The Reasoning Behind the Lack of Snow
A Photo depicting the difference in snowfall, almost a year apart Photo Credit: Amal Ahmed
March 6, 2020
Lack of Snow in the East Coast
The state of New Jersey is expected to have at least 23 inches of snow per year, however, that did not apply for the winter of 2019-2020. In the previous months, we have had no more than two major snowfalls with several small snow showers here and there. The highest accumulation from these snowfalls was 1.8 inches. Due to this lack of snowfall in this winter season, we haven’t seen any school snow days. With this season in the books, it ranks as the 3rd least snowy winter.
The Effect of the Lack of Snow
The lack of snow has not given our township schools any snow days. Typically there are 3 snow days built into the school year. But this year, so far, they haven’t been used, and it’s being predicted that these extra days will be added to our Memorial Day Weekend. This weekend usually lasts three days but, could be extended this year due to the 2019-20 winter season bringing little snow. However, this lack of snow lines up with Phil the Groundhog’s prediction of an early spring.
The Science Behind This
According to some sources, the reason behind the insufficiency of snow is that we need cold air to stay in place and we need plenty of moisture.
We asked Mrs. Algier, a teacher in the science department, to explain this more in-depth, “We haven’t had the right combination of low temperatures and moisture in the air for us to have snow… but with climate change, we are definitely seeing more extremes in the weather.” She continued on to talk about how this isn’t the first time we’ve had a milder winter than usual, as they’ve been more frequent these past few years.
“Last year, with the polar vortex coming down, we had freezing cold days… so I think what we’re seeing is that [there are] more extreme swings in the weather,” Mrs. Algier continued. She placed heavy emphasis on how the combination of cold weather and moisture was crucial to the snow sticking on the ground, while also mentioning that the weather models that we possess are able to forecast (almost) precise weather reports.