The 2018–19 North American winter was unusually cold within the Northern United States, with frigid temperatures being recorded within the middle of the season. Several notable events occurred, such as a rare snow in the Southeast in December, a strong cold wave and several major winter storms in the Midwest, and upper Northeast and much of Canada in late January and early February, record snowstorms in the Southwest in late February, deadly tornado outbreaks in the Southeast and a historic mid-April blizzard in the Midwest, but the most notable event of the winter was a record-breaking bomb cyclone that affected much of the Central United States and Canada in mid-March. Unlike previous winters, a developing weak El Niño was expected to influence weather patterns across North America. Overall, however, winter of 2018–19 had many La Niña like conditions, being mild along the mid- and lower parts of the East Coast, the West Coast, and most of the southern Plains. Overall, the meteorological winter of 2018-19 became the wettest on record for the United States.Wettest winter on record for the contiguous United States, National Centers for Environmental Information
While there is no well-agreed-upon date used to indicate the start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, there are two definitions of winter which may be used. Based on the astronomical definition, winter begins at the winter solstice, which in 2018 occurred on December 21, and ends at the March equinox, which in 2019 occurred on March 20. Based on the meteorological definition, the first day of winter is December 1 and the last day February 28. Both definitions involve a period of approximately three months, with some variability. Winter is often defined by meteorologists to be the three calendar months with the lowest average temperatures. Since both definitions span the calendar year, it is possible to have a winter storm in two different years. __TOC__
Seasonal forecasts
On October 18, 2018, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center released its U.S. Winter Outlook. The outlook noted a 70 to 75% chance of El Niño developing. CPC Deputy Director Mike Halpert specified that development was expected to occur by late fall to early winter. He added that while the El Niño was expected to be weak, it still had the potential to bring drier conditions to the northern United States and wetter conditions to the southern U.S. The outlook also noted the potential for the Arctic oscillation to bring colder-than-average conditions to the eastern U.S. and the possibility of the Madden–Julian oscillation contributing to heavy-precipitation events along the West Coast. The temperature outlook favored warmer-than-normal conditions across the northern and western U.S. with the highest probabilities from the Pacific Northwest to the northern Plains and in Alaska. Such conditions were also favored in Hawaii. The outlook also noted that the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys, the Mid-Atlantic region, and the U.S. Southeast had equal chances of either above-, below-, or near-average temperatures. The outlook did not delineate any areas likely to experience below-average conditions. The precipitation outlook noted an elevated probability of wetter-than-average conditions across the southern tier of the United States and along the eastern U.S. up to the Mid-Atlantic. Drier conditions were favored in parts of the northern Rockies and northern Plains, northern Ohio Valley, and Great Lakes regions. The drought outlook mentioned a high likelihood for drought conditions to persist across parts of the southwestern U.S., southern California, the central Great Basin, the central Rockies, the northern Plains, and parts of the interior Pacific Northwest. Drought conditions were favored to improve in the central Plains, the coastal Pacific Northwest, southern portions of Colorado and Utah, and in various areas in both Arizona and New Mexico.
Seasonal summary
The 2018–19 winter season opened in mid-November, with a winter storm across the United States causing 11 deaths,Winter Storm Avery Causes Chaotic Commutes, Strands Students at School Overnight, Kills 11 on Slick Roads, The Weather Channel, February 13, 2019 one of the worst traffic jams in New York City,COMMUTE FROM HELL: Snowstorm Cripples NYC Area With 10-Hour Traffic Nightmare, Huffington Post, November 16, 2018 and 555 car crashes in New Jersey.555 crashes, impassable roads turn evening rush into snowlocked mush as season's first storm smacks N.J., Nj.com, November 15, 2018 A few weeks later, another blizzard killed 4 more people. After that, another winter storm caused 3 more deaths in North Carolina. From January 16 to 19, a winter storm crosses the United States, killing ten. Then, from January 24 into February, a cold wave brought record low temperatures to the United States. Illinois set a statewide record low temperature. Twenty-two people die as a result of the cold. Then, in mid-March, another cross country storm came to the United States, which killed a man in Colorado, left 140,000 without power in Texas, and contributed to the 2019 Midwestern U.S. floods, which caused two deaths in Nebraska and one in Iowa. Another blizzard struck the United States in April 2019. In October 2019, record cold and near-record cold come down over the Pacific Northwest and Northern Plains. In particular, with a mean statewide temperature of , Idaho realized its coldest October on record.
Events Mid-November winter storm
An early season winter storm developed in a deep dive of the jet stream into the mid-south on November 13. In Monroe, Louisiana of snow accumulated on the morning of November 14, breaking the record for the earliest snowfall by 10 days. In Mississippi light snow was reported in Greenville, sleet in Tupelo and Memphis, Tennessee picked up of snow. Meanwhile, in Ohio, ice accumulations of one-quarter to one-third of an inch were reported in Cincinnati and Dayton metros as well as parts of Northern and Central Kentucky. A general of snow fell in the St. Louis metro with isolated reports of . On November 15, as the storm headed northeastward, an unexpected 6.4 inches (~16.2 cm) of snow fell in Central Park, which became their earliest six inch snowfall on record, as well as their second largest November winter storm on record,Looking Back At The November 2018 Snowstorm In The Northeast, Weather Works, November 9, 2021 which caught many off guard and resulting in several hour-long commutes that night. This was considered by some as one of New York City's worst commutes, as some were over ten hours, and New Jersey reported 555 car crashes.555 crashes, impassable roads turn evening rush into snowlocked mush as season's first storm smacks N.J., Nj.com, November 15, 2018COMMUTE FROM HELL: Snowstorm Cripples NYC Area With 10-Hour Traffic Nightmare, Huffington Post, November 16, 2018 Further north, the Toronto area received of snow, leading to significant delays. In New Jersey, a person died due to the storm in a traffic related incident. Two others died, and 44 were injured, when a bus was overturned in Mississippi.Victims identified after Tunica-bound tour bus overturns on slick Mississippi highway, Action 5 News, November 15, 2018 Eight others died, including three in Arkansas, two in Michigan, and one each in Maryland, Ohio and Indiana.Winter Storm Avery Causes Chaotic Commutes, Strands Students at School Overnight, Kills 11 on Slick Roads, The Weather Channel, February 13, 2019 In addition, around 190,000 customers lost power as the storm moved through,"Definitely not ready for this weather": Early winter storm slams Northeast with snow, CBS News, November 15, 2018 with 1,615 flights being cancelled as well.Snow! Airlines cancel flights, waive change fees for winter storm, USA Today, November 16, 2018 The melted snow from this storm made 2018 the wettest year on record in Baltimore.Rainfall breaks record, making 2018 wettest year in Baltimore, WBALTV, November 16, 2018 The colder air that helped make the snow more intense then originally forecasted also led to daily record lows in Massena, New York, Montpelier, Vermont, Caribou, Maine and Bangor, Maine.Why Winter Storm Avery Produced More Snow Than Expected In the New York City Area, The Weather Channel, November 16, 2018
Late November blizzard
A winter storm formed over the Pacific Northwest on November 23 and tracked into the interior Northeast by November 27. Snow caused a 20 vehicle pile-up in Colorado on Interstate 70, and Interstate 80 in Southeastern Wyoming had to be shut down due to heavy snow and strong winds. The storm snarled traffic in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and parts of Illinois as blizzard conditions were reported in Salina, Kansas towards Independence, Missouri and northwards into Iowa and Illinois. Conditions were so bad that stranded drivers had to be rescued by snowmobile. Nationwide, nearly 3,000 flights were cancelled and 4 have died. of snow fell in Kansas City and were reported at O'Hare. In the Quad Cities and Rockford, Illinois, this snowstorm, plus one earlier in the month, made this the snowiest November on record.Record-breaking blizzard makes November 2018 snowiest on record, SaukValleyWeather.com, November 27, 2018 Additionally, as the storm pushed into Upstate New York and Northern New England, over a foot of snow were recorded in some locations.
Early December snowstorm
A significant winter storm brought snow and ice from Southern plains to the Southeast. Early on December 8, of snow fell in Lubbock, Texas. Snow fell as south and east as Abilene, Texas. This storm caused thousands of people to lose power and 60 car crashes were reported across the Lubbock area. This was the third time Lubbock has had a double digit snowfall. Only 4 inches were predicted across Lubbock; the residents were shocked to wake up to almost a foot of snow. The storm moved east from Texas and Oklahoma to the Carolinas and Virginia. The storm caused icing across Tennessee and Arkansas as well as some snowfall. Late on December 9, of snow or more had fallen in parts of North Carolina and Virginia; both states had declared states of emergency. 240,000 Duke Energy customers had lost power in North Carolina, along with 170,000 more in South Carolina. Appalachian Power had 20,000 without power in Virginia. Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee also had power outages. Charlotte Douglas International Airport had over 1,000 cancellations. Near Winston-Salem, over 16 inches of snow fell, and part of Greensboro, North Carolina received nearly a foot. Three people died in North Carolina. Busick, North Carolina received 34 inches of snow.
Mid-January winter storm
A state of emergency was declared in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as a large winter storm made its way to the Northeastern United States. Three people had already been killed in the Midwest.Reports: Snowstorm ramps up in Northeast after turning deadly in Midwest AccuWeather, January 19, 2019Winter Storm Harper: Travel Bans, Flights Canceled; Plane Slides Off O'Hare Runway The Weather Channel, January 19, 2019 By January 21, over 4,800 flights had been cancelled and 3,000 delayed. Interstate 55 in Missouri was blocked when snow caused 15 vehicles to crash. Snow totals in New York included 10-15 inches in the Albany area, 18-20 inches in the Adirondacks, and a foot of snow in Buffalo. Connecticut had nearly 28,000 lose power, as well as 3,000 in Ohio. In Southern Ontario, parts of Hamilton received over due to lake-effect snow coming off of Lake Ontario. The Toronto area received around , with in Montreal.
Late January–early February cold wave