Snow was a no-show during most of weak, warm winter
Forget Waldo. Across much of the USA the past three months, it was "where's winter?"
For many Americans, it was the winter that wasn't, especially when compared with the Siberia-like weather of the past two years. Stunningly low snow totals and near-record warmth were the norm for many spots, primarily east of the Rockies.
(Although the spring equinox is three weeks away, meteorologists define winter as the months of December, January and February.)
PHOTOS: A mild winter in the USA
Except for the northwestern mountains, snow cover was rather sparse for much of the cold season.
In the heart of winter on Jan. 10, only 15% of the country was snow-covered, compared with the 62% in both 2011 and 2010. This year's total was the least amount for that day since national snow-cover statistics began being kept in 2003, according to the National Weather Service.
In mid-December, 22% of the USA was snow-covered, the least amount since 2006.
"Across the northern tier, states are used to having a really deep snowpack, which didn't happen this year," says physical scientist Chris Fenimore of the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.
One reason for the mild winter was that the polar jet stream, which typically brings frigid air screaming down into the USA, remained anchored well north across central Canada, the weather service detailed in an online report about the winter.
The jet stream was kept away in part by the climate pattern known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which Fenimore says remained in its "positive" phase all winter.
"Think of the jet stream as a jump rope," he says, "with the NAO providing the amount of tension. When the NAO is positive, this adds tension to the rope, not allowing the jet stream to sag south."
Parts of the Sierra Nevada, the northern Plains and the Northeast got a brief break from the warmth this week, as some of the heaviest snow of the winter fell in those areas.
The Sierra could get as much as 5 feet of snow by the time the storm winds down very early today, which should be a boon to the 28 million Californians who depend on snowmelt to meet their water needs.
According to this week's U.S. Drought Monitor, a federal website, 72% of California is in a drought, compared with 0% on this same date last year.
The dry winter was also felt in the north-central USA: In Minnesota, the Drought Monitor indicates 96% of the state is in a drought, compared with 1.8% last year.
Some of the highlights of the winter, from the weather service:
•New York City enjoyed its second-warmest winter since records began in 1869, outdone only by the balmy 2001-02 season.
•Buffalo has shoveled "just" 34.2 inches of snow this winter, which is less than half the average of 70 inches and far below last year's total of 95.9 inches.
•There have been 14 freezes in Dallas this winter, which ties for the fewest on record.
•Minneapolis had its fourth-warmest winter on record, while Milwaukee had its fifth-warmest.
•From Jan. 1 through Monday, there were 3,854 daily record high temperatures set across the country, compared with 294 daily record lows, reports Weather Channel meteorologist Guy Walton, whose data come from the climate center.