Cold winter continues in the Northeast
The Northeast has been experiencing a roller-coaster of weather this winter, beginning with record-breaking colds and enormous snowfall in late December and early January, followed by balmy days and rain. Over the weekend, warm weather caused destructive ice jams and flooding throughout the Northeast and Canada. The ice jams were caused by rapid warming and fragmentation of ice building up on the frozen rivers. The temperature is expected to rise again this weekend after the snow and bitter cold earlier in the week, bringing the possibility of another warm rainstorm this coming week.
The cold and precipitous winter in the Eastern United States has been contrasted by a warm and dry December and early January in the West. Even in the Rocky Mountains, temperatures have consistently been warmer than average with little to no snowfall. If this trend continues, Western states will be at a high risk of drought this coming year due to low snowmelt. If there is any word that could be used to describe this winter, it would be unusual.