Climate change may mean more blizzards but less snow

Published On: Feb 21 2013 07:29:10 AM EST

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

A woman on North street in the North End neighborhood of Boston, digs out her car as a neighbor runs a snow blower, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013.


Another potentially big snowstorm is in the wings for the weekend.

It's on the radar, as leading scientists are forecasting less snow, but more blizzards in our future. They attribute part of the trend to climate change.

The blizzard of 2013 was one we hadn't seen the likes of in a long time. It left 2-plus feet of snow, serious flooding and massive power outages.

Photos: Blizzard 2013

Which begs the question:  If global warming is at our doorstep how can the weather be so freezing and frightful?

"We have a really big blast of arctic air that comes down so we've got lots of cold air.  But then we also have a storm that can feed off the warmer ocean waters
so you can get  a bigger, more intense storm," said Keith Seitter of the American Meteorological Society.

Scientists say the warmer waters will likely mean less snow over time, and more rain.

Two studies to be published by the American Meteorological  Society predict that in some parts of the country annual snowfall will drop between 30 percent and 70 percent by the end of the century.

And in the last 45 years, spring snow cover in the northern hemisphere has shrunk on average by 1 million square miles.

But when we do get snowfall, we're more likely to be buried in it.

"That's the typical kind of weather we are going to see more often, having larger precipitation, whether it's rain or snow," said Seitter.

Scientists say you can't blame one event like the last blizzard on climate change. But with more time and study, it could be possible to make those connections.


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