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21 Feb 11 - With record-setting snowfall in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region last winter (winter of 2009-2010), NOAA’s Climate Scene Investigators (CSI) assembled to analyze why the snowstorms happened Combing through historical records dating back to the late 1800s, the CSI team identified the separate “fingerprints” of wintertime climate conditions related to El Niņo and the NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation). They deduced that NAO conditions alone could explain Europe’s extreme winter and the large-scale cold temperatures in the United States The CSI Team found abundant historical evidence of heavy mid-Atlantic snowstorms whenever an El Niņo and a negative NAO acted in concert, supporting their conclusion that the record-setting snowstorms were the result of natural causes.
But could
global warming have elevated the potency of this dynamic duo? The CSI Team
didn’t find a connection.
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