The "Year" without a Winter?

[ejwillis62]

I am so thankful that it has been mild I hate cold and temps in the 90’s and above are a big hit with me. I am a Bikram yoga fan so I think I have learned to love love the heat and humidity. Of course the bad side is I bought a LOT of cold weather riding gear but that is okay, I will take the warmer temperatures anyday.

[creadinger]

@PotomacCyclist 40170 wrote:

2012 was the warmest year on record overall for the U.S.

http://news.yahoo.com/us-roasts-hottest-record-landslide-180545899.html

While I don’t mind the moderate temperatures, this could be the 2nd consecutive winter where we receive minimal snowfall. How much have we had this winter? Maybe an inch in D.C. and Arlington? Last winter, we had maybe a couple inches of snow for the entire winter. (I don’t remember winter 2010-2011, but I do remember the big snowstorms of winter 2009-2010.)

Maybe I shouldn’t have wished for short winters so often. In any case, take advantage of the nice weather. We could be in for plenty of it. But could we pay for it with a brutally hot summer this year? I hope not.

The CWG recently posted that it’s almost been 2 years since DC has seen a snowfall of an 2inches or more. That was in late January 2011, the so-called “Commutageddon” storm that dumped 5″ during rush hour, stranding thousands of people out on the highways for hours. I took metro that day and was fine, but at least one of my coworkers took more than 7 hours to get home.

Even if the whole summer isn’t brutally hot, I’m pretty sure we’re due for at least 1 record setting heat wave every year now.

[rcannon100]

Snowpacolypse was the beginning of a significant deviation in our weather pattern. DC is not known for big snow storms. And living here all my life I have never seen anything like Snowpacoplyse. Normal is actually small snow storms. Actually, normal is storms right around 32 degrees – which means ice – which is one of the reasons DC is known for lousy drivers. What we are driving on is ice, not snow.

I must admit, I hate this weather pattern. I can see flowers blooming on my neighbors lawn. We had an azalea bloom. I heard cherry blossoms had bloomed. I cant imagine the damage this is doing to our eco system. And it is this type of weather that is part in parcel for giving us things like Sandy and Derecho.

As “nice” as it is outside, it is indicative of how much we have skrewed up the environment – and that is not nice.

[Terpfan]

Two weeks before snowpocalpyse: http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KDCA/2010/1/26/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

Be careful making observations too early without knocking on some wood.

[arlrider]

As a transplant, I am amused by the extent of variation in DC weather and have no idea whatsoever to consider “normal”. I have been here for four summers. Every single one of them, it seemed like it was 100 degrees out every single day. Every year, people who have lived here a long time have told me “oh, it isn’t normally this hot”…and then the next summer it is hotter. The first two winters, it snowed. The lifetime residents freaked out – “oh, it NEVER snows this much”. Last two winters it has not snowed at all – the lifetime residents freaked out “oh, this is SO unusual!”. So apparently there is no such thing as normal DC weather.

[Terpfan]

@arlrider 40198 wrote:

As a transplant, I am amused by the extent of variation in DC weather and have no idea whatsoever to consider “normal”. I have been here for four summers. Every single one of them, it seemed like it was 100 degrees out every single day. Every year, people who have lived here a long time have told me “oh, it isn’t normally this hot”…and then the next summer it is hotter. The first two winters, it snowed. The lifetime residents freaked out – “oh, it NEVER snows this much”. Last two winters it has not snowed at all – the lifetime residents freaked out “oh, this is SO unusual!”. So apparently there is no such thing as normal DC weather.

I have no idea who you were talking to, but as one of the rare natives, those people you talked to seem somewhat clueless to me. I can remember a few cooler than usual summers, but I always considered hot the normal; expecting 88-93 and humid as an average with the low side of 83/84 and high side of 99/100. The winter temperatures do vary significantly, but given a coastal climate, it kind of makes sense. It’s about 1-2 big snows every 10 years (I’m remembering blizzard of 83, 92, 03 i think it was and snowpaclypse 2010). However, the most consistent thing is what I call fair weather drivers. Similar to fair weather fans, any deviation whatsoever in weather results in massive traffic. Fog, light rain, wind, full moon, you name it. Part of why I love biking–while I can’t control the weather, I can at least avoid the traffic .

[rcannon100]

@arlrider 40198 wrote:

So apparently there is no such thing as normal DC weather.

Four years does not make a data set. I have lived here 50. As Terpfan suggests, a normal summer was hot and humid – where hot meant upper 90s and humid meant thunderstorms – and then in August no rain. To have weather above 100 degrees was unheard of. As for winters, normal was a few inches – that’s what the transportation planners use to plan for – they bought equipment and sand for storms that amounted to a few inches. A 6 inch storm would be a blizzard. A storm that measure a foot was unusual. Snowpocalypse dumped several feet on the ground and shut down the city for a week.

We have not seen storms like Sandy or Derecho… ever. Even Hurricane Agnes, which was pretty much a direct hit in the 1970s and blew out the C&O canal – was not like Sandy – so late in the season – so massive. And Derecho?

At the local nature center, there are educational signs that mark the damage done by Hurricane Isabel (I think it was). The nature did that because (it thought) direct hurricane damage is somewhat unusual. Those signs have been smashed by Hurricane Sandy. In my neighborhood, we have actually suffered significant tree loss (deforestation) – not from developers – but from the hurricanes.

I think the weirdest thing is the wild swings. Now we are facing temperatures in the 60s this weekend – with flowers blooming.

People doing construction are having to rethink buildings, to withstand these new storms. The NPS is actively planning a storm wall on the mall, to protect the whitehouse and museums from a Potomac River storm surge.

Whatever this is…. its not normal.

Its a big reason to ride a bike – reduce your carbon footprint.

[consularrider]

Just some observations from my riding journal over the past six years for this same week in January (most of the riding was morning and evening commutes with weekend morning rides):

2012 – Temperature range during rides was 29 to 63°F. Noted light snow for one ride.
2011 – Temperature range during rides was 21 to 42°F. Did the 170 Embassies Ride with Dirt on the coldest day.
2010 – Temperature range during rides was 22 to 34°F. Noted ice on the trails, left over from December’s big snow storm. Was traveling for the second half of the week. I came back the weekend before the Snowmaggedon after experiencing temperatures of -30°F in Ulaanbaatar.
2009 – Temperature range during rides was 26 to 37°F. The following week had single digit readings for the morning lows at Reagan National. Then I noted some snow flurries on Inauguration Day.
2008 – Temperature range during rides was 36 – 54°F. I was riding shorter distances for my commute and didn’t necessarily record a minimum and maximum temperature for the ride.

[arlrider]

I was really just going for more of a “haha, chuckle” cute human interest post, not an examination of the statistical validity of anecdotal data or a commentary on the very real dangers we are facing due to global warming. I realize that these are serious and important topics, but me, I was just joking mostly.

[mstone]

Even 50 years isn’t necessarily a good data set–go up to great falls and ponder the water lines from the floods in the 30s (aided by heavy snow). I think the biggest difference is the number of people in the DC area, and the insufficient capacity in the infrastructure, which make any disruption a catastrophe. Also google; there were a lot of bad storms in the 19th century, but the sheer volume of human interest reporting on the latest storms dwarfs what’s easily accessible for historic storms, though they were just as significant at the time.

[consularrider]

@arlrider 40212 wrote:

I was really just going for more of a “haha, chuckle” cute human interest post, not an examination of the statistical validity of anecdotal data or a commentary on the very real dangers we are facing due to global warming. I realize that these are serious and important topics, but me, I was just joking mostly.

But you know, we’re serious kind of people! :p

[americancyclo]

@consularrider 40216 wrote:

But you know, we’re serious people! kind of :p

fixed

[Vicegrip]

So where is the Sunday and 70 deg ride? We can do our part and not emit carbon. (No promise from me regarding other greenhouse gases)

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Vicegrip 40240 wrote:

So where is the Sunday and 70 deg ride? We can do our part and not emit carbon. (No promise from me regarding other greenhouse gases)

I’m taking my first shot at Mt. Weather. But instead of the Bluemont loop, I’m going to ride from Bluemont, out to Naked Mountain, and then back over Mt. Weather (hopefully). Mountains of Misery is only 4 months away!

[PotomacCyclist]

@Vicegrip 40240 wrote:

So where is the Sunday and 70 deg ride? We can do our part and not emit carbon. (No promise from me regarding other greenhouse gases)

No indigestion allowed

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