Winter 2008-09 Review

The winter started out rather mild. There was little snow in November but December saw a series of small to moderate snows. Christmas was green and the new year started with a snow storm. We had a little bit of everything during the course of the winter: freezing rain, wind, and even thunderstorms!

We were nervous that the winter of 2008-‘09 would be a cold one and it ended up turning into one!. Monthly temperatures were a little below normal in December, much below normal in January and a little above normal in February. January 2009 was the coldest January since 1994. Most of us saw temperatures drop to negative double digits in the middle of the month. 

The majority of the snow occurred in the first half of the winter. There were some notable early lake effect snows - with a lot of it before Thanksgiving! The snow peaked in January with a widespread snow storm early in the month and again late in the month. Mother nature gave us a break in March. The month was conspicuous by the lack of snow - most of us had more snow in April than in March.

We sat in the line of fire the first half of the winter as numerous storm systems tracked toward the Great Lakes. The stormy pattern may have been from a lingering La Nina. We thought La Nina was ending last fall but cold Pacific sea temperatures persisted  into the winter. 
    
With each storm system, snow cover expanded across the upper Midwest and northern plains. The increased snow cover led to the development of more cold air which led to the development of more snow cover with each new storm. This feedback pattern is a classic set-up for a cold winter across the north!