What did the Farmer’s Almanac get right and wrong this season in the D.C. area?
“If you thought it was cold, you’re not wrong,” said 7News First Alert Meteorologist Jordan Evans. “It was actually our coldest winter since 2015.”
He said the D.C. region got a lot more snow than expected this winter.
“This was the first year in at least several recent years that we did have above average snowfall in D.C.,” he said.
In August, the Farmer’s Almanac outlook said the D.C. area was going to get a mild, wet winter without much snow, which didn’t quite pan out.
“We did have several rounds of arctic air,” Evans said. “And that is what contributed to the above average snowfall,” he said.
The D.C. area saw two major snowfalls this winter season — in the beginning of January and mid-February. The Almanac did correctly anticipate two major snowstorms, but they happened a couple weeks earlier than predicted.
“In the Farmer’s Almanac’s defense, NOAA also called for warmer than average temperatures on the East Coast. A lot of sources did call for above average temperatures, typical with a La Nina pattern.”
La Nina is a weather pattern that occurs every few years and pushes cold, wet winds northward and leaves the southern half of the U.S. drier and warmer, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Evans said this year’s La Nina was relatively weak, and is only one part of the puzzle of predicting weather.
“That’s just guidance. It’s not saying you can’t get snow and you can’t get cold when you’re in a La Nina winter,” Evans said. “Overall, we did see a lot of cold air perform this winter, there was a lot of blocking high pressures in the Arctic, and that’s what sends cold air down to the south.”
Evans said while snow isn’t out of the picture quite yet, spring is around the corner.
“Snow is not unheard-of in March,” Evans said. “It can happen, but the chances are much lower now. Due to the higher sun angle, warmer temperatures overall, we’re forecasting 70s by the middle of next week.”
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