Find out how warm and dry this year’s winter has been in comparison to previous years.
While a few days of winter still remain in Cherry Hill Township, it has been a disappointing season for people who love snow and cold weather. Warm weather and a lack of large snow storms led the entire Philadelphia area having a warmer and drier winter than normal. How did this winter compare to past winters? Find out below:
Snow takes a break in 2016–17
While its possible more snow could fall over the next couple weeks in Cherry Hill and the surrounding area, it appears likely Cherry Hill will have a below average snow season. Data from Intellicast.com says Cherry Hill has an average of 24 inches of snow per year. This winter, only 15.2 inches of snow have fallen in Cherry Hill as of March 14, according to AccuWeather.
In Philadelphia, this season is already looking to be one of the least snowy winters in recent years. According to data from Weather Underground, only nine inches of snow have fallen this season in the Philadelphia area. If no more snow falls this year, it’ll be the 19th-least snowy winter out of 133 in recorded history and the fifth least snow the area has seen since 2000.
A warm winter, but slightly cooler than last year
People who enjoy warm weather surely loved this winter. The average temperature this winter according to Weather Underground was 40.36 degrees as of Feb. 28, the sixth warmest winter on record. Surprisingly, this winter was actually cooler than last year, when the average temperature was 41.38 degrees, the third highest total on record and highest average winter temperature in the last 85 years.
This winter also featured some bizarre temperature swings. In Cherry Hill, the coldest temperature of the season was a chilly 2 degrees on Jan. 9. Just three days later, on Jan. 12, Cherry Hill had a high of 68 degrees, the warmest recorded temperature in all of January.
The warmest temperature for this past winter in Cherry Hill was 75 degrees, recorded on both Feb. 24 and 25. Both days came just short of the warmest recorded day ever in the month of February, 76 degrees, set in 1985.
Major snow storms stay away
While forecasters predicted Cherry Hill would receive a big snow storm earlier this past week, a major snowfall never materialized. Despite predictions of up to 12 inches, the March 13–14 storm wasn’t even Cherry Hill’s biggest snowfall of the season.
The biggest snow storm in Cherry Hill this winter came on Saturday, Jan. 7, when 5.9 inches of snow fell according to AccuWeather. The March 13–14 storm came in second place at 4.3 inches. The only other time Cherry Hill received more than one inch of snow this winter was on Feb. 9, when 2.8 inches fell.
If Cherry Hill doesn’t receive a larger snowfall later this winter, it’ll be the first time since 2012 that Cherry Hill goes an entire winter without a snow storm of at least six inches.
Not a lot of rain either
It hasn’t just been a dry winter from a snow perspective. The area has also seen a below average amount of rain. According to AccuWeather, 7.57 inches of rain have fallen in Cherry Hill this winter. The average rainfall for Cherry Hill from December through February is just under 10 inches.
In Philadelphia, it was the least rainiest winter in more than a decade. Data from Weather Underground shows only 6.93 inches of rain have fallen in Philadelphia December through February. This is the lowest amount of rain for any winter since 2002.
