Non-Sports Related Story of the Week

Where is the Snow?

A fierce winter of biting cold temperatures and heavy snowfall sent TIU’s campus into a deep freeze last winter.  However, this winter in Chicago has failed to show its teeth as lower snowfall totals and warmer temperatures have abounded.

As the calendar turned to February last year, Trinity was hit with an astonishing “snowpocalypse” that saw Mother Nature dump nearly 2 ½ feet of snow on Trinity’s campus.  Classes were cancelled for two days as roads were unsuitable for driving, temperatures began to plummet into the single digits, and students helped each other dig out their cars that were enclosed by massive amounts of snow.

This winter, minus a few instances of campus closing early to allow teachers and commuters a safer drive home, the snow has not seemed to have quite the same impact.  Also, the two major snowfalls of the winter were quickly erased by warm temperatures and rain in the days following them.

“We tend to remember the big years,” Chemistry and Earth Science professor Don Erickson said.  “Some years are whoppers.”

According to the National Weather Service Forecast Office that has measured seasonal snowfalls from 1884-present, Chicago received 57.9 inches of snow in 2010-2011 (from July-June).  This winter season, however, has seen around 20 inches of snow up to date.  It did not snow in November, snowed 1.7 inches in December, 12.2 inches in January, and February totals are still being accumulated.

December’s 1.7 inches was on the low side from a normal total of about 8.5 inches for the month, but January’s 12.2 inches actually fell on the high side compared to the normal 10.8 inches received for the month on average.  February’s normal is 9.1 inches, and statistics for snowfall this month are yet to be tabulated.  Last February, a record 29 inches of snow fell, an all-time high for the month since data was recorded in 1884.

Despite only two major snowfalls this winter season, Erickson had a different take on it.

“This is actually close to an ordinary, average year,” he said. 

Since 2007-2008 seasonal snowfall totals, the lowest snowfall total has been 52.7 inches until this year, so that may be another reason why people were expecting more snow.

This winter has also felt unseasonably warm as frigid temperatures haven’t been as prominent. According to the National Weather Service, Chicago’s normal temperature mean for November is 40.3 degrees, and November 2011 ranked above that mean with an average of 44.9 degrees.  December’s normal mean temperature is 27.7 degrees, but December 2011 eclipsed that by averaging 35.2 degrees.  January’s normal mean temperature is 23.8 degrees, but January 2012 saw mean temperatures at 30.2 degrees.

People may jump to the conclusion that this is due to global warming, but Erickson said we would have a hard time proving it.  He explained that there are simply too many variables and contradictory statistics, and he dispelled the notion that this one particular season could possibly prove that global warming is happening. 

Erickson said that one would have to look at statistics for hundreds of years, but even then acknowledged that shoddy research is possible. 

“If you have the right stats, you can prove anything you want,” he said. 

Erickson explained that while birds are tending to migrate south later in the year and glaciers are melting earlier than usual, we often don’t take into account other factors that play into the equation. 

Spring is around the corner, but a surprise snowstorm could come when we least expect it.