8 ms·

Why was Boston's winter so horrible this year?

72 points by mfringel 15y ago

kjw 15y ago
also, it's amazing how short our memories are. one "nice" day cures the ills of so many previously miserable days. as the data shows, these were lacking this past winter.
jswinghammer 15y ago
Yeah this winter was a pretty tough one to have a new baby. I felt bad for her. I can only imagine she assumed the world was just awful and grey. Today is the first nice spring day in awhile too. This last winter has my family itching to move elsewhere.
llimllib 15y ago
> Speaking of worlds, climate change is real. Even my amateurish, admittedly clunky analyses makes that glaringly obvious A warming trend in Boston does not make global climate change "glaringly obvious", and for somebody with an obvious statistical training to say so is even more disappointing. (Please read my argument carefully: I am not arguing anything at all about the existence of global climate change!)
- omellet 15y ago
  It does show a glaring change in Boston's climate. If you read the page carefully, nowhere does the author say anything about global climate.
  - llimllib 15y ago
    1) "Speaking of worlds," implies that he's talking about global climate change. 2) "climate change is real" refers to the idea of global climate change, you will be unable to convince me that he's referring to a common belief in "Boston climate change".
- splat 15y ago
  I was also very surprised that the author didn't mention the urban heat island effect. While some of the temperature increase can be attributed to global warming, some of it might also be showing that Bostan has become more urbanized since 1890.
  - lutorm 15y ago
    True. To people living in Boston, that still implies the climate has changed, though. It just means it's a stretch to infer anything about the world from it (not that this would be a good idea even in the absence of the heat island effect.)
    - hvs 15y ago
      That's "local climate change" and he clearly said "global climate change".
TomOfTTB 15y ago
I don't want to start the whole global warming debate again (those threads can be a real pain on here) something did bug me here The author says... "Speaking of worlds, climate change is real. Even my amateurish, admittedly clunky analyses makes that glaringly obvious. Boston’s temperatures are on the rise and we’re getting heavier rain. " But that's an erroneous statement. What he means is that warming is real but that's not a fact that anyone I know of disputes. The question is to the cause of that warming and if that cause represents a change of climate due to our behavior or a naturally cyclical trend that we don't have enough data to measure. The reason I point this out is because badly defined debates don't get us anywhere. Unless we're clear on what the actual questions are we can't accurately debate the answers.
- anamax 15y ago
  > The question is to the cause of that warming and if that cause represents a change of climate due to our behavior and, even if you assume that it's due to our behavior, that doesn't tell us what to do about it, or even if we should do something. (There are significant benefits to a slightly warmer planet.) The proposals, while very expensive, aren't predicted to make a significant difference by their proponents, so it's unclear why we should adopt them.
- dexen 15y ago
  > The reason I point this out is because badly defined debates don't get us anywhere. True that. <irritated-with-all-that-AGW> Let's not forget how the Dinosaurs caused the Ice Age, by sequestering all the carbon from atmospheric CO₂ into coal and crude oil. Let's not follow in their footsteps, lest we perish in a new ice age just like them. /sarcasm/ </irritated-with-all-that-AGW>
- ChuckMcM 15y ago
  We have plenty of data to show that the climate of the planet has been very different at different times in the past. We also have good data that humans have had an effect on the climate (although why this would be surprising escapes me, perhaps the surprise is that its measurable). What we don't have is any clue on how humans could control the climate long term so changing our behavior may reduce our contribution to the change but it will not stop change from occuring. Its useful that we live through several of the annual cycles of weather changes before we have a chance to worry about it. Imagine if humans went from birth to middle age in three months, by mid-summer they might be afraid that the temperature was just going to keep on going up forever, as it had their entire life. We see a variant on this with multi-generational cycles like volcanic eruptions where something that "always" been true, and then it isn't one year. That being said I'm all in favor in finding ways to be more efficient. We can't realistically consider stellar travel until we can create an environment which is self sustaining. I do wish however that we'd invest more in adapting to climate change rather than throw money away at trying to "stop" it.
smbwrs 15y ago
Bostonian here. The lady and I have been convinced that this winter was significantly worse than usual, and wondered why no one else seemed to think it was so weirdly awful. Glad we're not alone, and that we weren't wrong. Wow, did it suck. Excellent article and research by Mr. Dobres.
- mfringel 15y ago
  As a fellow Bostonian, I completely agree. I mostly came to the same conclusions (three straight weeks of snow with no melt days), but it's good to see it written out in numbers.
- amalcon 15y ago
  My building's snow removal costs alone were sufficient to demonstrate that this was a particularly bad winter. They were more than twice last year's (last year being pretty typical).
- adatta02 15y ago
  Bostonian also. It felt significantly worse than usual. I chalked it up to those few bitterly cold days and then of course the weekly super storms.
- djacobs 15y ago
  I knew moving to Boston that I could expect lots of snow, but the way it can affect your lifestyle for four months (especially if you walk everywhere) was something I didn't think too much about. The harshness of this winter is not an insignificant part of my decision to skip town and move to San Francisco :)
- lutorm 15y ago
  As an expat Swede, I was disappointed with last years' snowfall. I had high hopes for cross country skiing, but that didn't work well at all. This winter was better, but still pretty weak. Maybe I should move to New Hampshire... ;-)
  - lsb 15y ago
xbryanx 15y ago
It's very important in any discussion of these issues to distinguish weather from climate. http://eo.ucar.edu/basics/index.html http://eo.ucar.edu/basics/index.html
dgallagher 15y ago
If you had the pleasure to live in Massachusetts to experience all this, we had three really large storms within about two weeks of one another in Jan/Feb (can't remember the exact dates). The result of this? 6 foot snow banks everywhere. Mall parking lots were much worse since they'd pile snow in ~30-foot tall mountains. That made it extremely hard to see around corners driving. Highly anecdotical, but I noticed that many drivers became less aggressive. Roadways were clear, but not being able to easily see around corners resulted in less people cutting me off. This lasted for about a month before things melted a bit, and drivers quickly re-earned their title as Massholes. ;)
- adestefan 15y ago
  Same thing that happened to Baltimore/Southeast PA in Feb 2010. Two 24"+ snow storms within 3 days. It makes for a gloomy winter.
lupatus 15y ago
The ice age is returning. http://iceagenow.com/ http://iceagenow.com/ Better start knitting wool long-johns now ;)
- jf271 15y ago
  The problem this year is from Dec through Mar Boston never saw bare ground. Most years there is a melt or two that helps put up with the snow. Even in other big snow years there was a melt. It makes the winter seem worse when the snow never melts.
originalgeek 15y ago
It certainly wasn't limited to Boston or the Eastern Seaboard. We had record amounts of rainfall in Los Angeles, and the San Gabriel mountains got dusted twice with snow. IIRC, it's been about 10 years since the last snow up there. And it was colder for longer (and yes, I know I am talking about "LA cold").

72 points by mfringel 15y ago

kjw 15y ago

also, it's amazing how short our memories are. one "nice" day cures the ills of so many previously miserable days. as the data shows, these were lacking this past winter.

jswinghammer 15y ago

Yeah this winter was a pretty tough one to have a new baby. I felt bad for her. I can only imagine she assumed the world was just awful and grey. Today is the first nice spring day in awhile too. This last winter has my family itching to move elsewhere.

llimllib 15y ago

> Speaking of worlds, climate change is real. Even my amateurish, admittedly clunky analyses makes that glaringly obvious A warming trend in Boston does not make global climate change "glaringly obvious", and for somebody with an obvious statistical training to say so is even more disappointing. (Please read my argument carefully: I am not arguing anything at all about the existence of global climate change!)

omellet 15y ago
It does show a glaring change in Boston's climate. If you read the page carefully, nowhere does the author say anything about global climate.
- llimllib 15y ago
  1) "Speaking of worlds," implies that he's talking about global climate change. 2) "climate change is real" refers to the idea of global climate change, you will be unable to convince me that he's referring to a common belief in "Boston climate change".
splat 15y ago
I was also very surprised that the author didn't mention the urban heat island effect. While some of the temperature increase can be attributed to global warming, some of it might also be showing that Bostan has become more urbanized since 1890.
- lutorm 15y ago
  True. To people living in Boston, that still implies the climate has changed, though. It just means it's a stretch to infer anything about the world from it (not that this would be a good idea even in the absence of the heat island effect.)
  - hvs 15y ago
    That's "local climate change" and he clearly said "global climate change".

TomOfTTB 15y ago

I don't want to start the whole global warming debate again (those threads can be a real pain on here) something did bug me here The author says... "Speaking of worlds, climate change is real. Even my amateurish, admittedly clunky analyses makes that glaringly obvious. Boston’s temperatures are on the rise and we’re getting heavier rain. " But that's an erroneous statement. What he means is that warming is real but that's not a fact that anyone I know of disputes. The question is to the cause of that warming and if that cause represents a change of climate due to our behavior or a naturally cyclical trend that we don't have enough data to measure. The reason I point this out is because badly defined debates don't get us anywhere. Unless we're clear on what the actual questions are we can't accurately debate the answers.

anamax 15y ago
> The question is to the cause of that warming and if that cause represents a change of climate due to our behavior and, even if you assume that it's due to our behavior, that doesn't tell us what to do about it, or even if we should do something. (There are significant benefits to a slightly warmer planet.) The proposals, while very expensive, aren't predicted to make a significant difference by their proponents, so it's unclear why we should adopt them.
dexen 15y ago
> The reason I point this out is because badly defined debates don't get us anywhere. True that. <irritated-with-all-that-AGW> Let's not forget how the Dinosaurs caused the Ice Age, by sequestering all the carbon from atmospheric CO₂ into coal and crude oil. Let's not follow in their footsteps, lest we perish in a new ice age just like them. /sarcasm/ </irritated-with-all-that-AGW>
ChuckMcM 15y ago
We have plenty of data to show that the climate of the planet has been very different at different times in the past. We also have good data that humans have had an effect on the climate (although why this would be surprising escapes me, perhaps the surprise is that its measurable). What we don't have is any clue on how humans could control the climate long term so changing our behavior may reduce our contribution to the change but it will not stop change from occuring. Its useful that we live through several of the annual cycles of weather changes before we have a chance to worry about it. Imagine if humans went from birth to middle age in three months, by mid-summer they might be afraid that the temperature was just going to keep on going up forever, as it had their entire life. We see a variant on this with multi-generational cycles like volcanic eruptions where something that "always" been true, and then it isn't one year. That being said I'm all in favor in finding ways to be more efficient. We can't realistically consider stellar travel until we can create an environment which is self sustaining. I do wish however that we'd invest more in adapting to climate change rather than throw money away at trying to "stop" it.

smbwrs 15y ago

Bostonian here. The lady and I have been convinced that this winter was significantly worse than usual, and wondered why no one else seemed to think it was so weirdly awful. Glad we're not alone, and that we weren't wrong. Wow, did it suck. Excellent article and research by Mr. Dobres.

mfringel 15y ago
As a fellow Bostonian, I completely agree. I mostly came to the same conclusions (three straight weeks of snow with no melt days), but it's good to see it written out in numbers.
amalcon 15y ago
My building's snow removal costs alone were sufficient to demonstrate that this was a particularly bad winter. They were more than twice last year's (last year being pretty typical).
adatta02 15y ago
Bostonian also. It felt significantly worse than usual. I chalked it up to those few bitterly cold days and then of course the weekly super storms.
djacobs 15y ago
I knew moving to Boston that I could expect lots of snow, but the way it can affect your lifestyle for four months (especially if you walk everywhere) was something I didn't think too much about. The harshness of this winter is not an insignificant part of my decision to skip town and move to San Francisco :)
lutorm 15y ago
As an expat Swede, I was disappointed with last years' snowfall. I had high hopes for cross country skiing, but that didn't work well at all. This winter was better, but still pretty weak. Maybe I should move to New Hampshire... ;-)
- lsb 15y ago

xbryanx 15y ago

It's very important in any discussion of these issues to distinguish weather from climate. http://eo.ucar.edu/basics/index.html http://eo.ucar.edu/basics/index.html

dgallagher 15y ago

If you had the pleasure to live in Massachusetts to experience all this, we had three really large storms within about two weeks of one another in Jan/Feb (can't remember the exact dates). The result of this? 6 foot snow banks everywhere. Mall parking lots were much worse since they'd pile snow in ~30-foot tall mountains. That made it extremely hard to see around corners driving. Highly anecdotical, but I noticed that many drivers became less aggressive. Roadways were clear, but not being able to easily see around corners resulted in less people cutting me off. This lasted for about a month before things melted a bit, and drivers quickly re-earned their title as Massholes. ;)

adestefan 15y ago
Same thing that happened to Baltimore/Southeast PA in Feb 2010. Two 24"+ snow storms within 3 days. It makes for a gloomy winter.

lupatus 15y ago

The ice age is returning. http://iceagenow.com/ http://iceagenow.com/ Better start knitting wool long-johns now ;)

jf271 15y ago
The problem this year is from Dec through Mar Boston never saw bare ground. Most years there is a melt or two that helps put up with the snow. Even in other big snow years there was a melt. It makes the winter seem worse when the snow never melts.

originalgeek 15y ago

It certainly wasn't limited to Boston or the Eastern Seaboard. We had record amounts of rainfall in Los Angeles, and the San Gabriel mountains got dusted twice with snow. IIRC, it's been about 10 years since the last snow up there. And it was colder for longer (and yes, I know I am talking about "LA cold").