Although there are still some flakes in the forecast, the three-month meteorological winter ended at midnight last night. So it's a good time to add up the damage and answer some questions I've already been getting from readers.
SNOWFALL BY MONTH:
December: 23.2 inches (Average: 1.7 inches)
January: 7.5 inches (Average: 7.0 inches)
February: 49.7 inches (Average: 6.4 inches)
Seasonal total*: 80.4 inches (Average: 18.2 inches)
*Through Feb. 28
WINTER SUPERLATIVES (for Baltimore):
Snowiest winter: Old record: 62.5 inches in 1995-96
Snowiest December: Old record: 20.4 inches in 1966-67
Wettest December: (8.06 inches melted precip.) Old record: 7.44 inches in 1969
Snowiest February: Old record: 40.5 inches in 2002-03
Snowiest month: Old record: 40.5 inches in 2002-03
DAYS WITH AT LEAST 1 INCH OF SNOW AT BWI-MARSHALL:
December: 3
January: 2
February: 6
SNOWIEST DATE OF WINTER (Midnight to midnight): Dec. 19, 2009: 20.5 inches
BIGGEST STORMS (at BWI Marshall):
Dec. 18-19, 2009: 21.1 inches
Feb. 5-6, 2010: 24.8 inches*
Feb. 9-10, 2010: 19.5 inches
* estimated due to measuring error at BWI
And, just for the record, here's how AccuWeather.com, back in October, predicted the winter would turn out.
And here's a bit of how the National Weather Service predicted it in an October story in The Sun: Looking back over previous winters in the Baltimore-Washington area during El Nino events, Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Climate Prediction Center, said, "If you add all the years together there is a tendency for above-average snow ... We've seen with El Nino winters[like this one] a couple of years with absolutely no snow in this area. But we've also seen winters with some record-breaking snows. It's a feast-or-famine type of situation."
I guess we got the feast, Mike.
(SUN PHOTOS/Frank Roylance)