Snowhere To Be Seen

Up at the GSD Home Office on Thursday, we had a pleasant several hours of light snow. We picked up almost an inch, and it actually looked like winter for a few minutes there. 

But then--as has happened for the last four weeks--the warm air swooped right in we were back up in the high 40s for Friday.

You need two things for snow: precipitation and cold air. We have not suffered from the former, but you know what has been the situation with the latter.

Lots of people have been asking us, why we haven't had snow? There are, of course, many reasons but the simplest answer is the jet stream. When we get in a really robust snow storm pattern, the jet stream is a giant U that starts up in the northwest, hooks down into the southeast, then comes back up the east coast. When we see that shape, energy systems will form along stream, especially in the southeast part of the U, and strength as they move up the coast.

Notice the trough created here that stretches all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. The moisture needed for a big nor'easter gets picked up there then intensifies as it moves up the coast. Image courtesy of The Weather Channel

Our problem is the that we're not getting many deep troughs lately. Here's the jet stream from yesterday, which has been typical for the past several weeks:

A very flat U-shape to the jet stream = warm air for the Berkshires. Image courtesy of Weather Underground.

You can see that it is relatively flat, which mean cold air is not getting drawn into the trough and setting itself up over the northeast. And we'll state the obvious one more time: you need cold air for snow.

So that, in a nutshell, is why we've not had any snow storms in 2023. 

The experts keep saying that the pattern will change, and we could very easily have a snowy late January and February. And, yes, we are seeing some signs of a better colder pattern starting around the 25th. Also, here's something to keep your hope alive:

In the winter of 2015, Boston had accumulated a mere 10.6" of snow as of January 25. But then on January 26th it started to snow. And it didn't stop. Four storms in about a four-week period resulted in a seasonal total of record 110" of snow. 

So on those days when you are ready to give up and think it will never snow again, remember the winter of 2015.