Why the West Got Buried in Snow, While the East Got Little

from NY Times, no paywall link.

By Zach Levitt and Elena Shao April 12, 2023

This year’s snow season is a tale of two starkly different winters: A cold and snowy one in the West, and a warm and relatively snowless one in the East.

Numerous excellent graphics at the link.

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The Western United States received a lot more snow than usual this season, much of it unleashed by punishing storms that battered California especially hard throughout the winter. Parts of the Eastern half of the country, however, saw much less snow than normal amid unusually warm winter temperatures.

It’s not uncommon for the two coasts to experience opposing weather conditions. This can happen when the jet stream, a band of winds that blow from west to east around the planet, starts to meander into a wavelike pattern. This wind pattern results in cooler conditions where it dips southward and warmer conditions where it arcs northward.

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A succession of atmospheric river storms pummeled Western states from late December to January, and again in March. These storms were largely responsible for dumping record amounts of snow across much of the West. The Western United States also experienced colder-than-normal temperatures this winter, which helped snow to fall and stick to the ground.

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A different pattern occurred in the East, where snow has been elusive for many cities that regularly expect it. Instead, warmer-than-normal winter weather brought more rain than snow.

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No paywall link.