Winter, what winter? NYC and east coast are experiencing their lowest and latest snowfalls in decades…. while Buffalo and the southwest have been hit with record powder
- New York City is on track to break its late-season snowfall record of January 29
- Other I-95 cities like Philadelphia and Boston have also seen minimal or no snow
- Conversely, cities like Buffalo and Reno have seen record breaking snowfalls
Cities up and down the east coast are experiencing some of their lowest snowfalls in 30 years, while others across the country have found themselves buried in record-breaking accumulation.
Both New York City and Philadelphia have yet to record a measurable snowfall of more than a tenth of an inch since November 1, while Boston has seen just over a quarter of its average accumulation over the same period.
Conversely, Buffalo has seen nearly twice its average snowfall for this point in the winter, and Reno in Northern Nevada and southwestern cities have seen unusually high numbers.
Though NYC saw a snow flurry on Wednesday, the city is on track to blow past the record for latest measurable snowfall of January 29, which was set during the 1972-73 winter.
A New Yorker covers themselves during the first snow flurry the of the season
A snowless New York City this week. The city saw its first flurry of the season on Wednesday
Beyond NYC, cities up and down Interstate 95 – which runs from Maine all the way down to Florida – have also been left without any measurable snowfall so far this winter.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has seen no accumulation, as have Washington DC and Baltimore, Maryland.
Newark, New Jersey, has seen just a tenth of an inch so far.
Boston has seen about seven inches of snowfall since November, but that is well below the thirty-year average of about 24 inches.
NYC typically sees a measurable snowfall by the middle of December.
Baltimore and Washington tend to also see snowfalls by mid-December, but with their more southern locations late-season snowfalls are less uncommon. The two cities have both gone until February without a snow before.
The latest Philadelphia has ever gone was February 3, excepting the 1972-73 winter when no measurable snow fell.
Martin Haslinger clears snow from the front of his home in Buffalo in December
In upstate New York, snowfalls have also been unseasonably low.
In Syracuse – typically one of the snowiest cities in the country – 24 inches have fallen this winter, which is three feet less than its average for this part of the winter.
Rochester has seen a mere 15 inches this winter, well below the 50 inches it normally sees by mid-January.
But in nearby Buffalo, record-setting snowfalls have pummeled the city all year.
More than 100 inches of snow have fallen on the city over the course of a series of vicious blizzards that buried the city in December.
Over half of that snowfall came in a single storm last month.
The city typically sees about 60 inches of snow by this time in the winter.
The southwest has also seen unusual snowfalls, including in Reno, Nevada, where at least 18 inches have fallen, already pushing past its 30-year average of 12.2 inches.
The northern Lake Tahoe area saw about 18-feet of snow fall in December – the most accumulation that month in the past 142 years.
And though it hasn’t converted into snow, over the past weeks California has been continually drowned in a deluge of ceaseless rain and flooding.
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