Weather: Modern Winter of Deep Snows

Modern Winter of Deep Snows

Even though the 1990s were known for record worldwide warmth, the decade not only managed to deliver the 1993 "Storm of the Century," but it also generated the snowiest season on record for much of the East. 1995 and 1996 delivered a series of pounding nor'easters that pushed seasonal snowfall totals up to 300 percent of normal.

The snowstorms arrived in November. During that month alone, nearly three feet of snow fell in places such as Syracuse and Binghamton, New York. On January 6 through 9, a storm delivered 30.7 inches of snow to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and 24.6 inches to the Washington-Dulles Airport. At the end of the season, 100 inches or more accumulated in places where the normal seasonal total is close to 40 inches. It certainly didn't seem like greenhouse warming during that season!

Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weather © 2002 by Mel Goldstein, Ph.D.. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.