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| Frozen Tundra covering Lake Erie |
The meteorological months of winter are December, January and February. The snow cover across northern Ohio is very deep after the recent snowfall. This endless blanket of the white stuff makes this definition seem, at the very least, misleading and pretty pointless to many of us who still have snow piled up high. When we do meteorological comparisons to past seasons, the three month periods nearest to the season in question is used by climatologists. For example, December through February are the winter months. March through May are spring months and so on.
So how does this winter compare to last winter (colder than average), two winters ago (milder than average) and the coldest winter ever (1976-77) in northern Ohio? I'll use the same metrics for comparison I've used in the past:
Average 3 month temperature rank all-time (December through February) since 1871
Seasonal Snowfall
Below zero nights
Days at or above 40
Days at or below 32
Consecutive days with at least one inch of snow cover
Total days with snow cover of at least one inch
Total days with snow cover of at least six inches
Monthly temperature ranks
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1) AVERAGE 3 MONTH TEMPERATURE RANK SINCE 1871
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SIDE NOTES:
* The only winters that were colder in the last 50 years were: 1976-77, 1977-78 and 1969-70
* The average temperature from
January 1 to February 28th was the
6th coldest EVER, coldest since 1977-78,
4th coldest in the last 100 years,
3rd coldest in the last 50 years
2) Seasonal Snowfall
SIDE NOTE:
* This winter's snowfall rank is 14th. Last winter was 9th, Two winters ago was 59th
3) Below Zero Instances
SIDE NOTE:
Only 4 other winters had more temperatures below zero since record keeping began in Cleveland: 1978-79 (14), 1962-63 (16), 1884-85 (19) and 1976-77 (24)
4) Daytime high temperatures at or above 40 degrees
5) Daytime high temperatures at or below 32 degrees
6) Consecutive days with at least one inch of snow cover
SIDE NOTE:
Current stretch now at 40 days as of March 2nd
7) Total days with snow cover of at least one inch
SIDE NOTE:
This winter's number of snow cover days is ranked 10th all-time. Last winter was ranked 8th all-time.
8) Total days with snow cover of at least six inches
9) Monthly temperature ranks since November
Feel free to comment below; any questions always welcome!
