuuucked!) I would say that is the case for N ORH county all the way to the N Berks. I'm a few inches above my season average but Dave, MPM, Whiteminster, Lurker etc are all probably below average so the entire RT 2 corridor from Westminster to N Adams has not had a great winter. The well below average cold has kept snow pack around and you could argue it's been good for winter sports enthusiasts but honestly backcountry CC skiing was only good for short stretches and then would become too hard packed. Downhill was decent but locally Berkshire East, Mt Snow, Stratton didn't do nearly as well as NNE so the number of "great days" was limited. Still a good ski season despite not getting out too often due to family schedule etc. As a winter weather lover I do like the fact I had constant snow cover and frozen bodies of water so there has been "winter appeal" for 4 months which has been nice. C+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grinch1989 Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Downgraded to 82/100 for a final grading. Any suprise spring snows wont change this unless its an april 97 copycat. Closed the book on winter, now onto magazines and articles to pass the time away til november. I'd probably go with a solid B+ or A-...well above normal snowfall, brutal cold with sub zero multiple times, snow OTG solid for two+ months, and flirting with 30" OTG at one point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy4Confluence Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I'm lowering my grade from an A- down to a B+ for the obvious reason that fro Feb 18th through March has been an obnoxiously lousy period for MBY ( Lowell / Dracut ). The storms missing to my north ( 3/17 ), south (3/3), east (3/25) and west ( cutters ) has left a bad taste in my mouth to what was once a rockin' winter around here. Sent from my VS980 4G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weathafella Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Down to B- unless tomorrow surprises. Dry March is infuriating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Meh, I rather a mundane March then Dec, Jan, or Feb. All were good months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoarfrostHubb Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Meh, I rather a mundane March then Dec, Jan, or Feb. All were good months. What were your Jan totals? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Barring a late season storm of 6"+ for ORH, I'd grade this winter a B. Dec/Jan/Feb all had above normal snow at ORH and were below normal for temps. The snowpack retention was not great though during Dec/Jan...so DJF would get a B+/A- because of that. But February was sick. March has been quite infuriating...so the overall grade gets lowered to a B once we include March. The snowpack stayed around this month despite only getting 3" from the backlash on 3/13...the cold was impressive.The lack of snow was frustrating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlantStickers Anonymous Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I said I wouldn't do it, but this has been too much. I will wait until this storm has passed just in case we see some surprises. However I will be lowering my grade from a B+ to a B possibly even B-. No significant snowfall in over 6 weeks, wasted cold and chances Same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cja1987 Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 B- to C+ at best. Lack of any big storms; ok we had one or 2 that pushed the 15"-ish but we all know the story there, complete fluff that looked like about 6 by the time the storm ended. Horrible March; cold does not impress me whatsoever unless its associated w/snow and helping to retain snowpack. It was not too far into March when we blowtorched our snowpack down here in the tropics of Metro BOS so the cold became absolutely useless and a true pain in the rear. Couple with storms firing off every ~5 days and systematically missing us. Its just time for us to torch. Feb was decent but I can't stand all the people that imply we have had "alot" of snow or the people who like to talk about % of averages, etc. We live in a place w/high variability snowfall wise (ie compare to NNE, its quite a bit higher) so I don't give much thought to averages around these parts at all. We are in a part of the world with great potential for huge snows and we just could not get it done in terms of a nice big winter defining storm. I'm not a big historical WX buff in any formal sense but speaking ad hoc, in the ~21 winters I can remember around here more than half have featured "big storms". Any that does not goes down a letter grade off the bat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professional Lurker Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 C here, possibly C-. Will, when you make up your annual sne snowfall map, can you make up a second map showing departures from average? I'd like to think that I'm way below average up here. The only thing that has saved winter for me has been the cold..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 C here, possibly C-. Will, when you make up your annual sne snowfall map, can you make up a second map showing departures from average? I'd like to think that I'm way below average up here. The only thing that has saved winter for me has been the cold..... What is your snowfall total this year? I'd be surprised if you were "way below average"....I'd think around average at worst. Maybe a pinch below. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 B- to C+ at best. Lack of any big storms; ok we had one or 2 that pushed the 15"-ish but we all know the story there, complete fluff that looked like about 6 by the time the storm ended. Horrible March; cold does not impress me whatsoever unless its associated w/snow and helping to retain snowpack. It was not too far into March when we blowtorched our snowpack down here in the tropics of Metro BOS so the cold became absolutely useless and a true pain in the rear. Couple with storms firing off every ~5 days and systematically missing us. Its just time for us to torch. Feb was decent but I can't stand all the people that imply we have had "alot" of snow or the people who like to talk about % of averages, etc. We live in a place w/high variability snowfall wise (ie compare to NNE, its quite a bit higher) so I don't give much thought to averages around these parts at all. We are in a part of the world with great potential for huge snows and we just could not get it done in terms of a nice big winter defining storm. I'm not a big historical WX buff in any formal sense but speaking ad hoc, in the ~21 winters I can remember around here more than half have featured "big storms". Any that does not goes down a letter grade off the bat. The last 21 years stick out like a massive sore thumb in terms of "big storms" in the historical record. Really starting with 1992-1993 winter. So we've be relatively spoiled on big storms. Nickle and dime winters histroically have been more the norm for us. Even the prolific late 1950s-early 1970s period doesn't hold a candle to the frequency of big storms we have seen in the past 2 decades. I know not everyone studies or has studied the historical snowfall record as obsessively as I have, so I suppose that keeps my expectations for 18"+ storms in check versus if I just went on what I have personally experienced in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sankaty Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 B/B+ Pros: Snowfall about 150% of average Several nice preholiday snowfalls in the Dec 9-17 period got the season started well Persistent cold and snow during the Jan 21st to Feb 18th made for an fantastic deep winter with lots of snow on snow events and snowpack retention Cons: Thaw before the holidays prevented a white Christmas Mid January was a loss And most maddening, we've been at 59" since Feb 18th but have not been able to break 60" despite persistent cold and storminess in every direction. We currently stand at 59.25. I try not the let the ski season affect my IMBY rating, but despite a slow start, it's been a great season with the prospect of fantastic spring skiing to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juliancolton Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 And most maddening, we've been at 59" since Feb 18th but have not been able to break 60" despite persistent cold and storminess in every direction. We currently stand at 59.25. lol, 59.5" here. I was at 59.3" as of Feb 18th but managed a couple tenths of sleet on March 12 on the backside of that rainstorm. Absolutely ridiculous to go 32.3" in a ten day period of mid-February and then not be able to buy a subsequent inch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tornadomachine Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I've been convinced to go C- to D+, just because of the fact that I've been fringed by so many huge events this year. The North and South shore mesoscale OES events, the big NNE synoptic storm, the one this week... Snow is above average, but so is the pain of missed monster events. I feel like my score would be way higher if I was either in NNE or SNE. For big storms, CNE has been totally shafted compared to the rest of the region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I've been convinced to go C- to D+, just because of the fact that I've been fringed by so many huge events this year. The North and South shore mesoscale OES events, the big NNE synoptic storm, the one this week... Snow is above average, but so is the pain of missed monster events. I feel like my score would be way higher if I was either in NNE or SNE. For big storms, CNE has been totally shafted compared to the rest of the region. Or if it was 1940 and you didn't know that you got missed by a big storm by 50 miles...only observed what happened in YBY. That's what makes these grades interesting to me. Some grade it on the actual winter in their location...but others incorporate a "pain" factor of watching others get more snow than them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 What were your Jan totals? I'll have to look..maybe near 33". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapturedNature Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Or if it was 1940 and you didn't know that you got missed by a big storm by 50 miles...only observed what happened in YBY. That's what makes these grades interesting to me. Some grade it on the actual winter in their location...but others incorporate a "pain" factor of watching others get more snow than them. I grade it very highly based on my locale. I gave up caring that some guy 10 miles away "scored" and I didn't a long time ago. Sure it would have been great, but it wasn't in the cards. The combination of below normal cold and above normal snow was great but not having any "deep" cold nights (around -20) and the warm-ups between snowfalls early on kind of lower it for me. It's darn close to perfect though which is why I think this winter is an A-. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Probably B+ winter here. Great Dec-Feb with snow falling Nov-Mar. Jan 2-3 tops it with the big snowstorm here...my own private little blizzard. The Dec and Jan torches sort of ruined snowpack that month, but Feb into early Mar had a good amount of snowcover here. Definitely a little frustrating for snow in March, but we had some minor events to freshen things up along with the cold. Overall it was a long wintry stretch since November, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I've been convinced to go C- to D+, just because of the fact that I've been fringed by so many huge events this year. The North and South shore mesoscale OES events, the big NNE synoptic storm, the one this week... Snow is above average, but so is the pain of missed monster events. I feel like my score would be way higher if I was either in NNE or SNE. For big storms, CNE has been totally shafted compared to the rest of the region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I grade it very highly based on my locale. I gave up caring that some guy 10 miles away "scored" and I didn't a long time ago. Sure it would have been great, but it wasn't in the cards. The combination of below normal cold and above normal snow was great but not having any "deep" cold nights (around -20) and the warm-ups between snowfalls early on kind of lower it for me. It's darn close to perfect though which is why I think this winter is an A-. This March lowered by grade by about a half or third. B+/A- to B...the lack of snow pack retention hurt a bit in Dec/Jan. Total days with snow cover was actually pretty decent during that stretch, but given the amount of actual snow and the mean temp...it was disappointing...often like 2" of crust leftover after a torch...and we even lost it all for a time twice....mid Jan torch sucked. If we got a 6"+ paste job before the season ends, then it would redeem some of the points deducted so far this March. I'll use the entire cold season. Given that the grading is subjective, some people place more importance on getting jackpotted or massive storms versus raw snow or temp departures. So we see the differences in grades despite the similarities in raw departures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastalWx Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 My grade does reflect on the amount of snow and temps. Hurting the grade were ill-timed torches and a rather lack luster 40 days or so...but I think it's a very fair grade. I mean it's about as close to an A- as you can get...in fact a 3-6" event tomorrow probably would have done that, but I find that unlikely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TauntonBlizzard2013 Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 The last 40 days I think is really shooting the grades down. What makes it worse is we have had the tougher of the two ingredients the whole time, cold. To miss storms and be cold in march is something else. I also find it interesting reading posts in here and NYC grading the winter, how important a KU type event is in grading. I get the feel some folks could get 80 or 90 inches and not be happy because none of it came from a KU NYC had a legimate shot at challenging the all time snowiest winter ever there, and some are down on the winter because of no KU Its interesting too see how some things are valued so much more than others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthCoastMA Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 B+ here.. with several squandered chances to make it an A+ winter. I suppose if this upcoming storm makes a surprise tick west and delivers 6", then I may reconsider it being an A-. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORH_wxman Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 The last 40 days I think is really shooting the grades down. What makes it worse is we have had the tougher of the two ingredients the whole time, cold. To miss storms and be cold in march is something else. I also find it interesting reading posts in here and NYC grading the winter, how important a KU type event is in grading. I get the feel some folks could get 80 or 90 inches and not be happy because none of it came from a KU NYC had a legimate shot at challenging the all time snowiest winter ever there, and some are down on the winter because of no KU Its interesting too see how some things are valued so much more than others When you get like 15 KU storms in a decade...your expectations can become skewed to even downright delusional. I love the big ones too, but I know they don't grow on trees either and my professional opinion of that doesn't change based on a recent barrage of them. I'd be willing to bet that if we get about 2 or 3 clunkers in a row, the retroactive grading of 2013-2014 will magically start producing higher grades. Also, asking for someone to grade the winter while in the middle of a frustrating stretch is going to inherently skew the grades slightly lower too...weather enthusiasts often have a "what have you done for me lately" outlook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damage In Tolland Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 B- Pros. Top 10 coldest on record Snowpack from Feb 3- March 18 which was some of the heartiest and iciest pack I've ever experienced. All that with 0 snow events after Feb 17. Fairly snowy Dec Plenty of nickel / dime events which I prefer over 1 blockbuster Cons: Torch cutters thruout Dec and Jan which destroyed all that pack we had built up prior to holidays. The torch week in mid Jan when heavyset sweat hogs were driving around with windows down, kids were riding bikes and some golf courses were open Winter ending Feb 17 despite declarations that the pattern looked great and would deliver snow. Probably the most frustrating last 40 days of a winter I can recall since the 80's. If I knew the atmospheric pattern wasn't conducive to snow in SNE I would have rather had another Morch 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzucker Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 When you get like 15 KU storms in a decade...your expectations can become skewed to even downright delusional. I love the big ones too, but I know they don't grow on trees either and my professional opinion of that doesn't change based on a recent barrage of them. I'd be willing to bet that if we get about 2 or 3 clunkers in a row, the retroactive grading of 2013-2014 will magically start producing higher grades. Also, asking for someone to grade the winter while in the middle of a frustrating stretch is going to inherently skew the grades slightly lower too...weather enthusiasts often have a "what have you done for me lately" outlook. People grade based on what's happened recently; so if March sucked, they lower their grade. A lot of enthusiasts here are forgetting the magical stretch we had between January 3-February 13, which allowed for snow pack to last well into March. That was one of the best stretches on record for most of our areas, including Brooklyn and Dobbs Ferry where I live. You are always going to get a mediocre period in a winter, as we don't live in the Alps or Labrador, and it just so happened that the mediocre period was recently so we get a deduction of grade. We've also had well-above average winters recently, so naturally folks are spoiled. Using my location, Dobbs Ferry had 68" in 09-10, 70" in 10-11, 52" in 12-13, and 74" in 13-14. Those numbers are unparalleled in the historical record for a location averaging 36"/year (despite never breaking the seasonal snowfall record of 90" set back in 60-61), so people's expectations for snowfall have been lifted. Whether it represents a legitimate climate shift or just dumb luck, we can't possibly know. But we do know it affects the grading scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HIPPYVALLEY Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I think the low grades are coming from many of us outliers because January was not all that great NW of Worcester. Definitely a few storms that left us with a coating or smoking cirrus. There were some screw jobs for Dave up in Hubbardston and the posters from Westminster etc who usually cash in while us W of the Ct River folks are fringed. It's rare for me to have totals so close to the 1000' folks like Dave and MPM. It certainly was not an elevation dependent winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlantStickers Anonymous Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 B/B+. Despite missed opportunities still above average in snowfall and persistently cold, the storms that worked out were fun, particularly the 18" 1/3 storm where I got to joy ride on a *thoroughly* snow covered 114 in the chaos of no lanes and cars sliding everywhere. Solid B, march sucked and this was a frustrating missed opportunity but all the reasons listed above still make it a good winter for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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