The last couple of years have not been the best for people in the Central Virginia area who love snow.
Most of the Mid-Atlantic saw less than two inches of accumulating snow last winter.
And from Virginia to the eastern side of New York, there hasn’t been an accumulation of at least an inch of snowfall in a 24-hour period in more than two years.
That means much of the East Coast is in what is called a snow drought.
At this point, less moisture and cold air are coming into the area, which means there will be less snowfall if a storm were to develop.
Adam Baker, the science and operations officer at the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, explains this has to do with the transition from La Niña to El Niño.
“Even in the next half of a month, we are not seeing any kind of main weather maker that is going to allow for moisture to return to the area,” he said. “We are actually looking to stay in this northwest flow. We are still waiting to see the signal of El Niño to kick into our weather pattern here.”
Baker also says that Blacksburg saw just 0.9 inches of snow last year, making it the least snowy winter on record.
Additionally, the warmth of the Atlantic Ocean could be fighting the changes normally brought by El Niño.
Source: CBS19 News