Concord NWS data reports from the last storm just 10.1" and a total December snowfall of 44.5" which breaks the old record of 43.0" set back in 1876. While Concord is close by and another storm had an equally sizable difference with Penacook, I think both data points are right and the differences are due mainly to location!
January did not keep up the consistant storminess, though it did have several snowfalls. The biggest were 6" and 13". Between the reduced activity and a welcome thaw, the month felt like a break. However, it did have 24.8" total, making it the 5th snowiest month in my record. Despite the thaw, the lowest snow depth was 12" and the 587 SDDs made it the 2nd most snowbound month behind the 630 SDDs from March 2001.
February had neither the big snows of December nor the January thaw. The biggest storm was only 9.4", and the high for the month was 48. However, we did have 12 days with snow and enough cold rain or sleet to make the month very wet. We also broke just about every snowfall and snow depth record of the ten years I've lived here, including seasonal records for most snowfall and snow depth days. Concord is on the brink of exceeding the all-time record of 122 inches in the 1873-74 season.
We kind of coasted through March. Snowfall was a very ordinary and average 15", temperatures were unremarkable. Half the snow fell on the 1st which brought us our peak snow depth of 40.5". By the end of the month we were down to 17", but broke the monthly SDD record set the month before. Concord did not break the all-time record, but surpassed the 100 year record.
April was completely unremarkable, the 1.2" of snow and warm weather led to the end of continuous snow cover on the 10th, a tie with 00/01 for the latest, and a new record for the length. A 10 day stretch with highs above 68 guarantees of a better than average spring (New England springs are almost always disappointing).
Overall, another remarkable thing about the season was how much less snow fell in southern New England. If you compare this season to 2004-2005 you'll see the effect of a major storm that missed us. Everyone, even Rhode Island, got more snow than Penacook that year.
New records include:
Name | New record | Old record | Old 2nd place | Average | Last place |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Snowfall |
  | ||||
Dec | 2007: 52.5" | 2003: 28.5" | 2005: 20.2" | 17.5" | 1999: 0.0" |
Feb | 2007: 34.0" | 2005: 26.2" | 2003: 25.6" | 15.5" | 2000: 0.0" |
Monthly | Dec 2007: 52.5" Feb 2007: 34.0" |
Mar 2001: 38.1" | Dec 2003: 28.5" | N/A | Mar 2006: 0.0" |
Season | 2007/2008: 129.5" | 2000/2001: 97.6" | 2002/2003: 84.0" | 74.0" | 1998/1999: 43.0" |
  Snow Depth Days |
  | ||||
Dec | 2007: 361 | 2005: 182 | 2003: 157 | 97 | 1999: 0 |
Jan | 2008: 587 | 2003: 500 | 2001: 234 | 236 | 2007: 19 |
Feb | 2008: 710 | 2003: 488 | 2001: 470 | 319 | 2006: 26 |
Mar | 2008: 812 | 2001: 630 | 2003: 373 | 277 | 2006: 6 |
Monthly | Mar 2008: 812 Feb 2008: 710 |
Mar 2001: 630 | Jan 2003: 500 | N/A | Dec 1999: 0 |
Season | 2007/2008: 2565 | 2002/2003: 1511 | 2000/2001: 1501 | 956 | 2006/2007: 354 |
  Deepest snow |
  | ||||
Dec | 2007: 27" | 2003: 15" | 2005: 13" | 9.1" | 1999: 0" |
Jan | 2008: 28" | 2003: 21" | 2005: 14" | 13.0" | 2007: 1" |
Feb | 2008: 35" | 2001: 27" | 2003: 23" | 17.2" | 2006: 6" |
Mar | 2008: 39" | 2001: 33" | Two: 19" | 17.2" | 2006: 2" |
Monthly | Mar 2008: 39" Feb 2008: 35" |
Mar 2001: 33" | Feb 2001: 27" | N/A | Two: 0.5" |
Season | 2007/2008: 39" | 2000/2001: 33" | 2002/2003: 23" | N/A | 2001/2002: 8" |
  Continuous snow cover |
  | ||||
Season | 2007/2008: 130 days | 2000/2001: 100 | 2003/2004: 93 | 86.4 | 2001/2002: 40 |
Location | October | November | December | January | February | March | April | May | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | Snow | SDD | |
Collinsville CT | 1.3 | 1 | 18.3 | 161 | 12.2 | 192 | 16.3 | 113 | ||||||||
Ashland MA | 24 | 183 | 11.5 | 80 | 17 | 49 | ||||||||||
Fairhaven MA | 12 | 57 | 9.2 | 27 | 5.3 | 13 | 0.3 | 0 | ||||||||
Groveland MA | 0.6 | 0.6 | 32.1 | 304.8 | 13.2 | 276.2 | 24.5 | 195.6 | 7 | 55.6 | ||||||
Marlboro MA | 0.5 | 0 | 26.8 | 218.5 | 14.9 | 141.5 | 21.9 | 63 | 1.9 | 9 | ||||||
Pepperell MA | 1 | 1 | 41.6 | 331 | 20.4 | 497 | 24.1 | 475 | 12.2 | 280 | 0.3 | 0 | ||||
Poland Spring ME | 1 | 1 | 36.9 | 285 | 28.7 | 327 | 40.9 | 478 | 15.8 | 609 | 0.3 | 29 | ||||
Bow NH | 2 | 2 | 53.2 | 379 | 27.2 | 629 | 37.6 | 742 | 18.6 | 884 | 0.6 | 198 | ||||
Penacook NH | 2 | 2 | 52.5 | 361 | 24.8 | 587 | 34 | 710 | 15 | 812 | 1.2 | 93 | ||||
Charlestown RI | 5 | 30 | 1.4 | 5 | 6.4 | 15 | 1.1 | 0 | ||||||||
Woonsocket RI | 19 | 140 | 8.4 | 53 | 10.6 | 24 | 3.8 | 4 | ||||||||
Mt. Mansfield VT | 36.5 | 348 | 79.5 | 1407 | 29.5 | 1668 | 39.1 | 2270 | 56.6 | 3069 | 5 | 2477 | 3.5 | 734 |
Location | Snowfall | Depth Days | Persistence Quotient |
---|---|---|---|
Collinsville CT | 48.1 | 467 | 9.7 |
Ashland MA | 52.5 | 312 | 5.9 |
Fairhaven MA | 26.8 | 97 | 3.6 |
Groveland MA | 77.4 | 832.8 | 10.8 |
Marlboro MA | 66 | 432 | 6.5 |
Pepperell MA | 99.6 | 1584 | 15.9 |
Poland Spring ME | 123.6 | 1729 | 14.0 |
Bow NH | 139.2 | 2834 | 20.4 |
Penacook NH | 129.5 | 2565 | 19.8 |
Charlestown RI | 13.9 | 50 | 3.6 |
Woonsocket RI | 41.8 | 221 | 5.3 |
Mt. Mansfield VT | 249.7 | 11973 | 47.9 |
Name | Location |
---|---|
Dennis Bollea | Fairhaven MA |
A Cadoret | Woonsocket RI |
Wayne Cotterly | Poland Spring ME |
Paul Hansen | Marlboro MA |
Jim Hilt | Bow NH |
Andrew Plona | Collinsville CT |
Jot Ross | Ashland MA |
Chris Seeber | Charlestown RI |
Rick Tracy | Groveland MA |
Paul Venditti | Pepperell MA |
Ric Werme | Penacook NH |
I think depth days is a great statistic, and I'm surprised that it is catching on slowly outside of the NE Weather Spotters mail list. I never expected that the NWS would embrace it quickly, but I had hoped that TV meteorologists would start using it, in monthly summaries, if nothing else. It would be nice if ski areas would use it, but they may not wish to if they are not likely to be #1 consistantly. (And if only one area reports depth days, it would not be a good comparative statistic.) The University of Vermont has graphs of snow depths at Stowe through many seasons.