This to come: Expect more snow, cold weather

The bulk of winter is yet to come and so may the predictions of the strong La Niña weather.

 Climatologists predicted cooler, wetter weather for the 2010-2011 winter and it has been slightly wetter. December precipitation totaled 3.15 inches, slightly above the 3.08 inch average.

La Niña is predicted to be strongest in late winter due to a stronger polar jet stream and the predicted storm track direction across the northern United States. Cooler conditions are expected for late winter and early spring with the snow pack remaining longer.

“I still think we’ll have a real bad winter,” said Bob Wyman, local WW II Navy weatherman.

The temperature in the Pacific Ocean is two to three degrees different than last year according to Wyman. El Niño brought six inches of snow last year and this year La Niña is expected to bring a lot more.

Dr. John Abatzoglou of the University of Idaho said La Niña conditions are predicted to be the strongest since the winter of 1955-1956.

During that winter there was a total of 143 inches of snow recorded in Bonners Ferry, almost 12 feet. The winter of 1955-1956 is also considered the strongest La Niña event on record.

Wyman remembered growing up here as a kid in the 1930’s and 40‘s and that practically every year there was snow to the tops of the fence posts. Plus, there were a couple of years in a row that were severe, though he couldn’t recall which years.

More recently, the La Niña winter of 2007-2008 produced 105.3 inches of snow, well below the all-time record of 162.90 inches (13.5 feet) of snow during the winter of 1996-1997 (which was not a La Niña winter).

An average Bonners Ferry winter produces 67 inches of snow.

The average snowfall for January is 21 inches, but in winter 1969 a total of 91.4 inches fell (1969 was an El Niño winter).

The National Weather Service is predicting precipitation to be 40 to 50 percent above normal for January and temperatures to be 40 to 50 percent below normal.

 The average temperature for January is 25 degrees Fahrenheit. During the La Niña winter of 1955-56, the average winter temperatures were four to six degrees below normal.

The coldest temperature recorded in Bonners Ferry in January was minus 29 degrees Fahrenheit on Jan. 30, 1950, a few degrees warmer than the all-time low of minus 33 degrees on December 30, 1963.

Two cold snaps have brought below zero readings so far this fall and winter. There was a low of minus 8 on Nov. 24 and a low of minus 3 on Dec. 31. 

Wyman recommends that everybody with a generator have extra gas in case the power goes out at temperatures below zero. An extra 15-20 gallons can help make it through a power outage and if it isn’t needed by spring, it can be used in a vehicle.

Every La Niña winter may not bring record snowfall or temperatures, but for this year we will have to wait until spring to find out how this winter turns out.