Too Bad I Don’t Ski: Monster Snowfall In Burlington VT
What a long winter! I mean for skiers it must have been great, but I prefer biking and running, and it’s really been hard to get a good run in around Burlington lately. We’ve gotten a ridiculous amount of snow here. Burlington, like most of NW Vermont, Burlington has almost doubled the seasonal snowfall average this year, and the winter’s not even over yet!
Check this out. Here’s a breakdown of our ususal snowfall…
According to a study done by the National Weather Service in Burlington, VT, the area should receive an average of 67.4 inches of snow from October through April. The study for calculating this average was done with a 30 year sample of data from 1977-2007. Last month, just out of curiosity, I decided to crunch some numbers. I used the NWS study to calculate average annual values by month.
Average Monthly Snowfall Totals
October – 0.5”
November – 5.5”
December – 14.2”
January – 19.5”
February – 11.8”
March – 13.2”
April – 2.7”
Then I compared these figure with this years actual snowfall.
As of March 23rd of this year, the snowfall total for Burlington stands at an astounding 127.1 inches! We got clobbered in February. In a single month more than 43 inches of snow fell. Almost a foot of snow fell in a single storm on Feb 2. That’s a lot of snow. However, the most impressive one day snowfall total that we received actually occurred shortly before I ran these figures. Between March 6-7th, Burlington received 24.3” of snow! 17.1” of that 24.3” fell on the 7th and produced a daily record!
Below are the monthly totals that we have received for this year. When October and November occurred, I was beginning to think that we were going to have another below average season. I never thought that we’d crush our seasonal average the way the season had begun.
2010-2011 Snowfall Totals for Burlington, VT
October – 0.1”
November – 0.3”
December – 27.9”
January – 26.9”
February – 43.1”
March – 28.8” (As of March 23rd)
What about the remainder of the season?
So Burlington, VT is way above normal for the year, but were we going to see any more snow? I took a look at the short range models for the next 5 days and the long range models that went into early to mid April. Between March 24-25th, we did have the chance to see some total snow accumulations between 1-3” but beyond that time period, I really didn’t see another chance for snow until the beginning of April. With the current long range forecast that was in play, it seemed possible we could see another 2-5” of snow between April 01st through April 08th.
What it boils down to is this… It’s been a very white winter. This is unprecedented. According to the NWS this is the most snow we’ve had since they started keeping local records in 1884. I’m eager for spring, but we’re going to have a steep price to pay. We’re going to have to deal with one heck of a mud season.
by Brian O’Connell:
Brian O’Connell is the {owner|President|CEO} and founder of CPA Site Solutions, one of {the country’s|North America’s|the nation’s|the United States’} {biggest|largest|most successful|leading edge|leading} {web|website} {companies|firms|businesses} {dedicated|oriented} {entirely|exclusively|solely} to CPA websites.
Burlington-Weather.com Weekly Planner 11/14/2010
