Isolated winter: Western Canada struggling with record snow-fall as rest of country goes dry

February 2, 2012 – CANADA – Snowfall and snow levels are reaching record levels in Alberta and British Columbia in Western Canada. While many other parts of North America are still struggling to fully open all their lifts and runs for winter2011-12 during an unusually dry winter, the West of Canada has been deluged fairly consistently since last autumn. “This month goes down as one of the snowiest January’s on record. There is unbelievable snow conditions at both Fernie and Kicking Horse with total snowfall at both over 19 feet now. Today alone, Fernie has seen over a foot overnight!!” said an excited Matt Mosteller of Resorts of the Canadian Rockies which runs the two centres. Meanwhile a little to the east and north, over the border in Alberta, with over three months left to go in the ski season, Marmot Basin near Jasper has already received over 12 feet (372 cm) of snowfall which is 93% of its annual average. If the next three months produce even typical amounts of snowfall, Marmot Basin will exceed its all time snowfall record of 529 cm set way back in 1965. Regardless of the numbers, skiers and snowboarders have been absolutely thrilled with snow conditions at Marmot Basin and, to some, it has come as a bit of a surprise, says the resort’s Brian Rode. “There is very little snow on the ground in Edmonton and when some people get to the mountain they are really surprised at how much snow we have. Marmot’s base elevation is very high so the rain that has fallen at lower elevations this winter has been all snow at Marmot,” added Rode. –Fast Track Ski 

Where’s the snow? Snow has been missing in action for much of the U.S. the last couple months. But it’s not just snow. It’s practically the season that’s gone AWOL. “What winter?” asked Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. For the Lower 48, January was the third-least snowy on record, according to the Global Snow Lab at Rutgers University. Records for the amount of ground covered by snow go back to 1967. Last year, more than half the nation was covered in snow as a Groundhog Day blizzard barreled across the country, killing 36 people and causing $1.8 billion in damage. This year, less than a fifth of the country outside of Alaska has snow on the ground. Bismarck, N.D., has had one-fifth its normal snow, Boston a third. Buffalo is three feet below normal for snowfall this year. Midland, Texas, has had more snow this season than Minneapolis or Chicago. Forget snow. For much of the country there’s not even a nip in the air. On Tuesday, the last day in January, all but a handful of states had temperatures in the 50s or higher. In the nation’s capital, where temperatures flirted with the 70s, some cherry trees are already budding — weeks early. For the Northeast it’s one of the warmest and least snowy winters on record, with most of the region’s temperatures the last couple months averaging 5 degrees warmer than normal, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. –Yahoo News

contribution Elizabeth