By Chris Gilberti | March 28, 2022
A battle of the seasons is in full swing across the Northeast, as cold winter air and snowstorms are slowly being pushed out by warmer temperatures and spring showers. The month of March has featured a feel of just about every season, with high temperatures in Albany reaching over 70 degrees. This was just a few days after one of the biggest snowstorms of the season that dropped over half a foot of snow across much of the Northeast. More of these rapid swings are ongoing through the end of the month as the beginning of the final week of March is now again featuring high temperatures only in the 20’s and lows in the teens along with a chance of snow showers.
With the beginning of the change of seasons comes many new forecasts, as we prepare for a wide range of springtime weather from warming temperatures to severe thunderstorms and flooding. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has recently released their official forecast for temperature and precipitation for the months of April through June, featuring above average temperatures across New York State, and near average precipitation. This forecast makes sense, as it is similar to what was predicted for the winter season when we were in the same La Niña climate pattern. The main difference for the spring is that the La Niña. which stuck around a little longer than expected, should finally begin to weaken towards the beginning of the summer. This means above average temperatures will creep northward up the eastern seaboard, giving the northeast US above average temperatures.
NOAA spring temperature outlook for Apr-Jun 2022 featuring above average temperatures for much of the continental US. credit: NOAA
With all the talk of spring, many are ready for the cold to end. The last month has seemed to offer numerous “fools’ springs,” with temperatures warming up only for old man winter to come back with a vengeance. Overall, this past winter experienced temps within one degree of average, but, of course, in Albany that still means plenty of cold weather was around for the season. While Albany did only receive around 23 inches of snow this winter, which is almost 20 inches below normal, there was no shortage of ice storms to make up for the lack of snowfall. One storm from Feb. 3 - Feb. 4 dropped two inches of sleet in Albany, which sounds unimpressive, but considering how dense sleet is, it caused major disruptions in the region. For comparison, if that storm had dropped snow instead of sleet, like it did in regions north of Albany, over a foot of snow would have fallen – bringing Albany much closer to its expected snowfall for the season.
With that said, this winter has been a typical long and cold one in Albany. Although it is not leaving without a fight, spring is slowly but surely coming. There may possibly even be the blooming of some flowers and cherry blossom trees in the coming days and weeks.
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