this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2024
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I would say definitely less snow in the US North-East than "back in my day", but certainly more storms/weird weather. Like we are supposed to have possibly 70mph wind gusts tomorrow with snow/sleet/rain all in a 24hr period of time.
We live on Lake Diefenbaker, in southern Saskatchewan. I used to do a lot of snowshoeing right out our front door. It's been a decade since I've seen enough snowpack to head out anywhere other than on the lake itself. Even then, I would probably be better served with ice grips of some kind on my boots instead of wearing my snowshoes.
Contrast that with when I was growing up in the 1960s. We sometimes had enough snow by Halloween for building snow forts and running skidoos.
Right now, as I write this, we are having our first proper winter day, at least as far as temperature is concerned (-21C at noon). We don't even have enough snow to hide the grass and we're supposedly in line for a lousy 5 cm tomorrow. I'm not holding my breath, because every snowfall forecast of the season has overestimated both likelihood and amount. (In fact forecasting is all screwed up in general. I think the meteorological models have lost much of their relevance.)
Yeah, I have noticed the bay on the lake (a great lake) doesn't freeze as early or as much anymore, and may not even this year by the way things are going. I also think the models are really off because the weather is just so unpredictable even to a computer. And a small change in one place has a ripple effect, just like the extinction (or removal) of an animal can change a whole ecosystem [watch any of the documentaries on the wolves in Yellowstone as a perfect example].
We haven’t had very many storms in New England this winter. The last big storms in a row, were back in 2013-15 and they were still late February storms. Our first plowable storm was Sunday, and we’re scheduled for 2-3 inches of rain tonight.
I used to work in the ski industry, but it was already a low paying job, when the season starts 1+ months later and ends sooner, it’s barely worth the gas money to get there.