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Where Is The Snow So Far This Winter?
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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
1002 AM MST FRI DEC 16 2011
..WHERE IS THE SNOW SO FAR THIS WINTER?...
THROUGH DECEMBER 15TH...THE TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON AT THE
BILLINGS AIRPORT STANDS AT 8.5 INCHES. THIS IS 7.1 INCHES BELOW
NORMAL...AND IS THE 16TH LEAST ON RECORD FOR THE SEASON TO DATE.
THE CURRENT SEASON HAS ALSO BEEN MUCH LESS SNOWIER THAN IN 2010...
WHEN 25.6 INCHES FELL THROUGH DECEMBER 15TH.
THOUGH CONDITIONS HAVE CERTAINLY BEEN DRIER THAN NORMAL THIS
FALL...THEY ARE NOT NEAR RECORD SETTING. IN 1939...BILLINGS HAD
AMAZINGLY NOT YET RECEIVED ITS FIRST MEASURABLE SNOWFALL...WHICH
FINALLY OCCURRED ON CHRISTMAS DAY. WE HAD LESS THAN A HALF INCH OF
SNOW IN BOTH 1943 AND 1953. MORE RECENTLY...IN 2004 OUR SNOWFALL
TO DATE WAS ONLY 2.1 INCHES. SNOWFALL FOR THE START OF THE CURRENT
SEASON HAS BEEN THE LEAST SINCE 2004.
SNOWFALL ALONG THE WESTERN SLOPES OF THE BEARTOOTH ABSAROKA AND
CRAZY MOUNTAINS...AREAS WHICH TYPICALLY RECEIVE ABOVE NORMAL
SNOWFALL DURING LA NINAS...HAS ALSO BEEN BELOW NORMAL SO FAR THIS
SEASON. THE EARLY FALL WAS ACTUALLY WETTER THAN NORMAL IN THE HIGH
COUNTRY...BUT THE PAST MONTH OR SO HAS BEEN ON THE DRY SIDE.
THUS FAR IN THE FALL OF 2011...THE JET STREAM ORIENTATION AND
RESULTING STORM TRACK HAS NOT BEEN FAVORABLE TO BRING OUR REGION
SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL EVENTS. WESTERN CANADA AND THE CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN ROCKIES HAVE IN FACT BEEN WETTER THAN THE NORTHERN
ROCKIES. THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ATMOSPHERE DOES NOT SUGGEST THAT
THE REMAINDER OF THE WINTER SEASON WILL BE DRY. PERIODS OF COLD
AND SNOWY WEATHER ARE STILL LIKELY TO OCCUR.
BILLINGS HAS EXPERIENCED A WHITE CHRISTMAS EACH OF THE PAST THREE
YEARS. WILL THERE BE A WHITE CHRISTMAS IN 2011? IT IS TOO EARLY
TO TELL...BUT A COUPLE OF SNOW EVENTS ARE POSSIBLE BETWEEN NOW AND
NEXT WEEKEND. A WEAK CLIPPER MAY BRING A LITTLE SNOWFALL SUNDAY
NIGHT. THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR A STRONGER SYSTEM NEXT WEDNESDAY
INTO THURSDAY...THOUGH DETAILS WITH THIS SYSTEM ARE STILL VERY
UNCERTAIN.
A CHRISTMAS IS DEFINED TO BE WHITE IF AT LEAST AN INCH OF SNOW IS
ON THE GROUND AT 5 AM THAT MORNING. IF THE 2011 CHRISTMAS IS
WHITE...IT WOULD BE THE 4TH CONSECUTIVE WHITE CHRISTMAS...AND THE
LONGEST STRETCH SINCE THE 1960S. BILLINGS OBSERVED A WHITE
CHRISTMAS EACH YEAR FROM 1962 TO 1968.
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