Mid-Atlantic Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook: Winter 2020-2021

MARISA Mid-Atlantic Regional Climate Summary map and title

The winter season brought a historic snowstorm to the northern parts of the watershed in December; while snow, ice and freezing rain in Virginia and Maryland caused widespread power outages in February.

Read more about how the Mid-Atlantic fared this winter and use our interactive tool to explore how total annual snowfall has changed in your area since 1981 in the latest MARISA Seasonal Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook.

Highlights

The winter season ranked among the ten wettest on record for sites in Virginia, Maryland and New York.
From December 16 to 17, the northern parts of the Chesapeake Bay watershed experienced a historic snowstorm that resulted in storm snow totals that reached 36 to 44 inches.
Snow, ice and freezing rain in parts of Virginia and Maryland on February 11 to 13 resulted in widespread power outages.
With frequent storms during February, the number of days with measurable snow ranked among the ten greatest for February or on record at several sites including Dulles Airport, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; and Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
However, dry conditions in parts of the region led to below normal streamflow conditions in western Pennsylvania and southern New York.
Across the Mid-Atlantic region, between 1981–2019, the years 1996 and 2010 saw the highest average annual snowfall for the region, with 1996 seeing an average of 64 inches of total snowfall.

Read the Climate Summary

The MARISA Seasonal Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook is a seasonal series produced by NOAA’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program that details seasonal weather and climate variability and change in the Mid-Atlantic region.

MARISA is led by the non-profit RAND Corporation, in partnership with researchers in Penn State University’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute, and Johns Hopkins University, along with support from researchers in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.