Heavy snowfall and extreme temperatures have made this Hanover’s second coldest February since records began in 1893, Northeast Regional Climate Center climatologist Jessica Spaccio said, with an average temperature of 11.6 degrees Fahrenheit, nearly half the expected average of 23 degrees.
Winter reports officially concluded at the close of February and indicate that what began as a relatively mild December climaxed in a great flurry of freezing temperatures and fresh powder, Spaccio said.
The coldest temperature in Concord, the nearest National Weather collection site, was recorded at -21 degrees. In Hanover, February 1934 saw the lowest average temperatures of 8.1 degrees since records began in 1893, Spaccio said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Margaret Curtis stated that the New Hampshire capital Concord also experienced an extreme February.
Concord’s average for the month was 12.1 degrees, she said. Curtis noted that this month saw temperatures well under half of the average temperature of 24.3 degrees and was a tenth of a degree shy of matching the 1934 record low of 12 degrees. That makes this February the second coldest Concord has experienced since records began in 1868, Curtis said.
In addition to the extremely low temperatures, snowfall this past month has exceeded expectations.
February snowfall in Concord totaled 42.5 inches, a substantial increase from last year’s 35.3 inches and more than triple the average of 12.3 inches, according to a published report from the National Weather Service.
While the Northeast Regional Climate Center could not provide information on snowfall in Hanover, Spaccio said that Union Village, Vermont, located only nine miles northeast of Hanover, received 18.5 inches this February, significantly more than the 13.9 inch state average.
Though the month of February was exceptional, Spaccio said that an unusually warm December prevented this winter season from approaching previous records.
The overall average winter temperature in Hanover was 19.7 degrees, ranking as the 42nd coldest on record and marking a slight decrease from the past 30-year average of 22.4 degrees, she said.
Annual snowfall in Union Village failed to match the average of 47.1 inches, receiving 40.1 inches so far this winter.
Facilities Operations and Management associate vice president Frank Roberts said that FO&M was well prepared to face this past winter.
Preparations largely consisted of making sure that all equipment was fully operational, such as testing the hydraulics of the plows and examining the condition of the sanders, he said. FO&M also maintains a storage of sand and salt to combat snowfall and ice that was filled to capacity at the beginning of the winter, he said.
Roberts said that FO&M was ready to adjust to the large increase in snowfall this year. As long as the equipment is maintained, managing the extra snowfall becomes only “a matter of hours,” requiring an increase in the hours employees spend driving plows and clearing sidewalks and driveways, he said.
Even though temperatures this year were notably lower than those of previous years, there were less ice-related problems, he said. Roberts cited three significant events last year when varying temperatures caused rain to freeze overnight, which creates dangerous conditions. While there were certain icy nights this year, overall the temperatures were “more consistently below freezing,” which minimized the amount of ice, Roberts said.
Spaccio said that the extremity of this past month is not necessarily indicative of a trend of below-normal temperatures. She stated that current New Hampshire temperatures are just below average and that the spread for the weather in the next two weeks of March indicates that temperatures are expected to consistently rise above what is normal.
New Hampshire, along with the rest of the Northeast, is already beginning to experience above-freezing temperatures. Although there is a chance of snow at the end of the week, most of the snow should melt by the end of March or the beginning of April, Curtis said.
Roberts said that the severity of this past winter will likely lead to a substantial mud season, increasing the difficulty of preparing for the end of the year.
“We expect a pretty good mud season this year based on the amount of snow,” he said, “which will compress the time frame of getting the Green and other areas ready for Commencement.”
Despite this year’s particularly cold winter, Spaccio said that the general trend has actually been one of consistently decreasing temperatures. This year was a notable exception from the norm of continued climate warming, she said.
Curtis added that this year’s exceptional cold was specific to North America. All of the northern hemisphere experienced a relatively warmer winter, with North America deviating from the trend.
