Record-breaking snow season for Boston
Record breaking snowfall in Boston has given the city its snowiest season till date. As of March 15, Boston had received 108.6 inches of snow against an average seasonal snowfall of 43.5 inches. Boston has now recorded four of its top five snowiest seasons in the last 21 years only. But these were not the only records which took a beating amidst the freezing snow siege in Boston.
Boston also witnessed a record 30-day snowfall from January 24 to February 22 this year. During this period, Boston recorded a mind-blowing 94.4 inches of snow pounding the previous record of 58.8 inches snow recorded in 1978. Also, Boston witnessed its fastest six-foot snowfall this year, recording 72.5 inches snow in just 18 days. The previous record was 73 inches in 45 days back in 1993-1994 season.
Authorities in Boston stated that the amount of snow cleared from the streets in Boston was so high, that they could fill the local Gillette stadium with collected snow, at least 90 times over. Another striking stat reads that Boston also recorded its fastest 90 inch snowfall ever. The city achieved the feat in just 23 days against the previous record of 78 days dating back to 1993-1994 season.
Ohio River at all-time high, should recede soon
The Ohio River has reached alarming levels recording 57.7 feet which is almost 6 feet above the flood stage of 52 feet. These levels are highly abnormal for the river and have not been witnessed since 1997.
As much as five homes have been flooded so far due to rising water levels and roadways has also been affected. Red Cross has already opened two shelters for people affected by floods.
But there has been marginal relief and conditions are expected to improve further. Welcoming dry weather conditions will keep the river levels in check and only light rain is expected late in the weekend.
Record-breaking temperatures in US Plains
The heat could most certainly be felt in several parts of the US plains on Monday as temperatures soared to unexpected levels. North Platte in Nebraska recorded a sweltering 91°F and broke the previous all-time record high for the month of March. The previous record was 88°F recorded in March, 1946.
Early season warm temperatures were also recorded at an all-time high with 90°F in Lincoln, 90°F at Sioux City in Iowa, 81°F in Denver, and 88°F in Omaha.
US tornado season makes a slow start
An unusual winter in the US becomes even more unusual, when you consider the fact that tornado activity in the country, has been on the low this season. Till March 12, only 27 tornadoes were reported throughout the country. This is the lowest number of reported tornadoes since 21 tornadoes were recorded on March 12, 2003.
Tornadoes claim several lives every year but have been mostly missing from the early part of this year. Interestingly, in 2014, United States had experienced 68 tornadoes by the end of March. Whereas in the year 2013, US recorded 132 tornado reports by March end.
Not a single tornado has been reported in the month of March so far. But slow starts do not always mean that the country will witness a decreased tornado activity throughout the year. As records suggest, the year 1982 too had a slow start to the tornado season but ended up experiencing over a 1000 tornadoes.
