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> People have adapted almost completely to the idea of snow being some rare, special event. People who fondly remember playing in the snow nearly everyday in wi

by tw04 7y ago

> People have adapted almost completely to the idea of snow being some rare, special event. People who fondly remember playing in the snow nearly everyday in winter during their childhood have come to expect 50-60 degree January afternoons and think of snow as a special occasion. These people are saying those twice a year snowfalls are proof that nothing is changing, while knowing full well that they were wearing layers of coats and scarves years ago and walking around in t-shirts now. As someone who believes in climate change, and grew up playing in the snow - what on earth are you talking about? Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? Exaggerating to the extent you are does nothing but hurt the message because it's blatantly and obviously false and when climate deniers read people making claims like you are, the entire discussion loses all credibility.

paulryanrogers 7y ago
Northern Ohio
vlan0 7y ago
>As someone who believes in climate change, and grew up playing in the snow - what on earth are you talking about? Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? I agree. In the Northeast part of the US we still get really cold and snowy winters. But almost year after year our summers are getting hotter. And the seasons in between those are getting shorter.
- throwaway5752 7y ago
  The Gatlinburg, TN fires should have been a wake up call for the whole eastern coast of the US. When the east coast summer firestorms come, it will be horrible, worse than Australia by orders of magnitude. Life there isn't adapted to it, nor is the population. I give it 5 years
  - vlan0 7y ago
    >When the east coast summer firestorms come, I cannot speak to other areas, but the Adirondack Park fire seasons are actually in the Spring and Fall. >I give it 5 years Eh, maybe in southern areas. But that's highly unlikely in the ADK.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
vzidex 7y ago
Here in Toronto I grew up with snow all winter long - quite literally, we'd get the first snow around the start of December and it would stick until the start of March. Now, this winter has been 30-50 degrees F all winter, save for the occasional blast of polar air. We haven't had snow that has stuck longer than a week. The GP's message was correct. Besides, do you really think that an exaggerated claim will be what makes/breaks a climate denier's point of view?
- turk73 7y ago
  Childhood memories are not scientific fact. I grew up in Upstate NY. There were plenty of warm winters in the '70s and '80s. I don't think anything is remarkably different. Also, we had some summers that were freezing--like you never wanted to go swimming the whole summer except maybe one week in August. Other summers were blazing. My parents' old farmhouse didn't have A/C. They still don't have A/C now.
  - linuxftw 7y ago
    Cold winters are especially notable, thus people remember them more than the winters which weren't so cold.
- todd8 7y ago
  I'm not sure which years you grew up in Toronto, but historically there can be pretty large swings in the number of days of snow and inches of snowfall. A minute of googling revealed this for Toronto snowfall [1]: year days total snowfall 2010 6 18.0 in (45.7 cm) 2018 13 36.5 in (92.8 cm) I calculate from the limited data on that web page (years 2010-2018) that the mean snowfall in Toronto is 36.6 inches and the standard deviation is 13.8 inches. It looks like snowfall is increasing not decreasing. However, such limited data doesn't really reveal what's happening or going to happen in the future. There were only 9 data points given on the page I found. Someone can undoubtably find official historical data for Canada that will be more useful. [1] https://www.currentresults.com/Yearly-Weather/Canada/ON/Toronto/recent-annual-toronto-temperature-precipitation.php https://www.currentresults.com/Yearly-Weather/Canada/ON/Toro...
adrianN 7y ago
When I was in primary school we had at least a week or two of actual snow every winter, whereas today we barely even get freezing temperatures. In the eighties Berlin got 37cm of snow per year (median) and 21 frost days, in the 20-tens we only got 17cm and 13 frost days.
dsfyu404ed 7y ago
>As someone who believes in climate change, and grew up playing in the snow - what on earth are you talking about? Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? New England. Snow that fell in mid-November and later used to stick around until spring and we'd almost NEVER (like maybe one day every 3+ yr) have a 50-60deg day in January/February. Now you rarely have snow that sticks around more than a couple weeks and having the occasional 50+deg day in January/February is not uncommon. Winters have definitely become more mild in the past 20ish years.
- Arete314159 7y ago
  I confirm. The stories nowadays about a freak 70 degree January day in Connecticut really boggle my mind. It was rare that the temp got above freezing then when I was a kid. Also we occasionally had sub-zero cold snaps in the negative teens and I don't hear much about those in New England anymore (although to be fair I don't live there now).
rjsw 7y ago
> Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? Valley towns in the Alps.
- acoye 7y ago
  I concur. I'm from "Savoie", FR Alps. I have filmed on Hi-8 the glaciers nearby where I lived as a kid. Some are just no longer visible from the valley.
SAI_Peregrinus 7y ago
> Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? Here in Buffalo, NY, we've had 1 snowfall this year >6". It was in November. It hasn't been much over 48F though, not in the 50-60F range. But last year had some of that, and we're only half way through January.
- xienze 7y ago
  And last year[1]: > With 118.7 inches of snow, Buffalo had its 12th snowiest winter on record and was 24 inches above the normal of 94.7 inches. Maybe things aren't quite as dire in Buffalo as you think? 1: https://www.weather.gov/buf/wintersummary1819 https://www.weather.gov/buf/wintersummary1819
  - SAI_Peregrinus 7y ago
    It comes in far shorter (but more intense) bursts.
ceejayoz 7y ago
> As someone who believes in climate change, and grew up playing in the snow - what on earth are you talking about? Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? We've had an extremely mild winter in Rochester, NY. It's finally taking a turn this week, but my expensive ski season pass has had a rough run so far. https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2020/01/14/rochester-ny-weather-snow-totals-storm-blizzard-travel-conditions-how-much-weekend-forecast/4464000002/ https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2020/01/14/r... > What's more, the high temperature every single day since Dec. 21 has been above freezing. That’s never happened in Rochester’s recorded weather history. The average temperature during that time has been a rather astonishing 35 percent higher than normal.
imtringued 7y ago
>climate deniers read people making claims like you are, the entire discussion loses all credibility. This kind of black or white thinking is absurd. Why would disproving some random comment on HN automatically mean disproving all climate science? It's extremely irritating when someone uses disapproval of a weak claim to as proof that a much stronger claim is also wrong. It is a very common theme to see "scientists failed to predict highly specific event in area X" and then use that as justification to say something like "CO2 doesn't cause warming". I'm tired of this topic so I will keep it short: Invest in modern technology (it's good for business). Market it as a jobs program. Stop hanging onto obsolete technology. These incentives will always exist whether it's a scam or not.
- tw04 7y ago
  >This kind of black or white thinking is absurd. Why would disproving some random comment on HN automatically mean disproving all climate science? It's extremely irritating when someone uses disapproval of a weak claim to as proof that a much stronger claim is also wrong. So if someone trying to convince you that there's life on Mars starts from the premise that the earth is flat, are you going to give credence to the rest of their talking points or brush them off? You can be "irritated" all you want, the fact of the matter is people like OP do nothing but hurt the cause and discussion around climate change when they start from a position that's both demonstrably false and so outlandish as to ruin any further discussion. It HURTS the cause because someone who was on the fence would likely be driven off the wrong side.
  - ceejayoz 7y ago
    > So if someone trying to convince you that there's life on Mars starts from the premise that the earth is flat, are you going to give credence to the rest of their talking points or brush them off? The problem being described is folks using that dumb flat Earther as a reason not to listen to anyone else on the same side of the debate with much better arguments. "Someone claimed climate change will make the world 180 degrees by 2021, which is silly, therefore climate change is debunked."
    - 7y ago
ambicapter 7y ago
Boston.
tremon 7y ago
Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? Ignoring your 50-60 degrees, this matches The Netherlands quite well. When I grew up in that magical place, snow was a regular occurrence (not all winter long, but snow happened every year, as did ice skating on rivers). Now, when it happens, it is a rare exception. I actually found a graph for it, but can't account for its veracity. It shows the number of days per year with complete snow cover, over the past 60 years: https://www.weerwoord.be/m/2466231 https://www.weerwoord.be/m/2466231
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Remembering my UK childhood with enough snow to play in more than once just about every year, and my kid's experience of almost never seeing snow that settles, I'd say that graph is spot on. It correlates well with my memory, and with family photos. Guy Fawkes night (Nov 5) was usually too early for snow, but nearly always a cold, frosty night, often clear that you wrapped up well for the firework display. You were usually glad to get back into the warm. A good few years in the last ten and it's been late summer or autumn weather. Barely worth a coat, let alone hat, gloves, scarf and extra layers.
alistairSH 7y ago
Not as extreme as the comment above, but snowfall in Washington DC has been steadily declining for the last 150 years. From averaging ~22"/year in the late 1880s to ~15" year over the last decade. That decline is despite several very high snowfall years during the last decade, meaning we're having less frequent snow events, but when we do have them, they're big (for DC).
- GVIrish 7y ago
  Indeed. And in the last few years we've had a couple of 60+ degree stretches in the middle of winter, whereas I can't remember that ever happening while I grew up in the area. It's all well and good to be able to go outside without a coat in January, but it's low key terrifying.
  - alistairSH 7y ago
    Yeah, this past weekend was downright weird. Riding bicycles in the Blue Ridge without even a cap or wind vest? Crazy for January. Usually I'd need insulated pants, jacket, and a winter cap this time of year.
  - WillPostForFood 7y ago
    Just glancing a record highs, there have been days in the 60's and 70's in January in DC in almost every decade for the last 100 years. The record high for January was 79F Jan 26, 1950. 1980s look chilly.
Ididntdothis 7y ago
"As someone who believes in climate change, and grew up playing in the snow - what on earth are you talking about? Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? " My uncle had a hotel at the north edge of the alps. Bought it around 40 years ago. At that time they had skiing throughout winter and it was the biggest money maker. They also had a women's world cup race every year. This lasted for a few years, then they cancelled the race because of lack of snow. By now all ski lifts are closed in the winter. Some of them are used in summer. There is a also a ski jump facility next to his town. Also closed for years now. A lot of hotels have gone bankrupt including my uncle's.
pps 7y ago
In Poland is exactly like (s)he described. Snowy, cold winters we had before are completely gone. http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news%2C80119%2Csnow-joke-less-snow-winter-poland-result-climate-change.html http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news%2C80119%2Csnow-jo...
bevesce- 7y ago
Warsaw
jf22 7y ago
>Exaggerating to the extent you are >the entire discussion loses all credibility Now that is an exaggeration. Climate change is already credible and a localized exaggeration isn't going to change minds...
Spooky23 7y ago
My expectation based on my childhood (I'm in my 40s) is that you would have at least some snowcover from early December through late March. Some winters were snowier than others, but you'd always find a hunk of ice somewhere. There was always 3-5 significant storms with more than 12" of snow. Now we get 1-2, and they typically melt within a week. In any case, the ground would be frozen solid. I live about 150 miles north of NYC. Last weekend, I planted tulips that I forgot about in the fall, wearing shorts. The weather that we have here today is warmer than the ocean climate around NYC and Long Island was in the 80s when I was a little kid.
- WillPostForFood 7y ago
  The weather that we have here today is warmer than the ocean climate around NYC Don't wear your shorts out tonight because it is going to be <20F and snow.
- chrisco255 7y ago
  The 60s through the 80s were the coldest years of the 20th century. 1978 saw the worst winter on record for New York. The 80s saw record freezes for central Florida that devastated the citrus industry. Note the central Florida citrus industry was thriving in the first half of the 20th century with freezes being extremely uncommon. During the 70s, it even snowed once in Miami.
- scruple 7y ago
  I spoke with my mother and father about this topic recently. It was triggered by reading US Grant's autobiography. Grant recollected early on that during his youth they would often ice skate on the ponds and lakes in southern Ohio. I grew up not far from Grant. On occasion, from ~85-92, the ponds would freeze with ice thick enough to skate. By the mid-90s, that was simply done. I remember sledding all of the time during the winter during that same period. I'll ask a friend who still lives next to the hill we used to sled on how often his own children sled. My parents are still there, so I know it's not often -- Not even every winter is there enough snow stuck on the ground to go sledding. The last blizzard that I recall living through was in the early 90s, as well. I left the area in 2001, but returned in 2006-2008. During 2006-2008, there were a few snows that I recall that were ~6"-8" but it was all melted inside of a week. My father was telling me recently that they're lucky to see 3" today and it doesn't stick for more than a few days. My parents grew up in southwestern PA. My mother grew up on a large farm (dairy and ~500 acres of planted crops) and often recollects about the 50s and 60s. They would often travel on the ag run-off canals and smaller creeks, streams, and rivers, to trade supplies with neighbors. They could travel miles on the ice. They didn't have roads in this section of PA until the late 60s and early 70s, when the coal company came in (and state routes were built to support their industry). They would butcher cattle during the winter and could store it in the back of the barn, in a small stone cellar that was only partially below ground. The meat would freeze overnight and remain frozen into the spring. These things are gone today and it's happened before my own eyes inside of 2 generations of my own family, at that.
aphextim 7y ago
My area has been getting more snow over the last 10 years, more similar to what I had when I was younger. I did notice that years 2000-2010 it appeared that every year was getting warmer/less snow but lately in the short term at least it appears to be climbing back to where it was. For those who like data/numbers here you go. http://funintheup.com/snowfall/upper-peninsula-snowfall-totals/ http://funintheup.com/snowfall/upper-peninsula-snowfall-tota... From the website >Hello all, welcome back to another winter season here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is the 8th year of snowfall reports on FunintheUP.com, thanks for following the snowfall page! FunintheUP has quickly become the #1 place for snowfall totals for those interested. . This year will be another fun year of snow, are you ready? We have 10s of 1000s of followers that check in from snowmobilers, weather stations, emergency personnel, city officials, road crews, skiers, snowboarders, groomers, ski resorts, and many more people across the country and world who love to follow the snowfall totals across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Last year Tamarack Loc. with 362.8 inches of snowfall for the season, passing the 1978/79 (Houghton county) record of 354.1 inches. This is the 4th highest snowfall amount recorded in the Upper Peninsula. The highest snowfall ever recorded in the Upper Peninsula was in 1978/79 at the Keweenaw county snow station with 390.4 inches. --Thank you so much for your support for over the years, Yooper Steve.
jakub_g 7y ago
Hard data for Kiev, Ukraine, with interesting analysis: https://mobile.twitter.com/mourner/status/1217469380336017411 https://mobile.twitter.com/mourner/status/121746938033601741...
- refurb 7y ago
  Unless I’m missing something, the last 20 years seems to have more snow than the 20 years proceeding it with the exception of heavy snow in the mid-80s.
  - jakub_g 7y ago
    Yep, I meant fewer heavy snowfalls and also 4 instances of no/almost no snow until January in last 15 years. It aligns pretty well with my personal experience in south-west Poland. It's been several years in a row with no snow for Christmas/until new year. OTOH when I was a kid, I remember being stuck on a road on our way to my grandma's place for Christmas due to massive snowfall.
graeme 7y ago
The world is a big place. As it warms, we should expect that places which used to have snow constantly will instead have intermittent snow. Not in the arctic, but at places more on the limit of the snowline, why would you NOT expect this to be happening already.
new2628 7y ago
In many parts of Eastern Europe, one or two generations ago, most households had a horse-drawn cart for the summer, and a horse-drawn sleigh for the winter. People would not have kept both, unless there was plenty of opportunity to use them (at least 3-4 full months a year). Fast forward today, nobody owns a sleigh anymore, there are zero days when there is enough snow for them, plenty of carts still going around.
lrem 7y ago
Alps are already past 2 degrees Celsius of climate change.

by tw04 7y ago

paulryanrogers 7y ago

Northern Ohio

vlan0 7y ago

>As someone who believes in climate change, and grew up playing in the snow - what on earth are you talking about? Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? I agree. In the Northeast part of the US we still get really cold and snowy winters. But almost year after year our summers are getting hotter. And the seasons in between those are getting shorter.

throwaway5752 7y ago
The Gatlinburg, TN fires should have been a wake up call for the whole eastern coast of the US. When the east coast summer firestorms come, it will be horrible, worse than Australia by orders of magnitude. Life there isn't adapted to it, nor is the population. I give it 5 years
- vlan0 7y ago
  >When the east coast summer firestorms come, I cannot speak to other areas, but the Adirondack Park fire seasons are actually in the Spring and Fall. >I give it 5 years Eh, maybe in southern areas. But that's highly unlikely in the ADK.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

vzidex 7y ago

Here in Toronto I grew up with snow all winter long - quite literally, we'd get the first snow around the start of December and it would stick until the start of March. Now, this winter has been 30-50 degrees F all winter, save for the occasional blast of polar air. We haven't had snow that has stuck longer than a week. The GP's message was correct. Besides, do you really think that an exaggerated claim will be what makes/breaks a climate denier's point of view?

turk73 7y ago
Childhood memories are not scientific fact. I grew up in Upstate NY. There were plenty of warm winters in the '70s and '80s. I don't think anything is remarkably different. Also, we had some summers that were freezing--like you never wanted to go swimming the whole summer except maybe one week in August. Other summers were blazing. My parents' old farmhouse didn't have A/C. They still don't have A/C now.
- linuxftw 7y ago
  Cold winters are especially notable, thus people remember them more than the winters which weren't so cold.
todd8 7y ago
I'm not sure which years you grew up in Toronto, but historically there can be pretty large swings in the number of days of snow and inches of snowfall. A minute of googling revealed this for Toronto snowfall [1]: year days total snowfall 2010 6 18.0 in (45.7 cm) 2018 13 36.5 in (92.8 cm) I calculate from the limited data on that web page (years 2010-2018) that the mean snowfall in Toronto is 36.6 inches and the standard deviation is 13.8 inches. It looks like snowfall is increasing not decreasing. However, such limited data doesn't really reveal what's happening or going to happen in the future. There were only 9 data points given on the page I found. Someone can undoubtably find official historical data for Canada that will be more useful. [1] https://www.currentresults.com/Yearly-Weather/Canada/ON/Toronto/recent-annual-toronto-temperature-precipitation.php https://www.currentresults.com/Yearly-Weather/Canada/ON/Toro...

adrianN 7y ago

When I was in primary school we had at least a week or two of actual snow every winter, whereas today we barely even get freezing temperatures. In the eighties Berlin got 37cm of snow per year (median) and 21 frost days, in the 20-tens we only got 17cm and 13 frost days.

dsfyu404ed 7y ago

>As someone who believes in climate change, and grew up playing in the snow - what on earth are you talking about? Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? New England. Snow that fell in mid-November and later used to stick around until spring and we'd almost NEVER (like maybe one day every 3+ yr) have a 50-60deg day in January/February. Now you rarely have snow that sticks around more than a couple weeks and having the occasional 50+deg day in January/February is not uncommon. Winters have definitely become more mild in the past 20ish years.

Arete314159 7y ago
I confirm. The stories nowadays about a freak 70 degree January day in Connecticut really boggle my mind. It was rare that the temp got above freezing then when I was a kid. Also we occasionally had sub-zero cold snaps in the negative teens and I don't hear much about those in New England anymore (although to be fair I don't live there now).

rjsw 7y ago

> Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? Valley towns in the Alps.

acoye 7y ago
I concur. I'm from "Savoie", FR Alps. I have filmed on Hi-8 the glaciers nearby where I lived as a kid. Some are just no longer visible from the valley.

SAI_Peregrinus 7y ago

> Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? Here in Buffalo, NY, we've had 1 snowfall this year >6". It was in November. It hasn't been much over 48F though, not in the 50-60F range. But last year had some of that, and we're only half way through January.

xienze 7y ago
And last year[1]: > With 118.7 inches of snow, Buffalo had its 12th snowiest winter on record and was 24 inches above the normal of 94.7 inches. Maybe things aren't quite as dire in Buffalo as you think? 1: https://www.weather.gov/buf/wintersummary1819 https://www.weather.gov/buf/wintersummary1819
- SAI_Peregrinus 7y ago
  It comes in far shorter (but more intense) bursts.

ceejayoz 7y ago

> As someone who believes in climate change, and grew up playing in the snow - what on earth are you talking about? Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? We've had an extremely mild winter in Rochester, NY. It's finally taking a turn this week, but my expensive ski season pass has had a rough run so far. https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2020/01/14/rochester-ny-weather-snow-totals-storm-blizzard-travel-conditions-how-much-weekend-forecast/4464000002/ https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2020/01/14/r... > What's more, the high temperature every single day since Dec. 21 has been above freezing. That’s never happened in Rochester’s recorded weather history. The average temperature during that time has been a rather astonishing 35 percent higher than normal.

imtringued 7y ago

>climate deniers read people making claims like you are, the entire discussion loses all credibility. This kind of black or white thinking is absurd. Why would disproving some random comment on HN automatically mean disproving all climate science? It's extremely irritating when someone uses disapproval of a weak claim to as proof that a much stronger claim is also wrong. It is a very common theme to see "scientists failed to predict highly specific event in area X" and then use that as justification to say something like "CO2 doesn't cause warming". I'm tired of this topic so I will keep it short: Invest in modern technology (it's good for business). Market it as a jobs program. Stop hanging onto obsolete technology. These incentives will always exist whether it's a scam or not.

tw04 7y ago
>This kind of black or white thinking is absurd. Why would disproving some random comment on HN automatically mean disproving all climate science? It's extremely irritating when someone uses disapproval of a weak claim to as proof that a much stronger claim is also wrong. So if someone trying to convince you that there's life on Mars starts from the premise that the earth is flat, are you going to give credence to the rest of their talking points or brush them off? You can be "irritated" all you want, the fact of the matter is people like OP do nothing but hurt the cause and discussion around climate change when they start from a position that's both demonstrably false and so outlandish as to ruin any further discussion. It HURTS the cause because someone who was on the fence would likely be driven off the wrong side.
- ceejayoz 7y ago
  > So if someone trying to convince you that there's life on Mars starts from the premise that the earth is flat, are you going to give credence to the rest of their talking points or brush them off? The problem being described is folks using that dumb flat Earther as a reason not to listen to anyone else on the same side of the debate with much better arguments. "Someone claimed climate change will make the world 180 degrees by 2021, which is silly, therefore climate change is debunked."
  - 7y ago

ambicapter 7y ago

Boston.

tremon 7y ago

Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? Ignoring your 50-60 degrees, this matches The Netherlands quite well. When I grew up in that magical place, snow was a regular occurrence (not all winter long, but snow happened every year, as did ice skating on rivers). Now, when it happens, it is a rare exception. I actually found a graph for it, but can't account for its veracity. It shows the number of days per year with complete snow cover, over the past 60 years: https://www.weerwoord.be/m/2466231 https://www.weerwoord.be/m/2466231

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
NeedMoreTea 7y ago
Remembering my UK childhood with enough snow to play in more than once just about every year, and my kid's experience of almost never seeing snow that settles, I'd say that graph is spot on. It correlates well with my memory, and with family photos. Guy Fawkes night (Nov 5) was usually too early for snow, but nearly always a cold, frosty night, often clear that you wrapped up well for the firework display. You were usually glad to get back into the warm. A good few years in the last ten and it's been late summer or autumn weather. Barely worth a coat, let alone hat, gloves, scarf and extra layers.

alistairSH 7y ago

Not as extreme as the comment above, but snowfall in Washington DC has been steadily declining for the last 150 years. From averaging ~22"/year in the late 1880s to ~15" year over the last decade. That decline is despite several very high snowfall years during the last decade, meaning we're having less frequent snow events, but when we do have them, they're big (for DC).

GVIrish 7y ago
Indeed. And in the last few years we've had a couple of 60+ degree stretches in the middle of winter, whereas I can't remember that ever happening while I grew up in the area. It's all well and good to be able to go outside without a coat in January, but it's low key terrifying.
- alistairSH 7y ago
  Yeah, this past weekend was downright weird. Riding bicycles in the Blue Ridge without even a cap or wind vest? Crazy for January. Usually I'd need insulated pants, jacket, and a winter cap this time of year.
- WillPostForFood 7y ago
  Just glancing a record highs, there have been days in the 60's and 70's in January in DC in almost every decade for the last 100 years. The record high for January was 79F Jan 26, 1950. 1980s look chilly.

Ididntdothis 7y ago

"As someone who believes in climate change, and grew up playing in the snow - what on earth are you talking about? Where is this magical place where it used to be snowy all winter long and is now averaging 50-60 degrees with snow now being a rare occasion? " My uncle had a hotel at the north edge of the alps. Bought it around 40 years ago. At that time they had skiing throughout winter and it was the biggest money maker. They also had a women's world cup race every year. This lasted for a few years, then they cancelled the race because of lack of snow. By now all ski lifts are closed in the winter. Some of them are used in summer. There is a also a ski jump facility next to his town. Also closed for years now. A lot of hotels have gone bankrupt including my uncle's.

pps 7y ago

In Poland is exactly like (s)he described. Snowy, cold winters we had before are completely gone. http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news%2C80119%2Csnow-joke-less-snow-winter-poland-result-climate-change.html http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news%2C80119%2Csnow-jo...

bevesce- 7y ago

Warsaw

jf22 7y ago

>Exaggerating to the extent you are >the entire discussion loses all credibility Now that is an exaggeration. Climate change is already credible and a localized exaggeration isn't going to change minds...

Spooky23 7y ago

My expectation based on my childhood (I'm in my 40s) is that you would have at least some snowcover from early December through late March. Some winters were snowier than others, but you'd always find a hunk of ice somewhere. There was always 3-5 significant storms with more than 12" of snow. Now we get 1-2, and they typically melt within a week. In any case, the ground would be frozen solid. I live about 150 miles north of NYC. Last weekend, I planted tulips that I forgot about in the fall, wearing shorts. The weather that we have here today is warmer than the ocean climate around NYC and Long Island was in the 80s when I was a little kid.

WillPostForFood 7y ago
The weather that we have here today is warmer than the ocean climate around NYC Don't wear your shorts out tonight because it is going to be <20F and snow.
chrisco255 7y ago
The 60s through the 80s were the coldest years of the 20th century. 1978 saw the worst winter on record for New York. The 80s saw record freezes for central Florida that devastated the citrus industry. Note the central Florida citrus industry was thriving in the first half of the 20th century with freezes being extremely uncommon. During the 70s, it even snowed once in Miami.
scruple 7y ago
I spoke with my mother and father about this topic recently. It was triggered by reading US Grant's autobiography. Grant recollected early on that during his youth they would often ice skate on the ponds and lakes in southern Ohio. I grew up not far from Grant. On occasion, from ~85-92, the ponds would freeze with ice thick enough to skate. By the mid-90s, that was simply done. I remember sledding all of the time during the winter during that same period. I'll ask a friend who still lives next to the hill we used to sled on how often his own children sled. My parents are still there, so I know it's not often -- Not even every winter is there enough snow stuck on the ground to go sledding. The last blizzard that I recall living through was in the early 90s, as well. I left the area in 2001, but returned in 2006-2008. During 2006-2008, there were a few snows that I recall that were ~6"-8" but it was all melted inside of a week. My father was telling me recently that they're lucky to see 3" today and it doesn't stick for more than a few days. My parents grew up in southwestern PA. My mother grew up on a large farm (dairy and ~500 acres of planted crops) and often recollects about the 50s and 60s. They would often travel on the ag run-off canals and smaller creeks, streams, and rivers, to trade supplies with neighbors. They could travel miles on the ice. They didn't have roads in this section of PA until the late 60s and early 70s, when the coal company came in (and state routes were built to support their industry). They would butcher cattle during the winter and could store it in the back of the barn, in a small stone cellar that was only partially below ground. The meat would freeze overnight and remain frozen into the spring. These things are gone today and it's happened before my own eyes inside of 2 generations of my own family, at that.

aphextim 7y ago

My area has been getting more snow over the last 10 years, more similar to what I had when I was younger. I did notice that years 2000-2010 it appeared that every year was getting warmer/less snow but lately in the short term at least it appears to be climbing back to where it was. For those who like data/numbers here you go. http://funintheup.com/snowfall/upper-peninsula-snowfall-totals/ http://funintheup.com/snowfall/upper-peninsula-snowfall-tota... From the website >Hello all, welcome back to another winter season here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is the 8th year of snowfall reports on FunintheUP.com, thanks for following the snowfall page! FunintheUP has quickly become the #1 place for snowfall totals for those interested. . This year will be another fun year of snow, are you ready? We have 10s of 1000s of followers that check in from snowmobilers, weather stations, emergency personnel, city officials, road crews, skiers, snowboarders, groomers, ski resorts, and many more people across the country and world who love to follow the snowfall totals across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Last year Tamarack Loc. with 362.8 inches of snowfall for the season, passing the 1978/79 (Houghton county) record of 354.1 inches. This is the 4th highest snowfall amount recorded in the Upper Peninsula. The highest snowfall ever recorded in the Upper Peninsula was in 1978/79 at the Keweenaw county snow station with 390.4 inches. --Thank you so much for your support for over the years, Yooper Steve.

jakub_g 7y ago

Hard data for Kiev, Ukraine, with interesting analysis: https://mobile.twitter.com/mourner/status/1217469380336017411 https://mobile.twitter.com/mourner/status/121746938033601741...

refurb 7y ago
Unless I’m missing something, the last 20 years seems to have more snow than the 20 years proceeding it with the exception of heavy snow in the mid-80s.
- jakub_g 7y ago
  Yep, I meant fewer heavy snowfalls and also 4 instances of no/almost no snow until January in last 15 years. It aligns pretty well with my personal experience in south-west Poland. It's been several years in a row with no snow for Christmas/until new year. OTOH when I was a kid, I remember being stuck on a road on our way to my grandma's place for Christmas due to massive snowfall.

graeme 7y ago

The world is a big place. As it warms, we should expect that places which used to have snow constantly will instead have intermittent snow. Not in the arctic, but at places more on the limit of the snowline, why would you NOT expect this to be happening already.

new2628 7y ago

In many parts of Eastern Europe, one or two generations ago, most households had a horse-drawn cart for the summer, and a horse-drawn sleigh for the winter. People would not have kept both, unless there was plenty of opportunity to use them (at least 3-4 full months a year). Fast forward today, nobody owns a sleigh anymore, there are zero days when there is enough snow for them, plenty of carts still going around.

lrem 7y ago

Alps are already past 2 degrees Celsius of climate change.