Volume 22 Number 4

Virginia Online Climate Advisory

Volume 22/Number 4/Winter 1999

A mantle of fresh snow covers piedmont fields. This has not been a particularly common sight during the last two winters across most of the Commonwealth, although large year-to-year variation in total snowfall amounts is quite normal.

Snow -- it's every true weather fan's favorite form of precipitation, but a relative paucity of the stuff over the last two winters (especially in comparison with the exceptionally snowy winter of 1995-96) has prompted a lot of questions. Many of these have revolved around the issue of climatic change.

In this Advisory, we make a close examination of the past history of temperatures and snowfall to find out about what the future may hold for Virginia's winters. In so doing, we hope to dispel some myths and confirm some reasonable suspicions. In addition, we'll tell about some of our recent research into these questions.

In our Current Wisdom section, we take a look at a recently published temperature record showing a 900-year global cooling spell, as well as a planetary warming that might not be attributable to eartly causes at all. And, just when you thought you'd heard the last of it for a while, El Niño takes a parting shot at the temperature record.

In your Advisory . . .

Flaky Findings
Winter Temperature Histories
Weather Watch
Current Wisdom
NWS Long-Range Forecasts
Forecast Verifications

Advisory Staff

Patrick J. Michaels, State Climatologist

Philip J. Stenger, Research Coordinator and Advisory Editor

Paul C. Knappenberger, Senior Analyst

Dustin Hux, Oliver Frauenfeld, Stephen Gawtry, and Tracey Lewis, Research Assistants

The Virginia Climate Advisory is a service publication of the Virginia State Climatology Office, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia. The Advisory's purpose is to present information about our climate, its impact and related research findings. We reserve the right to do this in a humorous fashion. The Advisory is mailed to subscribers worldwide. We welcome your comments. Subscriptions are available by writing or calling this office (804-924-0548).