Where was the snow? 5 cities that had biggest decrease this year from normal snow totals
By
Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Published May 1, 2020 8:01 PM EDT
Accuweather's Dexter Henry takes a look at how the landscaping and snow removal industry have been affected by a mild winter in the Northeast.
With the calendar flipping to May, it's safe to say most places in the Northeast won't get any more snowfall until next season -- which makes it a great time to tally up snowfall for the 2019-20 season. Some in the Northeast may ask: What snowfall? And those people would be right. Several places received almost nothing in terms of accumulation this season. A great many places that did pick up some snow were well below seasonal averages, but a small handful of spots actually picked up above-average amounts this season. Here's a look back.
Outside of northern New York and northern Maine, every region throughout the East, from Georgia to Vermont, fell short of the average seasonal snowfall. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), five areas had their least or second-least snowy winters on record.
Some of those areas included major cities such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, which normally averages more than 22 inches of snowfall, got less than one half of an inch, while other Pennsylvanian cities such as Allentown, Harrisburg and Williamsport received over 25 inches less this year than the historical average.
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck, the snowfall scarcity can be traced to numerous factors.
"There was a lack of polar blasts of air into these regions because the polar vortex was stuck up over the Arctic much of the time," Smerbeck said. "This caused a persistent westerly or zonal flow in the jet stream and milder Pacific air to cross the eastern United States frequently."
Farther southeast, warmer cities such as Roanoke and Lynchburg in Virginia, Columbia and Charleston in South Carolina and Augusta and Savannah in Georgia, also had far less snow this year than most. All four South Carolinian and Georgian cities didn’t record any snow this past season, and Lynchburg recorded only a trace, the third-least amount in recorded history.
Snow laden branches frame Canada Geese on the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Compared to the currently sweltering Southwest, some Eastern cities actually got less snow than their western counterparts. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, 6.6 inches of snow were recorded.
However, not all areas of the eastern U.S. went without snow. Cities around the Great Lakes, such as Rochester, New York, and Erie, Pennsylvania, approached average annual totals due to a few rounds of frigid Canadian air that ushered winter storms into the region. Rochester, with 91.6 inches of accumulation, was one of just two cities to record above-average snowfall this past winter.
Only a couple of cities in the traditional lake-effect snow belts downwind of the Great Lakes and the northernmost tip of Maine picked up average or above-average snowfall during the winter of 2019-20 in the northeastern U.S. (NOAA / National Weather Service)
However, Smerbeck added that most cities east of the Great Lakes missed out on the major storms of the winter.
"The main storm track was from the Rockies into the Upper Midwest or Great Lakes, which put the eastern U.S. on the warmer and rainier side of the storm track," he said.
Lynn Cullins, right, and Kevin Burit, both of Caribou, Maine, walk through blowing snow on Beacon Hill in Boston, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015. A blizzard warning was in effect for coastal communities from Rhode Island to Maine, promising heavy snow and powerful winds to heap more misery on a region that saw feet of snow this winter. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
The other city, Caribou, is located in the northernmost tip of Maine was buried under a total of 146 inches of snowfall padded by a pair of January storms and some late-season snowfalls that dumped over 20 inches in parts of the state. The 2019-20 winter total ranked ninth of all-time for snowiest seasons on record.
In fact, for many areas, the snow fell more often once the season officially switched from winter to spring. While the air remained stubbornly mild, a few areas, such as southern New York and western Pennsylvania, had stretches cold enough to produce January-like snow from late March to mid-April.
Much of the eastern U.S. waited with bated breath for a spring snowstorm to bring the heavy snow that the winter season lacked. However, outside of a late-April scenic snowfall in northern New England, the signature winter storm never arrived for the region. At least not in the Northeast, that is.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, Fubo, and Verizon Fios.
CORRECTION: A previous version of a graphic included in this story listed the incorrect average seasonal snowfall total for New York City. The correct number is 25.8 inches, not 28.5 inches.
Report a Typo
News / Winter Weather
Where was the snow? 5 cities that had biggest decrease this year from normal snow totals
By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Published May 1, 2020 8:01 PM EDT
Accuweather's Dexter Henry takes a look at how the landscaping and snow removal industry have been affected by a mild winter in the Northeast.
With the calendar flipping to May, it's safe to say most places in the Northeast won't get any more snowfall until next season -- which makes it a great time to tally up snowfall for the 2019-20 season. Some in the Northeast may ask: What snowfall? And those people would be right. Several places received almost nothing in terms of accumulation this season. A great many places that did pick up some snow were well below seasonal averages, but a small handful of spots actually picked up above-average amounts this season. Here's a look back.
Outside of northern New York and northern Maine, every region throughout the East, from Georgia to Vermont, fell short of the average seasonal snowfall. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), five areas had their least or second-least snowy winters on record.
Some of those areas included major cities such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Philadelphia, which normally averages more than 22 inches of snowfall, got less than one half of an inch, while other Pennsylvanian cities such as Allentown, Harrisburg and Williamsport received over 25 inches less this year than the historical average.
(AccuWeather)
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck, the snowfall scarcity can be traced to numerous factors.
"There was a lack of polar blasts of air into these regions because the polar vortex was stuck up over the Arctic much of the time," Smerbeck said. "This caused a persistent westerly or zonal flow in the jet stream and milder Pacific air to cross the eastern United States frequently."
Farther southeast, warmer cities such as Roanoke and Lynchburg in Virginia, Columbia and Charleston in South Carolina and Augusta and Savannah in Georgia, also had far less snow this year than most. All four South Carolinian and Georgian cities didn’t record any snow this past season, and Lynchburg recorded only a trace, the third-least amount in recorded history.
Snow laden branches frame Canada Geese on the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Compared to the currently sweltering Southwest, some Eastern cities actually got less snow than their western counterparts. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, 6.6 inches of snow were recorded.
However, not all areas of the eastern U.S. went without snow. Cities around the Great Lakes, such as Rochester, New York, and Erie, Pennsylvania, approached average annual totals due to a few rounds of frigid Canadian air that ushered winter storms into the region. Rochester, with 91.6 inches of accumulation, was one of just two cities to record above-average snowfall this past winter.
Only a couple of cities in the traditional lake-effect snow belts downwind of the Great Lakes and the northernmost tip of Maine picked up average or above-average snowfall during the winter of 2019-20 in the northeastern U.S. (NOAA / National Weather Service)
However, Smerbeck added that most cities east of the Great Lakes missed out on the major storms of the winter.
"The main storm track was from the Rockies into the Upper Midwest or Great Lakes, which put the eastern U.S. on the warmer and rainier side of the storm track," he said.
Lynn Cullins, right, and Kevin Burit, both of Caribou, Maine, walk through blowing snow on Beacon Hill in Boston, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015. A blizzard warning was in effect for coastal communities from Rhode Island to Maine, promising heavy snow and powerful winds to heap more misery on a region that saw feet of snow this winter. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
The other city, Caribou, is located in the northernmost tip of Maine was buried under a total of 146 inches of snowfall padded by a pair of January storms and some late-season snowfalls that dumped over 20 inches in parts of the state. The 2019-20 winter total ranked ninth of all-time for snowiest seasons on record.
In fact, for many areas, the snow fell more often once the season officially switched from winter to spring. While the air remained stubbornly mild, a few areas, such as southern New York and western Pennsylvania, had stretches cold enough to produce January-like snow from late March to mid-April.
Much of the eastern U.S. waited with bated breath for a spring snowstorm to bring the heavy snow that the winter season lacked. However, outside of a late-April scenic snowfall in northern New England, the signature winter storm never arrived for the region. At least not in the Northeast, that is.
Related:
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, Fubo, and Verizon Fios.
CORRECTION: A previous version of a graphic included in this story listed the incorrect average seasonal snowfall total for New York City. The correct number is 25.8 inches, not 28.5 inches.
Report a Typo