I really enjoy writing monthly columns for Capital Region Living. This month, I’d like to thank CRL for allowing me to not only write, but to “take notes”. I’ll explain.
I’ve been fielding a lot of questions over the last month about snow (and in some cases, the lack thereof) and about daylight saving time. To address the latter, I wrote a big explanation of ‘spring forward’ in last April’s issue, but this year represents the last daylight saving time of its time, if you will.
Let’s talk snow first (and I promise not to type the word again until daylight saving time ends). I never knew there were so many stats to reference, but there are. I’ll be able to sleep better now because all of these numbers that have been rattling around in my hollow head for the last few months are finally on paper.
From 1931 to 1989, what is now the National Weather Service has kept track of the first 1/2”, 1”, 3” and 6” snowfalls of each season. Even earlier, back to 1885 in fact, records have been kept of the last of these snowfalls of each season. I’ve filled in the rest of the data, from 1990 through the present. The neat thing is that we can come up with an average date for each of these events, as well as give an average range of time over which we “get snow” in the Capital Region. I’ll put them in table form below:
First Snowfalls
1/2”: 24 November
1”: 26 November
3”: 14 December
6”: 2 January
Last Snowfalls
6”: 26 February
3”: 16 March
1”: 29 March
1/2”: 30 March
The average snow season runs from October 30th until April 20th. The earliest 1/2” of snow occurred on October 4th, 1987. Big deal, right? Well, it really was because the same event was also the earliest 1”, 3” and 6”. Albany had 6.5”, and it wreaked havoc on things in the area. The leaves on the trees were still quite attached, and the heavy wet snow stuck to them like glue. The weight of all of that snow brought down those trees, or at least big parts of them. Power outages were rampant across the area. I was out of school (Albany High) for a week.
The latest 1/2” of snow occurred on May 18th, 2002. Actually, the 2.2” also makes it the latest 1” snow as well. Oddly enough, just two days before, the high temperature was 77. And I feel this to be pertinent just because we’ve had half the snow this winter that we would normally get – the latest 6” snowfall we had was on April 19th, 1983 (8.8”). Remember that April has seen its share of snow, so we’re not out of the woods quite yet, even though this winter we were never really in them. The top 10 snowstorms in April range from 6.9” in both 1942 and 1950 to 17.7” in 1982. Just wanted to throw that out there…
Lastly, since 1885 there have been only four years where no 6” snowfall occurred in Albany, three of them have been since 1990. And at the rate we’re going, 2006 is a good candidate for year number five.
Daylight saving time this year will be the same as it has been since 1986. Spring forward is what you do at 2am on the first Sunday in April (the 2nd this year). We’ll go back to standard time on the last Sunday in October (the 29th). However, 2007 will bring some changes, thanks to a law passed by Congress last August. The second Sunday next March will bring in the new daylight saving time, and it won’t end until the first Sunday in November. This will add up to about one extra month off of standard time. Reasons for this range from energy consumption to safety, as we’ll have more late day sun.
That’s it for now, and again, I won’t utter the “s” word until summer is over. Unless of course, we happen to crack the top 10 storms for April. Stay tuned…
Jason Gough is a meteorologist with NewsChannel 13. He can be reached at jgough@wnyt.com.
Until next time-
Your pal,
Jason