With sugar maples in the Northeast barely showing their autumn color the first snows of Winter 2009-10 began falling.

OCTOBER
While the Oct. 27-29 snowfall (17.2 inches in Denver) was more measurable, more noteworthy, and perhaps a harbinger of the winter to follow, was the Oct. 15-16 Northeast snowstorm. This storm, coming three weeks after summer officially ended, delivered one of the earliest measurable snowfalls ever. In an area from just north of Philadelphia to the Poconos and including portions of Northwest New Jersey up to 6 inches or more of snow fell in the highest elevations.

NOVEMBER
Despite the October snows, a temperature turn around in November produced considerable warming. As a result, little snow fell even in the typically snowy regions. The Great Lakes snow machine, which gets going in November, produced only a trace of snow in Buffalo and 1.2 inches in Cleveland. Great Falls, Mont., saw a mere .2 inches while Denver piled up 9 inches during a three-day, mid-month storm.

DECEMBER
Despite waning recession fears, contractors still had difficulty solidifying their winter service agreements with some property owners. So Mother Nature resolved this problem with the arrival of cold Arctic air that produced several significant storms nationwide. Nature’s clutch snowstorms helped close many deals, not to mention generated early-season invoices.

Cold weather spread throughout the U.S. and not a single climate zone averaged above-normal temperature for December. More than 325 snowfall records were broken mostly in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Although Chicago didn’t see any blockbuster storms, monthly totals averaged 20-30 inches. Heavy snow also fell in parts of the southeast and northeast U.S. and even the snow belt areas of New York shared in the winter accumulation with 25 inches in Buffalo.

Dec. 19 and 20 brought the first of four crippling storms to the US 95 corridor, from Northern Virginia to New Jersey. The near-record snow that occurred in this storm came two days before winter’s Dec. 21 astronomical start. In some areas of metro Washington D.C. the totals from this storm eclipsed what typically falls during an entire winter. The storm focused its greatest intensity across Maryland, Delaware and Southeastern Pennsylvania, pelting Wilmington with 17 inches, 18 in Baltimore and 23 in Philadelphia. Atlantic City picked up nearly a foot and amounts were lighter across northern Jersey and New England.

JANUARY
January saw the arrival of colder, drier Arctic air across much of the country and a storm track through the south and across the northern-tier states and southern Canada. Although precipitation amounts were lighter, more of what fell was in the form of snow. The Northern Rockies were hardest hit. Lighter snows fell across the Midwest. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast quieted down except for some lake-effect snow (35.6 inches in Buffalo) and northern New England. On Jan. 2-3, Burlington, Vt., had it largest single-event snowstorm – 33.1 inches. Late in the month, a southern storm left a swath of heavy snow and ice from Texas to Virginia, and Asheville, N.C’s foot-plus snow broke more records.

FEBRUARY
If there was one month that snow removal contractors would remember for the rest of their lives, and would consider it the epic snowiest month ever, it would be February. February 2010 has become the standard to judge all other snowy months by, especially across the Mid Atlantic/Northeastern States. The historic blocking of cold air that established itself in the central Appalachians combined with a strong peaking El Niño and allowed for the extraordinary snowy month in the east and the development and propagation of not one,  but three intense Nor’easters. The first two, Feb. 5-6 and again on the 9th and 10th, brought record one-week snows to Maryland. This double punch nearly KO’d contractors as they struggled to keep properties clear and find room to place the 40-50+ inches of snow that fell in six days. The final Feb. 25-27 storm fortunately shifted slightly north centering most of its ferocity across southern New York. The blizzard conditions which ensued dropped 2-3 feet of snow in parts of Orange and Sullivan counties and in parts of extreme Northwest New Jersey. 

The warmth of El Niño allowed for Canadian air to drop southward into the U.S. and remained locked near the Mid Atlantic. A strong influx of storminess directed under this block colliding with pieces of this cold air resulted in the formation of the Nor’easters right over the Mid Atlantic where there was just enough cold air to produce the “Big Snows.” The snow fall records of nearly every Mid-Atlantic location not only broke, but obliterated their all-time records for snowiest February and snowiest month. Weather records, some which have stood for 100 years, were shattered by as much as 15 inches or more. Atlantic City was buried under three feet, Baltimore and Philadelphia over 50 inches and narrowly missed a third storm at month’s end. Monthly snowfall totals for Virginia through New Jersey were staggering. In some cases the equivalent of three winter seasons fell in one month. Meanwhile, as the snows flourished in the East, the snowy regions of New York and New England were blocked from much of the moisture advancing northward and suffered somewhat of a snow shortage. Bangor had only 2.7 inches of snow, Boston 7 inches and Buffalo only 13.4, or about 30 percent of what fell at the nation’s capital.

WINTER’S END
As the cold air blocking pattern relaxed in March and warmer weather returned, snowfall totals diminished across the Mid Atlantic, Northeast and much of the Nation.

 Storminess continued in the east but brought record rains, warmer weather and floods. Parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho did see 1-2 feet from late-season storms. However, the typically snowy areas near the Great Lakes experienced one of their least snowy periods ever, with only a trace falling in Buffalo and Concord, N.H.

As spring arrived early April snow continued falling. Parts of Montana and Wyoming had their snowiest month with 2-3 feet in some areas.  Northern New York and Vermont also had a late storm (Apr. 27-28).

LOOKING AHEAD
The exceptionally snowy winter across the Mid Atlantic, the lack of snow in the Great Lakes, and the extreme cold in Florida will not likely repeat with the same intensity for several years. Contractors should bank this winter’s profits and not plan on it again for quite some time.

However, the weather patterns which began changing a year ago have continued into 2010. The Pacific cold cycle (PDO) and now the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) appear to have begun a decadal decline from their peak values. Snowfall distribution, intensity and frequency across the U.S. is dependent upon these values as well as the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Snowy winters have occurred during both a La Niña and El Niño phase. With the NAO in decline and heading for a minimum in the next 10-20 years, like what happened during the NAO phase of 1950’s to 1960’s, snowier winters seem to be the inevitable trend in the East and Midwest.

Next winter will likely bring blizzard conditions to areas of the East Coast, but in more favored areas of Pennsylvania, New York and New England. Again, the trend should be for mid-season storms in January/February as opposed to December or March. Snowfall totals will likely return to near- or above-normal levels across the upper Midwest and Great Lakes. The Mid-Atlantic areas may see more heavy snow but with combinations of rain and ice, which more typically affect this area. The unique combinations that produced record East Coast snowfalls are unlikely to happen again for a long, long time.

Frank Lombardo is president of Weather Works Inc. in Hackettstown, N.J., and a frequent contributor to Snow Magazine.