The Impact of SSW (Sudden Stratospheric Warming) On The Extreme Variability of Snowfall Climatology in Boston and Along The Northeast Urban Corridor of the United States

The average cold season snowfall for Boston’s Logan Airport (BOS) has increased from 42 inches. ( 106 cm) / yr between the period of 1872 - 1996 to 50.4 inches ( 128 cm) during the period between 2003 - 2017. In addition the return frequency of single heavy snowfall events that produce >20 in ( 51 cm) has increased from 1:50 yr to 1:6 /yr during the latter period.Moreover, single heavy snowfall events have impacted the Mid-Atlantic Industrial Corridor e.g.Feb, 2003 ( the “President’s Day Blizzard”), Feb. 2009 ( the so-called “snow-rmageddon" event) and most recently in January, 2016 where numerous locations set records for single heavy snowfall events

Such increases may be attributed changes in hemispheric scale boundary conditions and feedbacks that contribute to SSW / WAFz ( Wave activity flux) and the reconfiguration of mass field / thermal fluxes hence circulation patterns within both the tropospheric / stratospheric polar vortices. Such feedbacks include sea ice mass distribution in the North Pacific and North Atlantic basins; SST anomalies including the PDO ( Pacific North Atlantic Oscillation), the AMO ( Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation) and ENSO ( El Nino Southern Oscillation). This investigation will focus on the interrelationships between the aforementioned earth systems and their associated teleconnections to explain cold season total / single event positive snowfall anomalies at Boston’s Logan Airport and other locations within the Northeast Industrial Corridor.