It's been a rather nice nine week run for cold lovers. Since December 1st, temperatures in the Delaware Valley been average or below with the exception of a small number of days. Included in that run of cold was a five week run of snow where the Delaware Valley just couldn't shake out of the fits of occasional modest to larger snowfall. That run came to a close this weekend as temperatures are nudging higher...however, winter is not quite over.
Going back to 1981, February has featured 22 years where the thermometer has cracked 60 during the shortest month on the calendar so this upcoming warm wave that is approaching should not be surprising, overly unusual, or a sign of impending climate apocalypse. Warmth happens in February...sometimes more often than we like to admit. It's the beauty of our location and geography that we can get such volatility and warmth in the last month of winter. Heck, it's been in the 70's in four years so early season warmth is not out of the ordinary.
Just because there's warmth doesn't mean there's going to be no more snow. You can see that in each of those 22 years we've had at least a trace of snow and in 18 of the 22 we've picked up at least a tenth of an inch (measurable). As a result, snow can happen and still does...even into April in some of these years (2004 to mention one). However, the potential of big snow seems to be diminishing a fair bit. The largest snowstorm in these 22 years is nine inches, the March 1st-2nd, 2009 event in Philadelphia, with only 1984 bringing us more than 10" of snow in March and April in the last 30 years. While the "big snowstorm" could still happen, climatology (longer days, stronger sun, temperatures on average increasing) is suggesting that those odds are closing somewhat. Warmth is a sign of Spring's impending volatility...and also a sign that those who love their snow may be snow starved for several months to come.
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