Are snowball fights and heavy shoveling really something of the past? What about the snowstorms that left us with piles of snow and no school for days? As a city used to significant snowfall, the past few years have been a disappointment for Boston, to say the least.
There has been 9.7 inches of snowfall this winter, and although March still holds the possibility for snow, it’s looking like Boston is heading toward another relatively snowless year. It wasn’t the warmest winter Boston has seen, coming in as the seventh warmest on record; however, it was the first time on record that there were no sub-freezing days in February and the temperature never reached below 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
All hope is not lost yet, however, as Boston historically has gone through periods of more or less snowfall. Recently, the 2010s were a period of extreme snowfall, culminating in the infamous winter of 2015. On the other hand, the 1980s saw very little snowfall in Boston despite the cold weather.
In order for snow to fall, the temperature must be below freezing and there must be enough moisture in the air. January 2024 was the 4th wettest January on record, meaning the lack of snow wasn’t because of air moisture. In fact, warmer weather holds more moisture, so as climate change leads to an increase in temperature, Boston will see more precipitation, even if it’s not in the form of snow.
As explained by Krasting, Broccoli, Dixon, and Lanzante in Future Changes in Northern Hemisphere Snowfall, which was published in the Journal of Climate, “Places where air temperatures are cold enough that increases in temperature will not greatly impact the partitioning of precipitation into snow and rain, the increased moisture content of a warmer climate may lead to increased snowfall.”
However, often the temperatures leading to snowfall in Boston are just under freezing, meaning even a slight temperature increase could cause what might have been snow to fall as rain instead. A prime example of this phenomenon was the one snow day CPSD called this year, in which not a single snowflake fell despite the nor’easter predicted. When asked about her feelings on the snow day, CRLS Alaa El Hamdouni ’26 told the Register Forum, “It’s better to have a break in between a long stretch,” referencing the fact that this snow day will lead to school being extended by a day into summer.
For those growing up in Boston, snowfall in recent years has been somewhat of a sore subject. Maude Ullman ’26 explained to the Register Forum, “I normally go ice skating outdoors, but it wasn’t cold enough. I only went sledding one time, which was deeply upsetting and we only had one snow day and it didn’t snow, which is a scam and a half. Honestly, I’m hurt by the lack of snow.”
Whether or not snowfall in Boston is doomed remains a prevalent question. In the meantime, the city continues to hold onto lingering hopes of the snowball fights and snowman building it once knew so well.
This article also appears in our print March 2024 edition.
