In case temperatures lingering in the 30s, the remnants of once-colossal snow banks and the recent memory of snow days were not enough, new analysis from the Climate System Research Center at the University of Massachusetts has found that New England experienced one snowy winter this year.

In a release last week, the center’s manager Michael Rawlins announced that this winter was the fifth-snowiest on record across New England, with many areas receiving a particularly brisk, snow-filled several weeks during January and February, when a majority of the region’s snow fell. According to the release, areas including Boston, Worcester and Amherst saw more than half of all total snow fall between Jan. 7 and Feb. 3. Hartford, Conn., Rawlins noted in the release, was subsumed by some 84 inches since the beginning of December alone.

Hartford, the anchor of a metropolitan area including Springfield and other local cities, witnessed the snowiest month in its history this January, as 54 inches fell that month alone at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn., according to National Weather Service Data reported by Rawlins.

Boston was not hit quite as hard as Connecticut’s capital, but Beantown too had 79 inches fall, making for the eighth-largest total snowfall in Boston’s history. Total winter precipitation in Boston was about 20 percent higher than its long-term average, Rawlins noted. Worcester, the Bay State’s second-largest municipality, was hit perhaps the hardest. Some 85 inches fell on the city, with Worcester’s total accumulation ultimately breaking into the 10-harshest winters there. Amherst escaped relatively unscathed, compared to some of its neighbors. 57.4 inches fell on the college community this winter.

In addition to the uptick in wintery white stuff, Massachusetts and New England were especially cold this winter, too. According to Rawlins’ figures, Boston’s mean air temperature between December and February was 30.3 degrees, down five percent from historical levels. Away from the coast, Worcester tends to be colder, but even that city was frostier than usual. Worcester’s mean air temperature was 24.6 degrees this winter, 1.6 degrees cooler than typical temperatures there.

At Bradley, passengers stepping off of planes may have felt blustery upon arrival, as temperatures there were down 2.4 degrees from their usual level of 28.4 throughout the winter. Despite receiving less snowfall than some of its neighbors, Amherst won out for chilliness. Temperatures averaged 23.1 degrees this winter here, down two degrees from yearly averages.

Although this winter was particularly cold, Rawlins’ numbers indicate that some days may have been especially icy, while on an average day temperatures may have been closer to familiar levels, or that the warm fall the region experienced may have tilted averages for the warmer. Heating degree days up to March 12 are essentially at their historical averages. Heating degree days illustrate the cumulative difference between mean daily temperature and 65 degrees, beginning with July 1. As of March 12, Massachusetts’ degree-day total was 4,983, with the Commonwealth’s average as of this point at 4,980.

Although these heating degree numbers indicate the Pioneer Valley and New England at large may be on their way to a crisp spring, Rawlins’ statistics show that the region may be heating up slower than most years. At Boston and Worcester’s weather stations, heating degree-day totals are less than one percent from their average. At many stations, the release continued, minimum air temperatures on given days have been well below their yearly averages, meaning it has been colder at certain points than typically, while daily highs have been more in line with historical figures.

-Collegian News Staff