Before flakes started falling Friday, we had recorded 35.6 inches of snow so far this winter, and most of that was thanks to the mega-snowstorm that dropped up to 22 inches in some spots locally the weekend before Christmas.
With more than two feet of snow falling this weekend - BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport had 26.5 inches at noon yesterday - we could end up with the snowiest winter on record. And with some forecasters calling for 3 to 6 inches of snow overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, the record will keep inching up.
The snowiest winter was 1995-1996, when 62.5 inches fell at the airport,according to National Weather Service statistics, which date back to 1883. The winter of 2002-2003 (remember the Presidents Day Storm of '03?) was second with 58.1 inches.
Since 1971, the average annual snowfall in Baltimore has been 18.2 inches. This winter almost doubled that number before this latest storm even started.
So why all this snow? Aren't we supposed to be worried about global warming?
Dan Ferandez, a meteorology and oceanography professor at Anne Arundel Community College, said we have El Nino to thank in part for the snow. El Nino is a weather pattern that occurs when there are unusually warm waters in the Pacific Ocean.
First noticed by Peruvian fishermen, "courante de el nino" means current of the child, in reference to baby Jesus, as it appears near Christmas. The warm Pacific waters can lead to more rain in California - which has happened this year.
And since weather patterns normally travel from west to east in America, that rain can end up as snow on the East Coast.
"You can tend to get these chains of storms traveling through the United States and reaching our area, and it's kind of a hit or miss whether the track goes over us and affects us," Ferandez said. "As it turns out, it has been on a fairly regular basis this winter season."
When summer comes, El Nino can contribute to fewer Atlantic hurricanes, but more off the coast of Mexico, Ferandez said.
Ferandez said El Nino forms "with a certain amount of irregular regularity" every three to seven years. One area of study in meteorology is figuring out how and why El Nino forms.
And as for global warming, it certainly doesn't feel like there's much going on with all this cold and snow.
But Ferandez cautioned against making conclusions on global warming and climate change based on just one season's worth of weather. Climate is the study of weather over time, and one cold winter on its own doesn't necessarily mean climate change isn't happening, just like one hot summer doesn't mean that is happening, he said.
"There is a difference between the weather issue and the climate issue," he said. "Climate is more spread out."
SNOW HISTORY
Get out your ruler (or yard stick) to see how this weekend’s storm — and this winter — compares to past snow totals.
Before the snow started Friday, we had 35.6 inches of snow so far this winter. As of noon Saturday, BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport had 26.5 inches of snow from this storm, bringing the season total to 62.1 inches, approaching the all-time record (the snow was still falling at press time last night and a final tally for the weekend was incomplete).
All totals are for Baltimore.
Snowiest winters
1995-1996: 62.5 inches.
2002-2003: 58.1 inches.
1963-1964: 51.8 inches.
1898-1899: 51.1 inches.
1933-1934: 47.9 inches.
1960-1961: 46.5 inches.
1921-1922: 44.4 inches.
1891-1892: 44.3 inches.
1966-1967: 43.4 inches.
1957-1958: 43 inches.
Snowiest Februarys
2003: 40.5 inches.
1899: 33.9 inches.
1979: 33.1 inches.
1996: 32.6 inches.
1983: 27.2 inches.
Biggest three-day snowfalls
February 2003: 26.8 inches (Presidents Day Storm).
January 1996: 26.6 inches.
January 1922: 26.5 inches.
February 1983: 22.8 inches.
March 1942: 22 inches.
(The 21 inches from December 2009 ranks seventh.)
Snowiest month ever
40.5 inches in February 2003.
Least snowy winter ever
0.7 inches in 1949-1950.
Source: National Weather Service
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re: Record Snowfall - 2010-02-07 19:38:26
Great comment/point Sean!
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John Bigley - Red Lion, PA - Karma: Neutral
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Record Snowfall? - 2010-02-07 17:22:45
Why is the Dec. 19th storm counted for this winter? Didn't that storm technically occur during the FALL, not winter?
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Sean Nesbitt - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral
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Don't Look Behind That Curtain - 2010-02-07 11:19:03
Of course global warming is still occurring. Despite 10 years of no warming. Despite the East Anglia emails. Despite data being rigged. Despite monitoring stations being cherry picked. Despite Siberian tree rings being cherry picked. Despite the hockey stick graph being altered. Despite the IPCC using anecdotal evidence and misreporting numbers (30 years vs. 300 years on the himalyayas that also turns out to be anecdotal), etc. etc. etc.
If the US media would report what is going on, fools and tools like Fernandez would be laughed out of the room and would not be sourced for comments.
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Elton Lardmaster - , - Karma: Neutral
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Spanish Translation - 2010-02-07 00:54:39
"El Nino" is Spanish for "The Nino." You're welcome.
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Salvatorre Bagatelli - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Good
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credit not blame - 2010-02-07 00:00:18
Most of us true Americans do not see record snowfalls anything for which blame must be assigned. We surely won't give credit to Bush for anything so beautiful and powerful as this seasons snow.
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Fred Shubbie - annapolis , md - Karma: Terrible
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El Nino??? - 2010-02-06 23:42:20
I could of sworn that I heard the White House Press Secretary blame this on the Bush Administration.
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Kurt Riefner - Crownsville, Md - Karma: Excellent
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