By now, it is clear that this has been the snowiest, and coldest, month of February that we have seen in a long time. It kind of reminds me of the most brutal winter that I can personally remember, which would have been the winter of 1993-94.
What made that winter particularly brutal? How could I rate that as more brutal than the winter two years later, which set the record across much of the northeast, at least, if not perhaps even the eastern seaboard, as the snowiest winter on record? Well, it is because that winter, we got snow the day after Christmas, if memory serves correctly. Then, we never went more than three or four days at most without significant snowfall for the rest of that long and relentless winter. On top of it, it was cold, and the cold never took a break. We have grown used to individual days during what now passes as a typical winter in which we see unseasonably warm temperatures. Hell, there was one fairly recent winter – the winter of 2011-12 – when we had more days over 70 degrees Fahrenheit than we had under 30 degrees Fahrenheit. But it stayed cold and snowy all through that winter of 1993-94, and so the snow that fell would freeze, would turn into ice. I do not believe that I saw that either before, and have not seen it since. At least, not lasting as long as that. Because seriously, the land was covered in white snow from just after Christmas all the way through the official end of winter in March, if not beyond. It never warmed up until well after the winter officially ended, and even then, if memory serves correctly, the winter left only reluctantly.
That winter also saw the snowiest winter in the month of February at Newark, the largest city in New Jersey. In February of 1994, we saw 33.4 inches of snow fall that month alone. Newark normally sees 9.3 inches of snow during a typical month of February. To date, Newark had received 21.7 inches of snow as of about one week ago or so, and we have gotten a bit of snow between then and today, when we are seeing, once again, another significantly measurable snowfall. Indeed, there is a chance – a real chance – that this could turn out to be the snowiest month of February on record in Newark, and that is more or less typical of most of New Jersey, I think it is fair to say.
No, this does not make this the most brutal month of February that I remember. Again, I believe that February of 1994 was worse, because again, the snow that had fallen in late December and early January never melted, never went away, and so all of that snow that fell in February just kept adding to that. What I remember most from that winter was that it was the first such winter when you really had to make a point of taking a shovel full of snow and throwing it over what felt like a mountain of snow. We had a small driveway, and there were not too many places to throw the snow. It was exhausting, made all the more because you hardly had time to recover from one major snowstorm, when you had another one right on the heels of the previous. It just kept going on and on like that. My hands hurt, felt raw. And they barely had time to recover from the last shoveling before I would have to go out and shovel yet again, because again, the snowfall was relentless.
Yes, this month has been brutal, in terms of snow. I think it feels especially brutal because, frankly, we have grown out of practice with dealing with it. I cannot even remember the last time, specifically, when we had a stretch of time when snowfalls were as relentless as they have been in February. It very well may have been the winter of 1995-96 or, perhaps even more likely, it may have even been that winter of 1993-94, which I cannot state enough, remains by far the most brutal winter that I can recall, personally.
Let us remember, as annoying and frankly demoralizing as it feels when we recover from one snowstorm only to have to deal with another (and there is another possibly snowfall on the way for Monday, as if to prove the point), that this nevertheless has only been a brutal month of February. We had a few snowstorms before this month, yes, and particularly that one big snowstorm about a week before Christmas. But then, the storms were largely isolated and regional, and did not make the roadways dangerous as often or as badly. For the most part, the month of February has been the brutal part of this winter, and there are other differences. Just about an hour and a half before writing this, I noticed just how much snow had melted from a patch of lawn at my workplace. It looked almost mountainous a few weeks ago, during that huge snowstorm, but now, it looks like it just covers the lawn in some spots, and it looks like much of the lawn has shaken off the snowy blanket of the deep freeze of this winter.
Not for long, obviously, with the arrival of new snowfall. This new snowstorm will surely blanket that patch of lawn once again, and will also add to the not quite melted mounds of snow on the sides of our roadways and lawns and woods.
Still, this winter has been warmer. The days do not have that brutal cold feel to it at the peak daytime hours. Hell, often times, they are downright comfortable and sometimes, you can swear you feel the upcoming spring right around the corner. No kidding, I saw numerous birds flying and singing happily about a week or two ago on a sunny afternoon. It was refreshing, and yes, there was just a small patch of bald lawn in front of our place where they found snow somehow. Not sure that they were clear sign of the end of winter and the approach of spring, but when you feel a reminder that the spring is right around the corner like that, it hardly matters at that moment. This was not in December, after all, when we still have months to go. It was in February, well into the month, when we have a little more than a month and change before it officially switches to the spring season.
For now, however, it is still winter. And yes, we got more snow, as we keep seeing this month grow in stature among serious winters, in terms of record snowfalls and such.
Below are some pictures I took recently of the little park in the back of the building where I work on the weekends. It kind of has a Japanese feel to it, and looks good during any season. I especially like it during the springtime, when the cherry blossoms add a wonderful splash of color to the scene. However, the snowy blanket of winter makes it look quite attractive, as well. These pictures were not taken during this latest storm, but rather, the snow that fell about a week and a half ago, on Super Bowl Sunday. It seemed to me that they came out quite good!
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