Science Source

Trends in twentieth-century US snowfall using a quality-controlled dataset

Undertakes a quality assessment of daily manual snowfall data for all U.S. long-term stations and their suitability for climate research
Identifies a set of stations believed to be suitable for analysis of trends
Finds that since the 1920s, snowfall has been declining in the West and the mid-Atlantic coast
Finds that in some places during recent years the decline has been more precipitous, strongly trending downward along the southern margins of the seasonal snow region, the southern Missouri River basin, and parts of the Northeast
Finds that snowfall has been increasing since the 1920s in the lee of the Rocky Mountains, the Great Lakes–northern Ohio Valley, and parts of the north-central United States
States these areas that are in opposition to the overall pattern of declining snowfall seem to be associated with specific dynamical processes, such as upslope snow and lake-effect snow that may be responding to changes in atmospheric circulation