While spring is coming in like a lion, winter went out like one producing one final blast, which resulted in a rare April snow.
By Bret Walts
The April snow did enough to break the daily record for snowfall on April 15, however, it was not enough to break into the top ten for snowiest April ever and it also prevented Kentuckiana from viewing the “Blood Moon”. Going along with the theme of the winter, April snow and cold didn’t necessarily break any records, but it was one to remember.
This winter, Ol’ Man Winter produced 208% of the normal snow amount ending with 26 inches for the season and making the 2013-2014 winter the snowiest since NAHS students were born and the third snowiest in the past 40 years. To put that in perspective, this was the snowiest winters of students ‘ lives and one of the snowiest of their parents’ lives.
Not only was the snow a big issue, the “polar vortex” also produced record breaking temperatures throughout the country including the lowest temperature, at -6 degrees, since the record was set at -22 degrees in 1994. In the end, after two days of below freezing temperatures in early January, the month averaged 6.3 degrees below normal and it would be recorded as the 20th coldest January on record. Wind, cold and snow
produced the phenomenon known as “snow rollers” out at the riverfront and the Ohio River began to freeze over, although not completely.
For areas just around the corner from Kentuckiana, the winter didn’t get any easier, in fact, it was worse in many places. Cincinnati experienced their fourth coldest January to March period in the last 67 years. Just north of us in Indianapolis, January to March averaged 8 degrees below normal and was the second coldest period in 67 years. The cold wasn’t the only big deal up in Indy this winter. The city recorded their snowiest winter EVER! They amassed over 52 inches of snow on the season, twice as much as Louisville.
Clearly, it was a pretty tough winter for folks around the area with constant nuisance snows and brutally cold temperatures to go along with it. NA-FC missed 10 days of school due to the snow and cold. However, with the talk of the 21st century being the imminent danger of global warming due to humans, how did the rest of the US and the world feel the first three months of the year?
Globally, the first three months of the year were nothing like most of the United States. While Milwaukee, Detroit, Williamsport and Green Bay were all recording their coldest winter in the modern era, the Earth experienced it’s seventh warmest period on record with temperatures just over 1 degree above normal. The good news, on a global warming aspect, Antarctic ice was 20% above the 1981-2010 average and the third largest ice extent on record.
This big question remains, was this a fluke winter for the continental United States, or will the cold, snowy winters from the 70s and 80s be replicated in the coming decades? Colder, snowier winters in the US may silence the global warming activists temporarily, so the coming winters will be critical for that cause. However, do not assume climate change isn’t happening for one cold winter, and don’t assume it is because of a few decades of warmth. Living in the Ohio Valley, we should know weather is unpredictable and the weather and yes, the climate, could always change at the drop of a hat.