Yep. 1996. Our winter was just like this. 1996. I tried to forget the nasty weather that year, but there is no hope of that. Mother Nature has decided to bring it back for an encore.
Just another snow day in Rhode Island
According to the weather folks at Channel 10 in Providence, as of yesterday, January 26, 2011, these were the snowfall totals so far in Southern New England:
- Boston –50.4 inches of snow, almost 270 percent above normal amounts of 18.8 inches.
- Providence — 31.7 inches, double the norm of 15.7 inches.
- Worcester –49.3 inches. The norm is 28.7 inches.
NOW, add 8-12 inches to these totals to include last night’s storm, and that’s a whopping winter wallop!
According to climatologists (which I am NOT), this winter is a “La Nina” Winter. Based on the definitions and articles I’ve read so far, including NOAA‘s information, La Nina appears to have a more direct impact on the West Coast, specifically the Northwestern states, than on the Northeast. However, I do know this. The winter of 1996 was also a La Nina Winter, and it would give 2011 a run for its money. I thought maybe my memory had exaggerated the facts, so I did a little research. It was pretty bad. We had a blizzard in January. It was bitter cold; in fact, all-time record lows were recorded during the last week of January, into February 1996. Several cities in the Northeast broke seasonal snow records by mid-February.
This is how USAToday described the winter of 1996:
The dominant position of the jet streams during the winter of 1996 led to one of the most active winters in recent years… a deep trough in the polar jet stream dominated the eastern USA while a strong ridge was parked over the western USA. The deep trough allowed many areas of low pressure to develop near the East Coast. As a result, the winter of 1996 featured record snowfall throughout the East. The deep trough also allowed cold air masses to slip south into the eastern USA.
This winter does seem a bit worse to me though. I am 15 years older; the thought of shoveling that stuff makes my back ache. In 1996, I was single, living in an apartment with roommates, and a landlord to shovel. Now I have small children, a 1-hour commute to work (on a good day), and now I own that leaky roof; My husband and I are the landlords with the shovel. Winter creates bigger headaches as we age, for sure.
2011, so far, definitely seems worse, or at least more exhausting. But, I survived then. I will survive it now.
My Life In RI 
It’s our toughest winter in Rhode Island in the 2-1/2 years that we’ve been here. Even having moved from Chicago, I don’t remember seeing this much snow in a long time. In 1996 we were in Pennsylvania, Bear had been born two weeks before the blizzard that shut down Harrisburg for a week. I was so grateful that she’d come early!
Your reminder that snow gets tougher to deal with as we get older is a good cue for younger folks to check on their older neighbors, and help if they need it.
This year is terrible, really. If this were my first winter here, I would have second thoughts about staying!
Great point about checking on the elderly. We have an elderly relative who lives in our 2-family with us. Makes us all feel better knowing there are people around to check on him.