A Climatology of Mean Monthly Snowfall for the Conterminous United States: Temporal and Spatial Patterns
- 1 August 1987
- journal article
- Published by American Meteorological Society in Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology
- Vol. 26 (8) , 897-912
- https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1987)026<0897:acomms>2.0.co;2
Abstract
Mean monthly snowfall data for 216 stations across the conterminous United States were analyzed to produce a climatology that identifies statistical, spatial and intraseasonal aspects. Geographic variations in the length of the snowfall season are characterized using two statistics: the number of months of snow and the Snow Concentration Index (SCI). The annual distribution of mean monthly snowfall is also examined using harmonic analysis. Snowfall across the conterminous United States generally peaks in February; earlier snowfall maxima are found in the Great Lakes area and in the Pacific Northwest, whereas late February or March maxima occur in the western High Plains. Stations with relatively high amounts of variance explained by the second harmonic indicate 1) areas with a short snowfall season such as the southeastern United States, or 2) areas with a long snowfall season that have a tendency toward a bimodal distribution. A climatology of the changing monthly patterns of snowfall is identif... Abstract Mean monthly snowfall data for 216 stations across the conterminous United States were analyzed to produce a climatology that identifies statistical, spatial and intraseasonal aspects. Geographic variations in the length of the snowfall season are characterized using two statistics: the number of months of snow and the Snow Concentration Index (SCI). The annual distribution of mean monthly snowfall is also examined using harmonic analysis. Snowfall across the conterminous United States generally peaks in February; earlier snowfall maxima are found in the Great Lakes area and in the Pacific Northwest, whereas late February or March maxima occur in the western High Plains. Stations with relatively high amounts of variance explained by the second harmonic indicate 1) areas with a short snowfall season such as the southeastern United States, or 2) areas with a long snowfall season that have a tendency toward a bimodal distribution. A climatology of the changing monthly patterns of snowfall is identif...Keywords
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