Hey Folks,

 

It wasn't a surprise to me... and I'm sure it'll be no surprise to you when you look over these numbers...

 

The Winter of 2010/2011 was another warm one for Newfoundland and Labrador.

 

In fact... on the Island of Newfoundland... temperatures this past Winter were either just as, or even warmer than they were last Winter!

For those who don't remember December was overall, the Warmest December in recorded history for most of the Province. Temps were 6 to 8 above normal in Newfoundland and 11 to 12 above normal in Labrador. You can read the entire December wrap up in my previous blog post here.

 

 

 

January continued warmer than normal across the entire Province... with places like Nain finishing the month 9 above normal. Happy Valley-Goose Bay was almost 8 above normal and even St. John's was 4 above normal in January.

 

 

 

When the NAO went from big time negative back to postive or neutral in Mid January, Winter finally began in NL.

  

Temperatures stayed 1-2 above normal across the Island in March. And again, in Labrador temperatures were at or just above normal. However once again in Labrador City temps were 0.5 below normal.

 

Here is a breakdown and some details on precip.

 

NORMALS ARE BASED ON DEC-JAN-FEB-MAR FROM 1971-2000

 

-The City finished the Winter at 2.8 above normal. The warmest Winter in past 10 years and the 8th straight Winter which was ABOVE normal. More on that later.

-Snowfall again, was the lowest in recorded history in December. However Snowfall was above normal in each of the next 3 months... with February coming at 132 cm of Snow. Normal for Feb is 66.5 cm.

 

-Central Newfoundland finished the Winter 3.3 above normal... just slightly warmer than last Winter.

-After just 25 cm in December... the flood gates opened in January with 140 cm. February saw 134 cm, with 101 more cm in March... to finish the 4 month period with about 400 cm of Snow. About 70 cm above normal.

 

-The West Coast finished the Winter 4.3 above normal.

-Despite that fact, Snowfall on the West Coast did not disappoint Winter Lovers. After just 25 cm in December, over 300 cm fell over the next 8 weeks of January and February. That's 120 cm above normal for those two months.

 

-The South Coast of Labrador finished the Winter 4.8 above normal... even with February coming in near normal.

-Despite the warmer than normal temps... Snowfall amounts for the 4 month period were 365 cm... that's 40 cm above the normal.

 

-Temperatures finished up exactly 5 above normal.

-This was the Winter without Snowfall in Goose Bay. Only 20 cm of Snow in all of February!

-Totals for the 4 month period were 167 cm. Normal Snowfall for that period is 297 cm!! Wow.

 

-Temperatures finished 3.8 above normal for the Winter. Again mainly thanks to December and into January.

-Snowfall was Low in February at just 34 cm... but over 100 cm in December, January and March. Therefore you folks finished 371 cm. Normal for that period is about 250 cm.

 

 

So for the second straight Winter, temperatures well above normal across the Province. Now it's going to take me a few days to add all the numbers up... but I'm hoping early next week to show you how Winter temperatures across the Province over the past decade... have matched up with the previous 30 year normals from 1971-2000.

It should be interesting. I've just finished up crunching the numbers for St. John's and already I've discovered that for 8 straight Winters now... temperatures in Metro have been ABOVE normal. 

Anyway more stats from the rest of the Province are coming next week.

Stay tuned.

 

Ryan