Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Winter 2010-11 Roundup Part 1

For the second winter in a row persistent cold was the story for Central NC and VA.  Who would have ever thought that a La Nina winter with one of the highest 90 day average SOI would be opposite of the historical correlation to US temperatures?
Would you believe that Florida experienced its #10 Coldest winter?
It was supposed to be toasty warm!  Source: NOAA ESRL

Here is how the states ranked in temperature.  Amazingly, only Maine and Utah were above normal!
2009-10 was a strong El Nino and FL hit its record coldest.
This year featured the opposite, strong La Nina.  FL still in top 10 coldest!
Did La Nina impact the east at all?  Pervasive dryness dominated the same regions which were most cold.  A dry winter is expected during a La Nina.
Note the divergence between highest precip (in NW)
and coldest temperature relative to norms in SE.
Finally,  here are some slides showing the dominance of cold in December in the east and a progression toward a more typical La Nina pattern by February. Part 2 will include ideas about what made this past winter unique.  I will also include highlights and lowlights or the season.

No comments:

Post a Comment