Yesterday wrapped up what was really our first “decent” snowfall of the winter season for 2010/2011. Yes, we have had a few inches of snow here and there, but this one stood apart from the previous few snow episodes experienced. The great thing about this past snowfall (officially 6.9″ at Omaha, Eppley) was the fact that it could be truly measured! There was no wind to contest with! The more I think about it, the snow was pretty gorgeous considering that it came down lightly over a long duration of time. Even though some areas ended up with 9+ inches of snow, Winter Storm Warning criteria were not met with the uniqueness of this snow event.
Anyway, bringing this whole thing back into perspective and comparing it to last year, you will find that the story is completely different. Easy enough to say, who can forget the winter we had last year? I found it a little amazing that we have recorded 15.1 inches of snow so far this cold season for Omaha (I must admit I did not think it was that much until I looked at the official number). With that said: 15.1 inches of snow through January 1oth is still above average. Typically through this date, the average is 11.2 iches of snow (since July 1), meaning we are approximately 3.9 inches above normal.
Now if we compare this to the same time period last year, the differences amount significantly! 36.2 inches of snow is the magic number through January 10 last season (2009/2010). The difference in inches: 21.1! In other words, this time last year we had already seen approximately 2 more feet of snow compared to the 2010/2011 season. That is pretty amazing!
interesting, glad it’s not like last winter!