UW meteorologist proves our winter weather has lacked excitement
Feb 18, 2013, 8:22 AM | Updated: 8:59 am
Our lack of wind storms mean the power has stayed on. (Photo courtesy Puget Sound Energy)
(Photo courtesy Puget Sound Energy)
If you long for snow storms, winter weather warnings, flood advisories, knock-out strength wind, you’ve been out of luck this winter.
In fact, University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass says it’s been so boring that he’s built an index to prove just how boring it is.
It’s called the Seattle Weather Excitement Index, or SWEI (pronounced “swee.”)
It was calculated between Nov. 15 and Feb. 15, or what Mass calls the “core” of the Seattle winter. Four parts were taken into account: The number of days the temperature exceeded 60 degrees or drops below 25 degrees; the number of days with two inches or more of precipitation; the number of days with sustained winds of 30 kt or more; and the number of months with more than an inch of snowfall.
After crunching the numbers, Mass and data analyst Neal Johnson scientifically determined that this winter tied to be the most boring winter on record along with the winter of 1963-64.
It all means kids are lamenting a lack of school closures, and fewer icy roads mean adults can’t blame a late arrival at work on a weather-plagued commute.
But is that so bad? With a lack of weather excitement means a lack of weather problems – like ice and wind that knocks out power for hours and sometimes days.
And while we might not have snow in the Seattle area, we certainly don’t have to go far to find it.
While your excitement level might not be rising according to Mass’ index, you’re stress level has probably stayed pretty low.
