It’s late December, and the finish line of 2023 is in sight, but there hasn’t been much snow in view all season.
Boston’s only recorded .2” of snow this winter, and trace amounts in Worcester. Worcester would normally have 9” of snow, and Boston should have nearly 5”. And with abnormally warm temperatures expected next week, there isn’t much to look forward to if you’re hoping for a White Christmas. It will be relatively warm throughout New England.
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Though southern New England hasn’t had meaningful snow, northern New England did get hit with a potent storm mid-December early last week, which allowed several winter resorts to make Opening Day. The powder days brought between 6 and 12 inches of fresh powder.
Powder days…here today, gone tomorrow
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Last week, the average snow cover across the Northeast was near 60%! It was fantastic! Cold air reinforced the snow-making potential for resorts too. But the flurries were fleeting, as a late spring-like storm barreled in this week. Sunday and Monday brought a long duration windstorm, damaging trees, knocking out power and turning roads into rivers with flooding. Moisture levels were akin to what we’d anticipate in April or May.
Monday’s storm brought temperatures 15-20° hotter than normal through Burlington, VT and Martha’s Vineyard. In several locations, temperatures set records:
- 61°—Bangor, ME (Previous Record 53°, 1954)
- 58°—Caribou, ME (Previous Record 54°, 2000)
- 60°—Providence, RI (Previous Record 60°, 1984)
- 63°—Boston, MA (Previous Record 61°, 1915)
This set the stage for bringing in what previously could have been a winter storm, and instead unfolded as a spring-like messy rain and wind. Along with the warmer air came the sub-tropical like humidity too, as dewpoints climbed to 40s and 50s. Dewpoints indicate high much/little moisture is in the air. A 10° dewpoint would be a desert dry airmass. A 50-60° dewpoint can be likened to what you’d come across in South Florida. The warmth melts snow much faster. The rapid snowmelt flows downstream, and triggers fluctuating and rapidly rising water levels and streamflows. The very snow that many enjoyed, now works against us…turning roads of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine into rivers. All while it’s still raining heavily. Daily rainfall records were set. In Bangor, Maine, (2.52”), Caribou, Maine, (0.92”), Providence, Rhode Island (2.43”), and Boston, Mass. (1.44”). So the water attacked from multiple fronts.
It's not the winter of your parent's childhood - warming New England winters are more common
Winter is the fastest-warming season in New England. Since the 1970s, winter temperatures have warmed by 3.4° on average…this equates to an additional 15 days spent warmer-than-normal during the winter months. While those deviations can be small, they add up. 2023 will go down as one of the warmest on record.
Connecting the climate dots
Warmth can amplify storms increasing the potential for more significant and potentially deadly flood events. For every degree of warming in the atmosphere, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere increases by 7%. More water vapor becomes fuel for stronger, wetter storms with increased flood potential.
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