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Cited by 67Climate variability and modelsMeteorological Phenomena and SimulationsCryospheric studies and observations

Temporal and Spatial Characteristics of Snowstorms in the Contiguous United States

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Changnon, Stanley A., Changnon, David, Karl, Thomas R.·2006·Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
DOI 10.1175/jam2395.1
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Abstract

A climatological analysis of snowstorms across the contiguous United States, based on data from 1222 weather stations with data during 1901–2001, defined the spatial and temporal features. The average annual incidence of events creating 15.2 cm or more in 1 or 2 days, which are termed as snowstorms, exhibits great spatial variability. The pattern is latitudinal across most of the eastern half of the United States, averaging 0.1 storm (1 storm per 10 years) in the Deep South, increasing to 2 storms along the Canadian border. This pattern is interrupted by higher averages downwind of the Great Lakes and in the Appalachian Mountains. In the western third of the United States where snow falls, lower-elevation sites average 0.1–2 storms per year, but averages are much higher in the Cascade Range and Rocky Mountains, where 5–30 storms occur per year. Most areas of the United States have had years without snowstorms, but the annual minima are 1 or more storms in high-elevation areas of the West and Northeast. The pattern of annual maxima of storms is similar to the average pattern. The temporal distribution of snowstorms exhibited wide fluctuations during 1901–2000, with downward 100-yr trends in the lower Midwest, South, and West Coast. Upward trends occurred in the upper Midwest, East, and Northeast, and the national trend for 1901–2000 was upward, corresponding to trends in strong cyclonic activity. The peak periods of storm activity in the United States occurred during 1911–20 and 1971–80, and the lowest frequency was in 1931–40. Snowstorms first occur in September in the Rockies, in October in the high plains, in November across most of the United States, and in December in the Deep South. The month with the season’s last storms is December in the South and then shifts northward, with April the last month of snowstorms across most of the United States. Storms occur as late as May and June in the Rockies and Cascades. Snowstorms are most frequent in December downwind of the Great Lakes, with the peak of activity in January for most other areas of the United States.

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  • Studies using different metrics have reached different conclusions as to whether there are more heavy snowfall events in anomalously warm or cold years or seasons in the USA.

    “Studies using different metrics have reached different conclusions as to whether there are more heavy snowfall events in anomalously warm or cold years or seasons in the USA [15, 44].”

    From Precipitation Extremes Under Climate Change (2015) · cites this paper as [15]

    The Temporal patterns section (page not provided) reports that most U.S. snowstorms in the periods examined occurred in warmer-than-normal years. The Introduction (page not provided) describes different ways of defining snowstorms, but the paper does not report a study finding more heavy snowfall events in anomalously cold years or attribute conflicting warm-versus-cold conclusions to different metrics. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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3 of the 38 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. --, 2004: Urban effects on winter snowfall at Chicago and St. Louis. Bulletin of the Illinois Geographical Society, Vol. 46, No. 1, 3-12.
  2. National Assessment Synthesis Team, 2001: Climate change im- pacts on the United States: The potential consequence of cli- mate variability and change. Cambridge University Press, 78 pp.

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Authors
Changnon, S. A., Changnon, D., & Karl, T. R.
Affiliations
Northern Illinois University (US)
Corresponding author
Changnon, Stanley A.
ORCID
Karl, Thomas R.
Venue
Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Published
2006-08-01
Volume
45
Issue
8
Pages
1141-1155
ISSN
  • 1558-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1558-8432
DOI
10.1175/jam2395.1
OpenAlex
W2159334111
Cited by
67
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 2
FWCI
2.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Climate variability and models
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Cryospheric studies and observations
Keywords
snowstorms, snowfall climatology, temporal variation, spatial variability, Great Lakes, Appalachian Mountains, Cascade Range, Rocky Mountains, cyclonic activity, contiguous United States

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