Welp, it’s official: New York Metropolis has been snow-free for the longest time in its recorded historical past this winter. On Monday, January 29, town surpassed the earlier date of the longest period of time with out snowfall in a winter season, beating out a document set in 1970.
New Yorkers have seen just a few flakes fall this winter, a pair unhappy flurries (there’s one out my window proper now as I write this)—however that’s not what this document measures. The document is for measurable snowfall, outlined as at the very least 0.1 inches (0.3 centimeters) of snow that stays on the bottom. By this definition, we’re nonetheless at zero, and there’s nothing within the forecast to counsel that’s in regards to the change any time quickly.
NYC isn’t the one place that has seen a record-breaking dearth of snow this winter. Philadelphia is nearing its personal document, which was set on February 3, 1971, for the newest measurable snowfall in winter; there’s some likelihood of snow Tuesday night, however greater temperatures imply it’s probably that the snow received’t stick. (The town additionally noticed a completely snowless winter between 1972 and 1973.) Washington, DC, Baltimore, and Atlantic Metropolis are additionally all experiencing unusually snow-free winters, though all three of these cities have their newest date of first measurable snowfall in late February, so there’s nonetheless a while.
The shortage of snow within the Mid-Atlantic hall is because of various elements. The winter storms which have hit Pennsylvania and western and upstate New York laborious have merely prevented the areas nearer to the coast. The La Niña local weather phenomenon in place this winter is taking part in a task in making temperatures hotter. And local weather change can also be contributing to hotter temperatures—in addition to extra intense snowfalls once they truly do occur.
“We’ve had heat winters up to now, however we’re seeing much more of what I wish to name the yo-yoing of winters,” Nationwide Climate Service meteorologist Chris Stachelski instructed the New York Instances. “We’re seeing extra extremes the place it’s flipping from very snowy to not very snowy. That’s the place you may argue that there may be some particular affect from the general world climate patterns occurring.”
