You can’t argue with the stats, winter 2015-16 is going down as one of the warmest and wettest on record with many seeing a top 5, even top 2 warm Dec-Feb period.
No question, this can be directly attributed to the record tying El Nino which produced the warmest December on record, coinciding with the peaking of the El Nino in the Pacific.
5,200 record high temperatures being broken or tied.
December was followed by a less warm January. However, February has been mild despite a record cold shot Valentines weekend into the Northeast.
More: record-tying strong El Niño
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Warmth has been present each of the 3 meteorological months and essentially this has overwhelmed and dwarfed any cold we have seen. Cold as well as snow has been short lived and highly transient.
As well as warm, it’s been wet, particularly for South Florida following a record warm November!
Excerpt from weather.com
Winter also shattered precipitation records in parts of the U.S., including the Southeast, Upper Midwest, and Northwest.
Not surprisingly, given the record-tying strong El Niño, several locations in South Florida smashed winter wet records, in what is normally the dry season in the Sunshine State, including:
- Ft. Myers
- Miami
- Moore Haven
- Naples
- Vero Beach
Miami (20.24 inches as of February 26) smashed their previous wet winter record by over 4 inches. Three of the top four wettest winters on record in Miami have all occurred during strong El Niños (1982-1983 and 1997-1998 were the others).
The subtropical (southern) branch of the jet stream is stronger than average during a strong El Niño winter, shifting the storm track of low-pressure systems closer to the Sunshine State, often bringing heavier rainfall, instead of simply a thin band of rain with an Arctic cold front.
Parts of the Upper Midwest were also soaked more than usual this winter.
Both Waterloo, Iowa (7.51 inches of precipitation as of February 26), and Lincoln, Nebraska (6.01 inches), crushed their previous record wet winters set over 100 years ago in 1914-1915.
Through much of late autumn and early winter, the active storm track was from the Plains into the Great Lakes. While this left the East Coast on the warm side of these early season storms, it also meant a steady barrage of precipitation events for the central U.S.
(RECAP: Mississippi River Winter Flooding)
Parts of the Northwest were also very wet this winter.
Dispelling a myth that strong El Niños are notoriously dry in the Northwest, Seattle set its record wet winter, interestingly enough topping a record set during a moderate La Niña (22.77 inches in 1998-1999).
Portland, Oregon, fell just shy of its record wettest winter, which still stands from 1937-1938 (26.92 inches).
2nd Warmest Winter For New York & Boston
Let’s not forget that late January Northeast snowstorm.
Allentown, Pennsylvania: 31.9 inches Jan. 22-23, 2016 crushed the Jan. 7-9, 1996 blizzard total of 25.9 inches.
- Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Maryland (BWI): 29.2 inches Jan 22-23, 2016 beat the President’s Day II storm of Feb. 16-18, 2003. Records date back to 1892.
- Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: 30.2 inches Jan. 22-23, 2016 tops 25 inches Feb. 11-12, 1983. Records date back to 1888.
- New York – LaGuardia Airport: 27.9 inches Jan. 23, 2016 beats the previous record snowstorm of 25.4 inches Feb. 11-12, 2006. Records date back to 1945.
- New York – JFK Airport: 30.5 inches Jan. 23, 2016 beats the previous record snowstorm of 26 inches in the President’s Day II storm of Feb. 16-18, 2003.
- Newark, New Jersey: 27.9 inches Jan. 22-23, 2016 surpassed the Jan. 7-8, 1996 blizzard total of 27.8 inches. Records date back to 1893.
Jonas also ranked high among the biggest snowstorms on record in the following locations, but fell short of the record.
- New York City’s Central Park: Jonas dumped 26.8 inches of snow on Central Park where records date back to 1869. This was just shy of the record snowstorm of 26.9 inches set Feb. 11-12, 2006.
- Washington, D.C.: The storm total of 17.8 inches at Reagan-National Airport tied Feb. 5-6, 2010 as the fourth heaviest snowstorm dating to 1884.
- Philadelphia: A storm total of 22.4 inches was recorded in Jonas, ranking as the fourth heaviest snowstorm. This is also equal to the amount of snow Phildelphia averages during the course of an entire season.
Most Extreme Snowfall Totals By State
At least six states saw more than 2 feet of snow and 14 states reported more than a foot of snow from Jonas. Here are some of the most extreme snowfall totals from Jonas by state.
Mid-Atlantic and Northeast (Jan. 22-24, 2016)
- West Virginia: 42 inches of snow in Glengary, in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia.
- Virginia: 39 inches in Philomont, about 25 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.
- Maryland: 38 inches in Redhouse, in western Maryland. Redhouse is 150 miles west of Baltimore.
- New York: 31.3 inches in Port Richmond.
- Pennsylvania: 38.3 inches near Greencastle.
- New Jersey: 33 inches in Morris Plains.
- Connecticut: 16 inches in Norwalk.
- Delaware: 17.2 inches in Woodside.
- Rhode Island: 15.5 inches at Westerly, in the southwestern corner of the state.
- Massachusetts: 15.5 inches at West Harwich on Cape Cod. Blizzard conditions verified in Chatham, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and Plymouth.
Jonas Top Snow Totals By State
South and Ohio Valley (Friday-Early Saturday)
- Kentucky: 22 inches near Booneville in eastern Kentucky; 12.2 inches of snow and 0.30 inch of ice in Bowling Green; 2 inch per hour snowfall rates in Jackson with a storm total of 16.2 inches
- North Carolina: 19 inches near Old Fort. Also 0.65 inches of ice glaze near Selma.
- Ohio: 17 inches in Graysville, in southeast Ohio, about 80 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.
- Tennessee: 14 inches in Jamestown. Nashville reported thundersnow during the day Friday with a storm total of 8 inches.
- Arkansas: 8 inches near Sherwood, Cabot and Jacksonville.
- Georgia: 7.5 inches at Dillard in Rabun County of far northeast Georgia.
- South Carolina: 7.5 inches of snow in Inman; 1/2 inch of ice glaze in Fort Mill. Both are close to the North Carolina border.
- Illinois: 5.5 inches at Shawneetown, in the southeastern parts of the state near the Ohio River.
- Indiana: 5 inches in Floyds Knobs, just over the Ohio River from Louisville.
- Alabama: 3.5 inches near Harvest, just to the northwest of Huntsville.
- Louisiana: 2.5 inches in Haynesville, near the Arkansas border.
- Mississippi: 2 inches in Oxford and Myrtle, both in northern Mississippi.
During the early stages of Jonas’ development, snow fell in the Plains states Thursday. Snowfall totals included:
- Kansas: 10 inches in Barnes; 9.5 inches in Haddam
- Nebraska: 9 inches in Hebron; 8 inches in Hubbell
- Missouri: 3 inches snow in East Prairie
High Winds
Very high winds developed over the Mid-Atlantic, just north of the low pressure center associated with Winter Storm Jonas, later expanding into parts of southeastern New England.
Some of the highest reported wind gusts include:
- 85 mph on Assateague Island in Maryland (4:40 a.m. Saturday)
- 75 mph Dewey Beach, Delaware (7:35 a.m. Saturday)
- 75 mph at Langley Air Force Base near Newport News, Virginia (12:43 a.m. Saturday)
- 73 mph at Siasconsett, Massachusetts on Nantucket Island (2:47 p.m. Saturday)
- 73 mph in Lewes, Delaware (6:18 a.m. Saturday)
- 72 mph at Good Luck Point, New Jersey (6:49 a.m. Saturday)
- 71 mph in Poquoson, Virginia (1 a.m. Saturday)
- 70 mph at Marshfield, Massachusetts (4:55 p.m. Saturday)
- 70 mph at Wallops Island, Virginia (4:32 a.m. Saturday)
- 69 mph at Cape Henry in Virginia Beach, Virginia (12:12 a.m. Saturday)
- 68 mph at Tuckerton, New Jersey (6:47 a.m. Saturday)
- 66 mph in Georgetown, Delaware (4:40 a.m. Saturday)
Top sustained winds include:
- 57 mph at Assateague Island, Maryland (4:40 a.m. Saturday)
- 56 mph just offshore at the Chesapeake Light buoy east of Virginia Beach, Virginia (12 a.m. Saturday)
- 59 mph in Lewes, Delaware (6:24 a.m. Saturday)
- 55 mph at Cape Henry in Virginia Beach, Virginia (12:12 a.m. Saturday)
- 55 mph at the Brandywine Light buoy in lower Delaware Bay (5:00 a.m. Saturday)
- 53 mph at Wallops Island, Virginia (4:36 a.m. Saturday)
Coastal Flooding
On Saturday morning, the water level at Lewes, Delaware, rose to 9.27 feet, due to a storm surge of more than 4 feet above normal astronomical tides. This is the highest level on record at that location, beating 9.20 feet during the infamous Ash Wednesday nor’easter on March 6, 1962. Record flooding has also been observed in at least three New Jersey locations (Great Channel at Stone Harbor, Cape May Harbor, Delaware Bay at Cape May). Major impacts were reported from the flooding from southern New Jersey into Delaware
Or that record cold on valentines day
Valentines’ Record Cold Outbreak
California Rainfall?
After a fast start in December, it’s been mixed during January and disappointing during February with a lot of dry conditions and record heat.
California’s still got a long way to go. Thankfully March is looking wet.
What a difference a year makes in the Great Lakes region!
This year
Last year
Be sure to check out this morning’s video for today’s discussion.
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