Every year I make a wish for no snow but now that we’re ALMOST in the clear, I would like to see ONE good snowfall! How about you? Snow or no snow?
“Snow Has Been AWOL in South Jersey” : The Sand Paper
Watching the nightly news this winter, it has been common to see footage of major winter snowstorms paralyzing various parts of the country. Even parts of perpetually-sunny southern California haven’t been spared from blizzard conditions.
But in Southern Ocean County, only occasional flurries and snow showers have occurred, keeping snow removal equipment in their garages. David Robinson, the state climatologist from Rutgers University, said the state is on pace to have the least snowiest winter on record.
He said the record for scant snowfall was set in the winter of 1972-73, when the statewide average was 4 inches. As of Monday, the current average is 1.3 inches.
“We need one event with plowable snow to catch up with that record,” he said.
While the rain was been fairly plentiful, it’s not combining with below-freezing temperatures. In fact, Robinson said that in New Jersey, the average temperature for January was 41 degrees, tied for the mildest. February has seen the fifth mildest, with a mean temperature of 39 degrees.
“Now, when you look at December, the average temperature was 35.5 degrees,” said Robinson. “Usually with the winter months, December is the mildest, while January and February are the coldest. We’ve got it backwards this year.”
Even with the calendar turning to March, Robinson cautioned not to put away those shovels and snowblowers yet.
“We still have six weeks left where snow is still possible,” he said. “Right now, it looks like it’s a toss-up of whether we will get any or not. It is going to depend on the flow of the jet stream, which has stayed mostly north of here, except for two brief cold spells.”
Robinson said snow totals all over the East Coast have been down. For example, Philadelphia has had less than a half inch of snow, and Central Park in New York was 0.4 inches. But the farther inland you go, the totals increase greatly, such as in Buffalo, which has had 116 inches.
“But even that was in an isolated area as it got bombarded by lake effect snow,” Robinson said. “Many towns nearby still have well below (average) snowfall totals.”
Alex Staarman, meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, said winter storms have taken more of an Ohio Valley track, resulting in snowstorms in the Midwest and western Pennsylvania.
“And with those storm tracks, we’re getting the warm side,” he said.
Staarman said a trough pattern on the West Coast has resulted in the unusual sight of snow falling in Los Angeles and other areas.
“When we have that trough pattern out west, the East has above normal temperatures,” he said. —E.E.