Winter getting shorter in 80% of major US cities, new data shows | US weather
This winter has been especially long and harsh for millions of people in the United States, who spent the past month digging themselves out of above-average snow and ice. But in 80% of the major U.S. cities the researchers studied, the typical winter season is actually getting shorter. Climate CenterAn independent climate science and communications group.
The researchers found that winter months in 195 U.S. cities were an average of nine days shorter from 1970 to 1997 as the climate crisis progressed.
For the purposes of the study, analysts defined winter as the coldest 90 consecutive days of the year over the historical period of 1970-1997 and then compared the frequency of winter-like temperatures over the most recent 28-year period, 1998-2025. They found that across the country, the temperatures that define winter come later and end earlier than in the 20th century.
According to the study, cities in the southeast, northeast, upper midwest and southern regions of the United States experienced the largest average decrease in winter days.
Juneau and Anchorage in Alaska saw winters decrease the most, at 62 and 49 days, respectively. Winters got longer in about 15% of the 295 cities analyzed, especially along the California coast and in the Ohio valley.
Ironically, the new data coincides with one of the most severe winters in recent memory, including this week’s historic Northeast blizzard that meteorologists say is the strongest storm in a decade. More than 61 cm (2 ft) of snow was recorded in some areas in the northeastern United States; More than 91 cm (3 ft) of snow fell in Rhode Island; this surpassed the totals from the historic northeast snowstorm of 1978.
“Just because the winter is shorter doesn’t mean there won’t be a winter,” Mathew Barlow, a professor of climate science at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, said Friday. “Another important piece [research] “We expect the intensity of precipitation to increase as the climate warms.”
The storm caused power outages for hundreds of thousands of people and forced public officials to impose temporary travel bans in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware, among other states.
Many climate change deniers have used recent storms to prove that the planet is not warming due to human-caused emissions. In January, Donald Trump, who repeatedly questioned and mocked established climate science. sent On the storms that hit the US in late January: “Record Cold Wave expected to hit 40 states. Nothing like this has rarely been seen before. Can Environmental Rebels please explain – WHAT HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???”
However, January’s storm was most likely caused by stretching of the polar vortex, the broad circular band of planetary wind. Research published last year found that this stretching of the polar vortex contributes to extreme weather in the United States and that global warming, counterintuitively, may play a role in accelerating this process.
Discussing Trump’s “ridiculous” argument against global warming, Barlow said: “If you wait for the cold day and say, ‘Oh, it’s cold’ and ignore all the other warm days, that’s not an honest attempt to evaluate the data in any way, shape or form.”
Previous Guardian reports have acknowledged that a single winter storm in one part of a country tells us little about long-term global climate trends. Not only is the world undeniably getting warmer, but countries like the US are also experiencing winters heats up faster compared to other seasons.
Even as evidence of the devastating effects of global warming is clearly visible, Trump has made dismantling environmental protections a key priority of his second administration. On February 12, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rescinded a key scientific determination, known as a finding of danger, that gave the government the ability to regulate climate-induced pollution.
Since 2009, the policy has allowed the EPA to limit heat-trapping pollution from vehicles, power plants and other industrial sources. More than a dozen health and environmental justice nonprofits sued the EPA over the move.
Warmer, shorter winters have significant consequences for both people and the environment, including reduced water supplies, reduced yields of summer crops, and worsening allergy seasons.
“These aren’t just the impacts you see when you look out the window or impact whether you can drive to work,” Barlow said. “These are also pretty significant changes to ecosystems, to the health of our natural community, and to our water resources.”
Shorter winters also create challenges for local economies. The multibillion-dollar winter recreation industry faces challenges due to rising temperatures and declining climate conditions. profit And ice lid. Ski resort visits are available in certain regions of Colorado. 20% decrease in the middle of this year Severe snow drought.
“It’s important to keep in mind that even if they occur less frequently, extreme events, even extreme cold events, will still occur,” Barlow said. “As winter gets warmer, we lose the practices and resources available to cope with these extreme events. When there is still significant amounts of snow, there are fewer people to plow the land.”
