Typical For New England, Experts Say -Winter Seemed Worse Than It Actually Was
Typical For New England, Experts Say â
Winter Seemed Worse Than It Actually Was
By Steve Bigham
Winter made what most people hope was its last gasp earlier this week when it dumped two inches of snow on the ground. None of it stuck to the roads, which was a good break for motorists, but the small powdering served as one last reminder of the winter of 2000-2001.
Some will remember this as being one of the worst winters on record, but according to the staff at the Western Connecticut State University weather center, this past season was little more than a typical New England winter. All told, the area was hit with 74.3 inches of snow (we had 115 inches in 95-96), which included three big storms. Each of those dropped more than a foot of snow, including 18.5 inches on February 2 and 16 more between March 4-6.
While a chill still remained in the air this week, longer term forecasts suggest that the curtain has finally fallen on Old Man Winter. In Newtown, it left in its wake five school cancellations, more than $400,000 worth of winter maintenance costs, aching backs due to shoveling, and thousands of people hoping to turn in their colds and flu for a case of spring fever.
As for the temperatures, they were slightly colder than normal, but nothing out of the ordinary. The area shivered through colder-than-normal temperatures in November and December, making the winter season seem longer than usual.
Thankfully, the winter weather pattern appears to have finally changed and the weather should become milder in the coming weeks. But donât pull out your shorts just yet. Forecasters are predicting a wet and cooler-than-normal spring due to a very dynamic sub-tropical jet stream that creates a lot of energy and a lot rather large storms.
Last week, three inches of rain fell and more rain is expected toward the end of this week. More wet weather is expected early next week before we get a bit of a reprieve toward the end of the week.