This Winter Is One for the Record Books

By: Justin Desjardins
Posted In: News

January 2004 was one of the coldest months in New England since records have been kept, and lots of people are hoping to keep the deep freeze away for the next six weeks. The National Weather Service reports that in Boston, the average temperature was 8.6 degrees below normal and the month was tied for the second coldest January on record. In Providence, the average temperature was 7.4 degrees below normal, which ranks as the sixth coldest January since records have been kept.

The weather service reports that in Boston, January 2004 was the sixth driest on record with 1.01 inches of precipitation. In January, Boston recorded 4.9 inches of snow, which is 8.4 inches below Boston’s average amount of snowfall for the month. In Providence, January was the ninth driest on record with 1.52 inches of rainfall. The weather service notes that Providence had 11 inches of snow, which is 0.4 inches above normal.

What is in store for February 2004? WCVB morning meteorologist in Boston, David Brown, says that February should be warmer than normal and with above average precipitation. He says that snowfall will reach the average of about a foot; however, there will be more ice and rain events in February.

In Providence, Chief Meteorologist for WLNE, Mark Searles predicts near normal conditions with both precipitation and temperatures. He says that February might be an active storm month bringing more rain, sleet, and snow to Providence.

Searles says that the arctic outbreak that the region had in January “tends to happen every 20 years or so on average.” He states that there are no signs for any severe arctic cold for February.

How cold was it in January? The weather service reports that Boston saw its coldest January in 111 years, meaning it has not been this cold since January 1893. In Providence, January was the coldest it has been in 23 years or since 1981.

Two years ago, the average temperature was 35.2 degrees or 6.5 degrees above normal, which tied the records books as the eighth warmest January in Providence. The weather service reports that in 2002, the average temperature in January in Boston was 36.8 degrees or 7.5 degrees above normal, which was the fifth warmest January since records have been kept.

Mr. John Rok, Salve’s vice president for student life, says that he remembers winters with more snow than we have nowadays, but nothing the bone-chilling cold of this January. Rok remembers one winter about 25 years ago when the entire Narragansett Bay froze, from Newport to Jamestown and from Jamestown to North Kingstown.

Dr. John Quinn, of Salve’s history department, says that these last two winters have been harsher than the winters he remembers. He says, “I am not a winter person at all; I am counting down the days” to spring.

Junior Nicole Chevrette cannot remember a winter this cold and hopes that the forecasters are right that February will bring warmer weather.