Snowless streak at 275 days
SYRACUSE -- Remember that snowless streak mentioned earlier this week? It remains intact and likely to be at least tied and possibly broken. The last day that Syracuse received 1” of snow or more was February 24th of this past winter. Since then, there has not been another day which Syracuse has received 1” of snow or more. Through November 26th, there have been 275 consecutive days where Hancock Airport has not had a day with 1” of snow. Check out the list below of the top five all-time longest stretches without seeing an inch or more of snow for Syracuse:
1946 – 276 Days (February 27th through December 1st)
2009 – 275 Days (February 24th through November 26th and counting)
1998 – 274 Days (March 22nd through December 22nd)
1978 – 265 Days (March 6th through November 27th)
1932 & 1941 – 263 Days (March 21st through December 10th)
While there was some snow in the Syracuse area very early this morning, it only measured a Trace officially at Hancock Airport. For the rest of today, there will not be any snow through sunset. More likely than not, the precipitation that will start redeveloping this evening will be in the form of rain with higher elevation rain and snow. This will likely mean no accumulating snow through midnight tonight. That would mean we will almost certainly tie the record of 276 days in a row (including today November 27th) without a day with 1" of snow or more. Of course, that means if Syracuse goes through the entire day of Saturday without 1" of snow, a new record will be set. Precipitation after midnight tonight will continue as rain or a mixture of rain and wet snow for Syracuse, with mainly snow over higher terrain. It appears the best chance for 1" or more of snow will be across the higher hills of central New York. In fact, I believe there is a higher likelihood that Hancock Airport does not receive enough cold air to cause any potential snow to stick between midnight tonight and midnight Saturday night. If this is correct, then a new record will be written. Stay tuned! We will keep you posted on these records and any further changes in our upcoming weather for the holiday weekend and for the winter season.
What is also interesting to note is what happened in each of the winters after the snowless streak occurred. Thanks to the National Weather Service and the Northeast Climate Center, I have obtained the subsequent seasonal snow totals of the years mentioned above:
Winter Of 1946-1947: 110.4”
Winter Of 1998-1999: 98.3”
Winter Of 1978-1979: 118.5”
Winter Of 1932-1933: 33.7”
Winter Of 1941-1942: 84.6”
Winter Of 2009-2010: To Be Determined
There is certainly a wide spread of snowfall in the seasons following this type of snowless streak. The winter of 1932-1933 was the second lowest snowfall for a season since 1902. There were two other winters with below normal snowfall and two other winters with seasonal snowfall closer to normal. It would make sense that we would not receive a subsequent season with above average snowfall since we are off to a slow start. However, the correlation to say that we will definitely have a below normal snowfall this coming season cannot be determined with confidence or statistical significance from this sample.
For more on your weather forecast, click on “Weather” and then the “Live Triple Doppler Radar” tab on our weather page. Make sure you refresh the Doppler radar to see the very latest information, as well. Furthermore, we have our new Interactive Doppler Radar on our website. You can zoom down to street level with Interactive Doppler Radar. You are in total control of where the radar can zoom in. Give it a try. In addition, you may tune to NBC Weather Plus on Time Warner Cable digital channel 133 or over the air 3.3 to get the very latest weather updates locally and nationally. Plus, click on our Watches and Warnings map to see the very latest county specific watches and warnings. In addition, you can “follow” along with me on Twitter by either clicking on the “follow” button on the Twitter section of our weather page or by visiting www.twitter.com/PeteWeatherBeat.
