The New Year began with a large winter storm brewing over the middle of the nation. Bitter chill occupied much of the northern tier states and Canada as a fast-moving disturbance was propelled northeast from the Gulf States. The outcome was a widespread moderate snowfall from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic, but an outright blizzard paralyzed sections of southern New England, including Boston. Bitter chill encompassed the Northeast in the wake of the storm. Meanwhile, heat was the story in Rio De Janiero as Brazil planned for the World Cup in July. A surge of Arctic air plunged into the northern Plains and Midwest on January 5th and was preceded by a swath of heavy snow in the mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. The ‘polar vortex’ as it was dubbed by the media brought the chilliest readings to the Midwest and Ohio Valley since 1994. Widespread record minima were set from Minnesota to Mississippi and eastward to the Atlantic Seaboard and daytime maxs stayed below zero from the northern Plains to the eastern Ohio Valley. The warm-up afterward was without a storm and the nation experienced an early January Thaw for nearly 10 days at mid-month with chilly restricted to the border states. Meanwhile, a blistering heat wave struck Melbourne during the Australian Open Tennis Tournament with readings over 110F. Oddly, a warm spell in southern California during its driest year on record led to a brush fire that sent a plume of smoke across the city. During the final ten days of the month, several surges of bitter cold air swept from the tundra of northern Canada to the Midwest and Northeast. The first push of polar air was preceded by a fast-moving snowstorm along the I-95 corridor with 6-12 inches of snow snarling the region from Philadelphia to Boston. As the frigid air made inroads across the Deep South, winter storm warnings were issued in Houston for the first time in 4 years and icy rain snarled traffic in Austin. A lake squall caused white-out conditions in northwest Indiana leading to a massive pile-up on I-94. The final week of the month saw another surge of bitter chill into the Midwest and Ohio Valley. Along the periphery of the polar air mass, a swath of snow and ice coated the region from the eastern Gulf Coast to the Northeast shoreline. In the Deep South, most commerce stopped for a day to let the storm pass and Atlanta had gridlock for a day due to icy roads. As the month concluded, some showers finally invaded California ending a very long dry spell. January 2014 was the coldest nationwide since 1994 with the center of chill over the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi Valley. The chill extended to the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Seaboard, though Maine escaped the prolonged cold. The northwest Plains, Rockies and Pacific States were milder than average. Much of the nation was exceptionally dry, with large parts of the Southwest quarter of the country not having any rain or snow. The region around the Great Lakes and Northeast as well as parts of the northeast Rockies were moist.

The month began with the axis of chill tilted toward the West and a corridor of moisture aimed toward the East. A swath of snow fell from north Texas to southern New England just as the Ground Hog predicted 6 more weeks of winter. The storm stymied the departure of Super Bowl fans from the NYC area. Barely had the Northeast cleaned up then another mixed storm descended on the region on the 5th snarling traffic from the Plains to New England. Meanwhile, bitter cold air poured into the Northwest and combined with a Pacific disturbance to produce heavy snow in much of western Oregon and this was followed by a notable ice storm, but it occurred on the second weekend on February. Meanwhile, a rapidly developing cyclone brought the worst blizzard to Tokyo in 45 years. As the second week of February began, a series of disturbances progressed from Texas to the Atlantic Seaboard spreading a variety of wintry precipitation across the Gulf States and coastal Southeast. The main disturbance tracked from the eastern Gulf to the mid-Atlantic coast causing a crippling ice storm in the Southeast and a snarling snow storm in the Northeast. A swath of 6 to 18 inches of snow fell from central North Carolina to New England shutting down transportation at the major eastern hubs. Meanwhile, a series of powerful storms in the UK brought record flooding to sections of England at mid-month with fierce winds at the coast and another snowstorm pummeled eastern Japan just after mid-month. A flow of milder air from the Pacific brought relief to much of the nation just after mid-month, but an icy rainstorm caused havoc on the highways in parts of Pennsylvania and the interior Northeast. Meanwhile, a large fast-moving disturbance triggered the first severe weather outbreak in the middle of the country on February 20th with a dozen twisters touching down in Illinois and a blizzard battering parts of Minnesota. The next day, thunderstorms triggered a handful of twisters east of the Appalachians. As the front settled across Florida, it caused heavy thunderstorms with a tornadic cell bringing the Daytona 500 to a halt. Bitter chill returned to the northern third of the country as the month concluded with readings well below zero at daybreak, but other than for patchy snow showers, the eastern half of the nation remained dry. As February came to a close, a new series of storms from the Pacific promised some drought relief to California and ended a long dry spell in the desert Southwest. February, 2014 was bitter cold from the northern Rockies to the central Great Lakes and middle Plains. Chilly conditions extended to the central and western Gulf coast and east to the mid-Atlantic and most of the Northeast. Even the Northwest was cold. The mildest weather was found in the Great Basin and over Florida. This month culminated a remarkably cold winter, one of the top five chilliest in the upper Midwest. It was a wetter month than January with less extensive dry regions. However, the Southwest remained quite dry as did the southern Plains and a portion of the upper Missouri Valley. It was moist in much of the Pacific Northwest, parts of the northern Rockies and upper Mississippi Valley as well as a stripe across the Mid-Atlantic region.

The month began with a minor miracle of heavy rain in southern California. The rains were too heavy in some locations leading to mudslides and flooding, but the rainwater did help a bit. Meanwhile, a complex storm spawned by the western disturbance brought icy rain and snow from Texas to the mid-Atlantic region. Heavy snow snarled the region from Baltimore to Raleigh on March 3rd. Bitter chill occupied a large swath of the northern Rockies to the Great Lakes. International Falls tumbled to -33F. The bitter chill lead to the most widespread ice cover on the Great Lakes since the late 1970’s. A number of new March minimum record were set in the northern third of the nation during the first week of the month. However, record warmth continued to dominate the Southwest with readings into the 80’s in southern California. A new storm track from the southern Plains to the eastern Great Lakes during the second week of March produced a swath of heavy snow and even blizzard conditions near the southern and eastern Great Lakes on the 12th. St. Patrick’s Day was greeted by a blanket of white from the central Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic coast as more than 6 inches of snow shutdown the Nation’s Capital. Meanwhile, record warmth persisted along the California coast. There were no equinoctial storms this year as the period from March 18-23 was tranquil and rather dry. However, the intersection of a moist front and a geologic shift lead to one of the worst mudslides in recent history in the Pacific Northwest on the 23rd. Arctic invaded the eastern two-thirds of the country during the final weekend of the month and a powerful disturbance dropped several inches of snow from northern Virginia to eastern New England with a blizzard blasting the Cape, down-east Maine and Nova Scotia. In its wake, subfreezing temperatures were driven into the Deep South on March 26th. As the month came to a close, a series of disturbances brought heavy rain and snow to the northern half of the West Coast and a small, but intense coastal storm brought wet snow to parts of the eastern Great Lakes and northern Appalachians. March 2014 capped a frigid winter in the Midwest and Great Lakes as temperatures averaged more than 10 degrees below normal from Minnesota to Maine. Only south Florida and the area west of the continental divide were mild. California had the largest positive departures. Overall, it was a dry month for much of the country. The Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies were wetter than average, but the Plains, Midwest, Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic region were parched. A section of the Gulf Coast was wet.

The month began with an intense snowstorm blanketing the Dakotas and Minnesota. Then a few days later, a powerful disturbance from the Rockies spawned a handful of tornadoes in the mid-Mississippi Valley and yet more snow in the western Great Lakes. Duluth tallied another foot of snow in the 4th. A new disturbance from the Gulf States brought a soaking rain to the mid-Atlantic and Northeast along with a slew of severe thunderstorms in the Southeast on the 7th that caused flooding in sections of Mississippi. A surge of warm air finally brought readings to 80 degrees in the Dakotas on the 9th. A powerful cold front crossed the Plains, dumping snow from Colorado and the Texas panhandle to upper Michigan while triggering a host of severe storms from the southern Plains to the southern Great Lakes. Readings soared into the 80’s in the East with a handful or record maxima on the 13th. Another storm brought a swath of snow across the North Country at mid-month. The weather quieted down for a week with warmth steadily building in the mid of the nation at Easter. Snow fell again in northern Minnesota, raising the season’s tally to fourth place in Duluth. On the tail end of a cold front in the Carolinas, an outbreak of twisters caused the year’s first tornado fatality on April 25. The final weekend of the month brought a large disturbance to the middle of the country. Flooding rains were noted in the Dakotas with severe storms in the lower Mississippi Valley and record chill into the southern Plains. An outbreak of 3 dozen twisters caused massive damage and a dozen fatalities in Oklahoma and Arkansas on the 27th. Then another almost 100 twisters the next day wreaked havoc in the Gulf States killing another 25 individuals, mainly in Mississippi. Then a nearly stationary cluster of thunderstorms dumped between 12-18 inches of rain around Mobile Bay and the western panhandle of Florida during the final two days of April. The flooding was very serious. Overall, April 2014 saw the chill retreat to the Border States with the deepest chill from northeast Montana to upper Michigan. It was slightly cooler than normal in the Northeast and the lower Mississippi Valley with warmth dominating the Far West and much of the southwest Plains and parts of the Ohio Valley. Rainfall was spotty and sparse from the Missouri Valley to the West Coast. There were three corridors of wet weather. One from across the eastern Gulf, the second across the mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys and the third in the upper Mississippi Valley and western Great Lakes. Much of the Northeast and central Appalachians were quite dry until the big rains on the final day of the month.

The month began with cleanup from two tragic floods. One disaster struck Afghanistan with a mudslide that took 2,000 lives while the other flood caused havoc in the Florida panhandle. The first weekend of the month brought record heat to parts of Texas and the earliest 100F reading in Wichita, KS. The heat wave persisted for several days. An active cold front triggered a spate of severe thunderstorms on May 7-8th in the upper Mississippi Valley. Minnesota and Iowa saw more than a dozen tornadoes. Another disturbance on Mother’s Day weekend triggered nearly three dozen twisters from Nebraska to Indiana and brought a heavy wet snow to central Colorado on Sunday, May 11 with more than 6 inches falling around Denver. There was a sharp contrast in maximum temperatures on Mother’s Day. Fierce winds also invaded the Southwest with blowing dust and sand in the deserts and vicious brush fires around San Diego which were set by arsonists. A surge of very warm, humid air preceded a sluggish cold front on May 15-16 in the eastern states. Excessive rains caused localized flooding in parts of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast just after mid-month and chilly air flowing off Lake Superior brought snow to the upper peninsula of Michigan. Record lows were widespread in the Deep South on May 16-17. Meanwhile, a large slow-moving storm brought historic flooding to sections of the Balkans during the middle weekend of May. An odd event occurred on May 20 when two tornadoes affected Puerto Rico on the same day. Meanwhile, a series of small, but intense thunderstorms trained over Elk County on the 21st causing the Clarion to peak at its second highest flood level on record. The center of action during the Memorial Day weekend was in the high Plains and eastern Rockies where heavy rains caused a 4 mile-wide mud slide in western Colorado and a severe thunderstorm spawned a tornado in northwest North Dakota. Meanwhile, Hurricane Amanda rapidly intensified to a Cat 4 storm, the strongest so early in the season in the eastern Pacific south of Baja on May 26th. The final week of May saw much needed, though too intense rain falling across parts of Texas and New Mexico. Flooding rains hit southern Louisiana as Lafayette notched more than 6 inches on May 28. The month concluded with chilly air visiting the Northeast once again. May 2014 presented an unusual horseshoe shaped cool anomaly from the Gulf Coast to the southern Rockies and then arcing northeast into the upper Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes. The coolest weather as in the Dakotas and east Texas. The mid-Atlantic coast and West Coast were the mildest with the Delmarva Peninsula and southern California registering the larger anomalies. More of nation was drier than normal with the interior Northwest and Southwest having the least rain. It remained dry in the central Plains and turned dry in the Tennessee Valley. The Gulf Coast, much of Texas and the central Rockies were wet. It was moist east of the Appalachians and across the Northeast, the upper Lakes and west of the Cascades.

The sixth month began with heat in the southwest Plains, but otherwise much of the country noted seasonable conditions. An active disturbance along an old front produced a dozen twister around Nebraska on the 3rd with Omaha registering its wettest June day with over 5 inches of rain. More storms erupted with a small, but intense low in the western Plains on the 8th. A handful of twisters touched down in Colorado disrupting many outdoor events. Meanwhile, a heat wave overtook parts of central Europe and Russia with readings near 100F in Germany and it was followed by severe thunderstorms. A spell of dull, damp weather descended on the Northeast during the second week of the month. Another powerful hurricane, Christina, spun up to a category 4 strength in the eastern Pacific before weakening and sending a moisture plume into Mexico. Severe weather infiltrated the central Plains during the middle weekend of June with a dozen twisters and numerous hail and wind damage reports. Sioux Falls, SD was deluged by its heaviest rainfall in a single day, more than 4.6 inches. A couple days later, another disturbance spawned a pair of tornadoes that tore through northern Nebraska causing the state’s first twister fatalities in 10 years. In the storm’s wake, more flooding rains fell on eastern South Dakota. Yet another active day was noted on June 18 raising the three day tally to 105 twisters. The same disturbance brought unusually heavy late snow to the Bitterroots of Montana. As summer began, the weather pattern turned tranquil across much of the nation. A series of thunderstorm clusters brought excessive rains to sections of the central Plains between June 24-27 including flash floods to Des Moines. As the month came to an end, the fourth and fifth tropical storms of the season, Douglas and Elida, sprung to life in the eastern Pacific as the Atlantic was about to give birth to Arthur off the Florida Coast. June 2014 continued to be cooler than the long-term mean in the northern Rockies and upper Plains. Temperatures averaged within a degree or so of normal over much of the remainder of the country except for California, the Southwest and portions of the Mid-Atlantic. Rainfall was near record maximums for the sixth month from Montana and the Dakotas to parts of Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Kansas. It was also rather wet in the Mississippi Valley and parts of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Most of the Southeast was drier than average and all of the Southwest, Great Basin and Northwest had very little or no rainfall.

The first full month of summer started with the development of Hurricane Arthur near the Florida Coast and its quick exit east of Cape Cod late on the 4th of July. Arthur became the first hurricane to strike the U.S. on Independence Day as it passed through the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The storm was preceded by sultry conditions in the eastern states along with heavy thunderstorms. The eye of Arthur crossed Cedar Inlet at midnight and passed 30 miles west of Cape Hatteras while producing a sustained wind of 70mph with gusts to 96 at a buoy in Pamlico Sound. The storm rained out holiday plans from Long Island to eastern New England dropping more than 6 inches of rain on New Bedford. Eventually Arthur sped its way across Nova Scotia on the 5th. The monsoon started with a blast in Phoenix as a large dust storm preceded the first widespread showers on July 3rd. Meanwhile in the western Pacific, super typhoon Neoguri smashed into Okinawa with wind gusts exceeding 100 miles an hour and then turned northeast. A cluster of powerful thunderstorms caused widespread wind damage in the Northeast on July 8th with a twister near Binghamton resulting in 4 fatalities. Pennsylvania tallied more than 100 reports of wind damage from a derecho in the eastern half of the state along with the strongest twister, an EF2, in Sullivan and Bradford counties. On the far side of the continent, a heat wave overtook British Columbia leading to fires in north central Washington, heavy rains in Juneau led to widespread flooding and large storms caused hail and flooding in southeast Wyoming. On the other side of the Pacific, powerful typhoon Glenda shutdown metro Manila for a day at mid-month and then intensified again and struck near Hainan, China. A record cool air mass spread into the upper Plains and Great Lakes as Canada emptied cooler, dry weather into the nation at mid-month. Maximum temperatures were as much as 30 degrees below normal in the southern Plains due to clouds and showers as both Jackson and Memphis notched their chilliest July day of record. The central Pacific came to life on the 18th as tropical storm Wali formed southeast of Hawaii and threatened the region with squalls and flash flooding. Rare thunderstorms around Los Angeles brought lightning that killed one man and injured a half dozen at a beach in Venice. Another shot of unseasonably cool weather reached the eastern and southern half of the country during the final few days of July. Montgomery, AL tied its lowest July reading with 59F. During the last week of the month, the second tropical depression of the Atlantic season formed and dissipated as it neared the windward islands, then a new disturbance was named Bertha as it crossed the lesser Antilles on August 1st. July 2014 averaged rather cool from the high plains to the mid-Atlantic coast with the chilliest weather centered over the mid-Mississippi Valley. Parts of south Texas, Florida and New England were slightly milder than average. The entire West was warmer than normal with the warmest conditions in the interior Northwest. Rainfall was generally below normal across large sections of the nation. New England was moist and a splotchy zone from Nevada to the mouth of the Mississippi was wetter than average, including the Rockies. Florida was moist and the driest region was centered in the northern Plains.

The month began with yet another hurricane being born in the Atlantic. Technically, it took until the 4th for Bertha to reach this strength as it exited from the eastern Bahamas after cutting a swath across Puerto Rico and the DR. Meanwhile, late summer thunderstorms in California spawned mudslides in southern sections and triggered fires in the northern Sierra. Also, powerful hurricane Iselle approached the Hawaiian Islands with squally winds and heavy rains and weakened to tropical storm strength while passing through the Big Island. Meanwhile, hurricane Julio followed on its tail, though weaker and farther north a few days later. The Northeast was treated to hazy skies for a couple of days as a dense smoke plume from forest fires in northern Canada filtered into the region. Once again, heat was suppressed east of the Rockies during the second weekend of August. A potent disturbance from the upper Lakes dropped southeastward on August 12-13 causing flooding in Detroit, Baltimore and eastern Long Island where more than a foot of rain fell in a few hours, an apparent state record. The middle of August saw the eastern Pacific come alive again with Karina and Lowell forming west of Baja. Monsoon moisture brought a 5 inch plus rainfall to the Salt River Valley in Arizona. Flooding shut down parts of I-17. A cloudburst caused much devastation around Hiroshima on August 20. A stalled disturbance in the Northeast triggered a rash of severe thunderstorms in Pennsylvania leading to two tornadoes on the 21st. The Atlantic finally came alive on August 24th with Christobal being named in the southeast Bahamas. The storm meandered northward and passed well west of Bermuda on the 27th before racing into the North Atlantic and slamming into Iceland. A surge of hot, humid air reached into the mid-Mississippi Valley and Southeast during the last week of August as very cool air accompanied a chill rain in Montana. Meanwhile, powerful hurricane Marie sent its large swells into southern California during the final days of the month. August 2014 brought a very unusual temperature departure pattern with a serpentine region of below normal temperatures from the Southwest into the Dakotas then south into the lower Mississippi Valley and then eastward from the Carolinas to central New England. Warmth was limited to Pacific Northwest, parts of the southwest Plains and northern Maine. Rainfall was abundant from the northern Plains to the interior Southwest, including the inland Northwest. Another moist corridor stretched from Nebraska to the central Appalachians. Dry conditions dominated the Gulf States and southern half of the Plains as well as parts of the Southeast and spotty regions in the Great Lakes and southern New England.

As have the previous two months of the summer season, September began with another tropical storm forming this time in the Bay of Campeche. Dolly was named late on the first and made a beeline for the Mexican coast striking near Tampico on the 3rd. Late summer heat dominated the first few days of the month with readings well into the 90’s east of the Appalachians. A spate of severe thunderstorms marked a cool front on the 2nd in the mid-Atlantic region. Moisture from weakening hurricane Norbert brought flooding rains to the Southwest. Phoenix tallied its wettest day ever with over 3 inches in one day. Meanwhile, a very active monsoon brought nearly stationary thunderstorms to the Punjab region between India and Pakistan resulting in serious flooding. The chilliest air mass of the last summer season spilled from the Arctic into the Canadian prairies and then into the northern Plains and eastern Rockies. Record early snowfall caused widespread tree damage and power outages from Edmonton to Calgary with the earliest first inch of snow in a swath from eastern Montana to western Nebraska on the 11th. Widespread minimums in the 30’s were noted in a quarter of the states during the middle weekend of September. Meanwhile, the tropical Atlantic sprung to life with hurricane Edouard just after the average peak of the season. Edouard strengthened to Category 2 as it turned north in the central Atlantic well east of Bermuda at mid-month. On the other side of the continent, powerful hurricane Odile struck Cabo San Lucas as a Category 3 storm, the strongest on record to hit Baja, before slowly weakening as it moved north through the Gulf of California. Its heavy rains flooded parts of the Southwest and then caused flash flooding in sections of west Texas during the final weekend of summer. As the season transitioned so did the warmth in the eastern half of the nation. During the first few days of autumn, a tranquil though warm weather pattern dominated the High Plains. The first rainstorm of autumn descended on the Pacific Northwest late in the month. September 2014 was cooler than average over a large section of the northern Plains, upper Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes much of New England. The coolest region was in lower Midwest. Meanwhile, it was a warm month from the Southeast to Texas and across the West with the largest departures in California. Rainfall was above normal in much of the Southwest and western Texas as well as from northern Florida to southeast Virginia and in a swath from Kansas to northern Ohio. The Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Tennessee Valley were dry as was the northern Plains and much of the interior Northwest and California.

The tenth month began with warmth being pushed off the East Coast as a chilly air mass spread the first flakes of the season into the Midwest. Meanwhile, the western Pacific had a pair of typhoons that affected Japan with the first, PhanPhon, dropped up to 10 inches of rain on Tokyo and the second, super typhoon VongFong, took dead aim on Japan again. VongFong pummeled Okinawa with gales for more than two days and more than a foot of rain. Meanwhile, intensifying tropical cyclone Hudhud struck the central east coast of India at mid-month causing extensive damage and later its moisture triggered a sudden blizzard in Nepal that trapped and killed 27 hikers. The Atlantic came alive again as subtropical storm Fay took aim at Bermuda and intensified as it passed over the island on the 12th. Another storm, Gonzalo formed near the Leeward Islands and skirted just north of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on the 14th as it became a major hurricane. A potent disturbance in the middle of the nation at mid-month spawned about a dozen twisters as it moved slowly eastward. Gonzalo took direct aim at Bermuda and passed across the island nation as a Category 3 storm on the 17th. This was the second hit in five days. In the central Pacific, hurricane Ana skirted south of the Hawaiian Islands bringing high waves and bands of flooding rain to the western part of the chain. Meanwhile, it turned very mild in the middle of the country with readings in the 80’s as far north as the Dakotas. A slow moving nor’easter provided much needed rain for southern New England from October 21-24. A soggy front started the rainy season in the Pacific Northwest during the last weekend of October as late summer warmth surged into the southern Plains. In the Caribbean, Hanna formed briefly near Honduras and was carried inland. As month ended, a tropical cyclone in the Arabian Sea was headed toward Pakistan and Vance formed in the eastern Pacific and wandered toward Baja. October 2014 was a mild month for the nation with only two diminutive cool areas, on in the western Great Lakes and the other in Florida. The warmth was centered over the northern Rockies, southwest Plains and New England. Rainfall was sparse from California to Minnesota and from New Mexico to the Carolina Coast. It was wet in the Pacific Northwest and from Kansas and Arkansas to the upper Great Lakes and central Appalachians. Much of New England turned moist too.

An early taste of winter greeted the Deep South as the month began with 2 feet of snow in the Smokey Mountains and the earliest snow on record on the South Carolina Piedmont. Record minimums reached to south Florida and freezes were noted to the Gulf Coast. Heavy wet snow covered much of Maine as more than a foot fell in down-east sections. Caribou tallied its earliest 10”+ snow cover on record. Tropical moisture from dying hurricane Vance soaked the southern Plains. A disturbance on a cold front dropped more snow in northern New England on the 7th. However, it was the remnants of super-typhoon Nuri that turned into the most intense storm on record in the Bering Sea and this caused a cascade of frigid air into central North America. The bitter chill was preceded by record warmth in the Plains and South. Snow accompanied the change to wintry conditions with a couple of feet of snow in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a new November record for chill at -26F in Casper, WY only to break the record by a degree the next morning. Denver dropped to teens below zero and a winter storm invaded in Pacific Northwest with icy roads near the coast and heavy snow farther inland. Another surge of frigid air brought swatches of snowfall to the nation such that by November 17th, half of the contiguous states were snow-covered, an unprecedentedly early arrival of wintry weather. As the gelid air crossed the Great Lakes, a prodigious amount of snow fell in the Buffalo suburbs with upwards of 60 inches in just one day. Similar amounts fell around Watertown, NY. Then two days later, another bout of lake effect snow struck the same region. A fast moving flat disturbance on a stalled front along the Atlantic Seaboard caused widespread travel disruption on one of the busiest travel days. A swath of heavy wet snow fell from the southern Appalachians to the New England coast with more than a half of foot of snow snarling traffic from western Virginia to the suburbs of Boston. Power was knocked out for several hundred thousand in New England. Meanwhile, bitter chill dropped the mercury of a record -28F in central North Dakota on Black Friday and snow squalls raised the tally of November snowfall to a record 64” in northern Michigan. The month concluded with another surge of Arctic air invading the northern and western Plains as much milder air overtook the eastern states on brisk winds from the southwest. Overall, November 2014 will be remembered as one of the colder 11th months in recent years. The chilliest conditions were centered in the Plains and Mississippi Valley, but all of the nation east of the continental divide averaged below normal readings. It was mild from the Cascade to the Coast and in all of California and Arizona. Precipitation averaged below normal across much of the country. It was moist in the northern and eastern Rockies as well as around the Great Lakes, southwest Plains and much of the Southeast.

The final month of 2014 began with mild air occupying both California and the East Coast as chillier air was moving into the Midwest. It was not long before a large Pacific storm began to send record amounts of rain into the West Coast. In fact, San Francisco had more rain in the first three days of December than it had in all of 2013. Flooding was widespread in central and northern California as well as the mountains of the Southwest. Enough rain fell in Las Vegas that a dense fog settled over the region leading to flight cancellations. As the disturbance traversed the nation, it brought heavy rain along with some ice along its leading edge. Meanwhile in the western Pacific, a super-typhoon named Ruby raked across the Philippines causing a number of fatalities and considerable property damage. Back in the states, several disturbances merged near the New England coast to create a large nor’easter which dumped heavy snow from central New York to northern Maine. A few bands of heavy snow effected northern and central Pennsylvania. The storm stalled for 3 days over the region sending chilly air into the Southeast. A potent disturbance blasted into northern California on the 11th with hurricane force wind gusts on the coast and flooding rains in the valleys. As the West turned stormy, Pacific air flooded the nation east of the Rockies keeping minimum temperatures near or above freezing for several days. As polar air returned to the high Plains at mid-month, so did a swath of heavy wet snow. The period leading up to the Christmas holiday was generally tranquil and seasonably mild with an abundance of clouds from coast to coast. However, a potent disturbance in the Deep South triggered an outbreak of severe storms on the 23rd causing over a dozen twisters that resulted in 4 fatalities in Mississippi. Heavy rain soaked the Atlantic Seaboard on Christmas Eve as temperatures reached the 50’s as far north as New England. Christmas morning found about 20% of the nation snow-covered and only a handful of states had readings staying below freezing on Christmas Day. The axis of chilly weather then moved into the West where snow fell at low elevations in the interior mountain region and the last few days of the year saw an enormous high, centered over the high Plains controlling the weather from coast to coast. Frigid air covered the northern tier sending to mercury to -31F in Laramie and -19 in Denver as a potent disturbance in the Southwest triggered low elevation snow in the deserts of southern Nevada and Arizona as the year concluded. Two international disasters were affected by the weather as a fire on a Greek Ferry was caught in gales and rough seas delaying the evacuation of passengers and weather appeared to be a culprit in the loss of a Malaysian airliner en-route to Singapore. Overall, December 2014 was quite mild from coast to coast with only one or two spots averaging slightly below normal. The mildest conditions were across the northern third of the country with the interior Northwest being the warmest. Precipitation during December was generally above normal from the central Plains to the Pacific Coast and below normal from the southwest Plains to the Mississippi Valley, the Ohio Valley and mid-Atlantic region as well as southern Florida. The wettest area was California for a change and the driest region was Texas.

The year began with frigid air occupying the Southwest and northern Rockies and this was reinforced by a push of Arctic air a few days later. The deserts of Arizona had measurable snow and flakes flew in Las Vegas for the first time in a half dozen years. The same disturbance moved across the Deep South and triggered the first severe weather of 2015 with a few twisters in Alabama and Mississippi. As the sub-zero chill passed across the Great Lakes, intense snow squalls formed which led to several disastrous traffic pile-ups in Michigan and Pennsylvania. The Michigan squalls caused a more than 100 vehicle accident along I-94. Meanwhile, a series of powerful ocean storms plowed into Norway sending hurricane force gusts across the northern British Isles and much of western and southern Scandinavia. Oslo was pounded by hurricane force gusts for more than 6 hours on the 12th. Much of the U.S. was tranquil during the second week of January, though the DelMarVa was hit by an icestorm. Bitter cold air crept southward along the border leading to widespread sub-zero readings from the northern Plains to New England. Meanwhile in the Indian Ocean, a super tropical cyclone, Bansi, moved away from Madagascar as it stirred up the southern Indian Ocean with nearly 200mph winds. The middle weekend of January saw freezing rain cripple the roads from eastern Pennsylvania to the valleys of New England as a small, but intense low produced record daily rainfall along the coastal plain on the 18th. In its wake, Pacific air dominated the nation with only a handful of stations remaining below freezing in the lower 48 states. Meanwhile the southern branch of the jet stream became active with a significant disturbance producing record snow in Amarillo, Texas and a swath of heavy wet snow along the east slope of the central and northern Appalachians early on the 24th. Wet snow accumulated several inches from New York City to Boston. Then an historic blizzard descended on the Northeast on the 26-27th with gales and snow accumulations between 1-3 feet from Long Island to Maine. The Boston area was particularly hard hit with near hurricane force wind gusts and more than 20 inches of snow. + Meanwhile, record warmth overspread the West and northern Rockies with readings in the 60’s and 70’s as far north as the Canadian border. The month concluded with Arctic air seeping back into the northern Plains, a soggy disturbance moving through the Southwest and a new storm forming the mid-Plains. January 2015 was chilly east of the Mississippi and in the southern Plains, though Florida and the Southeast Coast was mild. The coldest conditions were across the interior Northeast and south Texas. It was quite mild from the western Great Lakes across the northern Plains to the Rockies and West Coast. The warmest weather was in Nevada. Precipitation in January was below normal in most sections with the exception of the mid-Atlantic and New England coast as well as the southern Plains and parts of the Southwest and Montana. Some parts of California and Kansas had no rain or snow.

The second month started with a snowstorm brewing in the central Plains and racing to the mid-Atlantic coast where it deepened and turned north into another blizzard for New England. Chicago had its snowiest day on record in February and second largest snowfall of record. Boston’s 10 inches of snow raised the weekly tally to nearly 45 inches making it the snowiest 7 days since records began in 1891. Meanwhile, record warmth persisted in California with widespread readings near 70F. Frigid air steadily seeped into the northeastern third of the nation during the first week of February. Meanwhile, record warmth dominated the western third of the country with three consecutive days above 70F in Denver. A complex storm descending from the Great Lakes to the Carolina coast brought bands of heavy snow to eastern Massachusetts dumping more than two feet on the Boston area between the 7th and 9th. Then another clipper from the upper Great Lakes turned into a coastal storm south of Cape Cod on the 14th dropping another 20 inches of snow on the Boston area. In its wake, gale force winds drove record chill into the Northeast for President’s Day weekend. A fast-moving disturbance on a stalled front contributed to a swath of snow from Texas to New Jersey with an icy rain in parts of the Gulf States and nearly a foot of snow in Kentucky. The action then shifted to cold weather in the Northeast and Great Lakes as ice coverage on the lakes increased rapidly during the middle of February reaching 85% by the last week of the month. A westward surge of frigid air produced a swath of snow along the east slopes of the Rockies during the third weekend. The chill settled into the South as a series of disturbances brought a wintry mix to the interior Gulf States and the Southeast during the last week of the month. Frigid air persisted over the Northeast as Syracuse tallied its 20th subzero morning, a record for the calendar year. Temperatures dropped to -32F in Westfield, PA on the 24th marking the third time in February of readings below -30F in the Commonwealth. A winter storm brought snow and ice to the Southeast and mid-Atlantic coast on the 26th halting traffic in this quarter of the country for more than a day. Overall, February 2015 was one of the coldest on record in the Northeast, surpassing 1979 for chill. Actually, there were at least a half dozen cities from New York State to Maine that notched their coldest month of all-time. The chill was centered over the Northeast, but below average temperatures were noted from the western Plains to the Atlantic Seaboard. Warmth dominated the West as Idaho was the epicenter of mild conditions. Precipitation was below average across large sections of the country with only a few swaths of wetter than average weather. It was moist in the eastern Rockies and in parts of the Tennessee Valley and coastal Southeast. It was another parched winter month in much of California, Texas and the upper Mississippi Valley.

The third month of 2015 began much like February had ended with bitter chill in the Northeast and sub-zero readings returning to the northern Plains and Rockies. A new storm track began to be carved out across the country with disturbances bringing notably cooler, moister air to the West and surges of milder weather into the East. A warm-up in the East was preceded by an icy rain that encased areas so that most transportation was shut down. Then a trailing disturbance from the southern Plains dropped a swath of 10 inches or more of snow from the Ozarks to the southern New England coast. This was followed by record chill in much of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Both Harrisburg and Pittsburgh set new March record minimums. A new weather regime then allowed Pacific air to stream across the nation leading to above freezing readings from coast to coast by March 10. Much of the snow melted in the mid-Atlantic and Ohio River Valley with no flooding, though Kentucky had accumulated enough snow for meltwater flooding. Meanwhile, the western Pacific sprung to life with three tropical cyclones nearing Australia and one in the north Pacific approaching Guam. Bavi brushed by Guam, a rare March storm. Meanwhile, Super-typhoon Pam descended on Vanuatu devastating the island nation of a third of a million people on the 15th. The capital city had 90% of its buildings damaged or destroyed by winds well over 100 miles an hour. There were at least a dozen casualties before the storm turned south toward New Zealand. Back in the states, record warmth overspread the Plains during the middle weekend of March with readings nearing 90F in Nebraska and then into the middle 90’s on the 16th for the highest readings so early in the year and raising an extreme wildfire danger. A disturbance over northern Mexico had the odd effect of suppressing severe weather in the Gulf States such that by March 23rd, not a single tornado had been reported this month so far, the latest into March since 1969. As winter came to a close, another fast-moving disturbance dropped between 3 and 6 inches of snow from the central Appalachians to southern New England on the 20th. Another push of polar air arrived for the first few days of the new season with morning readings below zero in the valleys of New England. A disturbance in the southern Plains was finally able to trigger severe thunderstorms on March 24-25. In fact, the first twisters of the month descended on Oklahoma and ravaged Tulsa on the evening of the 25th. The destruction was particularly heavy around parts of the city with much wind damage around Oklahoma City too. The month closed with another shot of Arctic air into the Great Lakes and Northeast sending the mercury to near zero in rural sections from Michigan to Maine. Meanwhile, warmth swelled into the middle of country at the month’s end. March 2015 had an unusual temperature anomaly pattern. Cold weather dominated from Texas northeast across the middle Mississippi Valley and then eastward to the Mid-Atlantic States and New England. The Great Lakes were also chilly. Warmth was pronounced across the Southeast and over the western half of the nation from the southern Rockies to the northern Plains. It was coldest in the Northeast and warmest in Florida and California. Precipitation traced a similar pattern at least from Texas to the Ohio Valley with well above average precipitation, but it was very dry in the Plains, Great Lakes and Northeast as well as much of the Southeast. Most of the West was dry, except for parts of the interior Southwest and eastern Washington and northern Montana.

The fourth month of 2015 began with a fresh covering of snow across parts of the Northeast, especially Pennsylvania. A surge of warmth in the Plains and Mississippi Valley brought readings well into the 80’s as far north as Minnesota on the second. As a front swept through the Ohio Valley, a bout of severe weather was noted and repetitive thunderstorms caused flooding on the Ohio River in Kentucky on the 4th. A push of polar air into northern New England brought the mercury to near -20F in upper Maine on Eastern morning apparently setting a new state record for April. During the second week of the month, a series of disturbances that brought much needed rain and snow to California began to trigger a series of severe thunderstorms in the central Plains to the Ohio Valley. Flooding was particularly severe in Kentucky where baseball sized hail also fell. The strongest tornado of the season descended on a small town in northern Illinois causing a few fatalities on the 9th. As the third week began, a large disturbance was gathering steam in the Deep South and caused heavy storms from east Texas to the Tennessee Valley. Nearly ten inches of rain fell around Mobile on the 13th. A push of chilly air along the Front Range of the Rockies resulted in a swath of heavy snow in parts of Wyoming and Colorado on the 16th. The third weekend of April brought very mild weather to much of the East with readings near 80F as far north as the Great Lakes. A potent disturbance late on the 19th produced widespread hail in the southern Plains and a rash of twisters in the Southeast. As the low moved into the lower Lakes, it produced a rash of hail across the Northeast and flooding in parts of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, a slow-moving coastal storm combined with a large high to produce gales and heavy rain in New South Wales. Also in the southern hemisphere, a massive volcanic eruption took place in central Chile around the same time. Unseasonable chill returned to the northern Plains with numerous record minimum on the 22nd and 23rd. Snow showers were common in the Northeast as a pool of chilly air settled over the region. A potent disturbance tracked across the Deep South during the final week of the month triggering several outbreaks of severe storms from Texas to Florida. The month ended on a quiet note, though it was very hot in southern California. April 2015 was a noticeably milder month for the nation with only New England and parts of the Rockies and interior Northwest being cooler than average. The warmest conditions were in the Southeast, but readings average well above normal from the high Plains to the mid-Mississippi Valley and into the Carolinas. Rainfall was more abundant with a large section of the country wetter than normal from Texas to the central Appalachians, including much of the Gulf States and the Ohio Valley. It was also wet in parts of the eastern Rockies. The driest conditions were noted in eastern New England, the Dakotas and Minnesota as well as much of the Far West.