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For southeastern New England (eastern MA, RI, SE CT), winter is mid-Dec to mid-Mar, spring is mid-Mar to somewhere from mid-May to mid-June depending on weather patterns, summer ensues through September, autumn ensues to mid-Dec. In central New England, winter is roughly 4-5 weeks longer.
I always kinda chuckle at this because seasons are man-made conceptualizations of gradual shifts and therefore technically there's four seasons wherever we say there are, so really pretty much everywhere.
When people talk about 'four season climates' they really mean a strongly polar two season climate i.e. the climate swings between two extreme poles in winter and summer.
I think where this occurs in the U.S. is down to just how extreme you think these poles need to be. I think they're still plenty strong in Atlanta where most winters will see a good number of below freezing nights and days requiring jackets and sweaters. But then I dislike cold weather quite a bit and I am not fond of anything under 60.
A lot of people require snow for it to count as 'winter', but then of course the question arises of just how much snow is required. Even New York City has many winters with only a couple of days with any snowfall worth mentioning. It certainly does not have a stable snow cover most winters. In fact in the last 30 years there were only 3 winters where you could say there was snow on the ground in the city itself for the majority of winter - 10/11, 13/14 and 14/15. So it's been nearly a decade since that happened.
I haven't been in DC since 2013, but I grew up there. I remember that most years there would be snow, and a decent amount of it to stick for several days if not weeks, not to mention the huge snowfalls of 1993, 1996, and of course 2010. I guess things have changed in the last 11 years.
Hopefully when I move back there later this year, I'll eventually start to see the winters of my younger years.
DC and Baltimore have always been marginal snowfall locations. Often times that perception is skewed by a few punctuated heavy snowfall events. And sometimes DC can get decent snow depending on the setup. But overall you can’t count on significant snowfall in the winter in those places.
I always kinda chuckle at this because seasons are man-made conceptualizations of gradual shifts and therefore technically there's four seasons wherever we say there are, so really pretty much everywhere.
When people talk about 'four season climates' they really mean a strongly polar two season climate i.e. the climate swings between two extreme poles in winter and summer.
I think where this occurs in the U.S. is down to just how extreme you think these poles need to be. I think they're still plenty strong in Atlanta where most winters will see a good number of below freezing nights and days requiring jackets and sweaters. But then I dislike cold weather quite a bit and I am not fond of anything under 60.
A lot of people require snow for it to count as 'winter', but then of course the question arises of just how much snow is required. Even New York City has many winters with only a couple of days with any snowfall worth mentioning. It certainly does not have a stable snow cover most winters. In fact in the last 30 years there were only 3 winters where you could say there was snow on the ground in the city itself for the majority of winter - 10/11, 13/14 and 14/15. So it's been nearly a decade since that happened.
4 winters. The blizzard of '96 and that entire winter '95/'96 was brutal.
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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For the cities or metro areas on the east coast it's more about how far East of the Fall Line you live tbh. Example the northern and western suburbs of Baltimore/DC around I-81 see the more consistent snowfall in the winters. Frederick, MD gets twice the snowfall totals on average than DC does, even Germantown sees significantly more.
Regardless of snowfall totals though, I'd say all the Mid-East/Atlantic cities still have "winter" like weather for multiple months. The temps though can vary the further north/south you go.
Yeah I reminder the NYT had an article about 5 years ago showing that between the 1980s and now, NYC went from having 31 days of snow cover to like 18 per year. Boston went from almost 60 to 32. If trends continued, NYC is about 14 days now and Boston is 25.
Its scary to think that 1980s NYC was snowier than 2010s Boston. Imagine what it is now!
New England has seen the worst effects of global warming in the country.
DC has warmed 0.81F per decade since 1980.
NYC has warmed 0.79F per decade since 1980.
Boston has warmed 1.08F per decade since 1980.
Burlington has warmed 1.28F per decade since 1980.
Where Burlington has gone from an average winter temp of 20 in 1980, it's just about 24 now.
Boston has gone from 29 in 1980 to 34 now.
DC has warmed 0.81F per decade since 1980.
NYC has warmed 0.79F per decade since 1980.
Boston has warmed 1.08F per decade since 1980.
Burlington has warmed 1.28F per decade since 1980.
New England has seen the worst effects of global warming in the country.
DC has warmed 0.81F per decade since 1980.
NYC has warmed 0.79F per decade since 1980.
Boston has warmed 1.08F per decade since 1980.
Burlington has warmed 1.28F per decade since 1980.
Where Burlington has gone from an average winter temp of 20 in 1980, it's just about 24 now.
Boston has gone from 29 in 1980 to 34 now.
New England has seen the worst effects of global warming in the country.
DC has warmed 0.81F per decade since 1980.
NYC has warmed 0.79F per decade since 1980.
Boston has warmed 1.08F per decade since 1980.
Burlington has warmed 1.28F per decade since 1980.
Where Burlington has gone from an average winter temp of 20 in 1980, it's just about 24 now.
Boston has gone from 29 in 1980 to 34 now.
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