<p>I'm very serious. I live in the desert southwest and was admitted to Penn ED in December. People kept telling me that the weather in Philadelphia is awful but students on this board told me that it wasn't so bad. I realize this winter has been abnormally snowy, but I'd like a first-hand description of what it's been like to be at Penn this year. Thanks.</p>
<p>snow day tomorrow!</p>
<p>WOOHOOO SNOW DAY! </p>
<p>I live in the wet, humid south, where 60 degrees is considered ridiculously cold. I personally love experiencing seasons again. If it’s cold, put a jacket on. If it’s really cold, put another layer on. If it’s raining, bring an umbrella. If it’s raining AND windy, good luck, but it’s really not all that bad. It makes things interesting.</p>
<p>I live in Philly and it’s HORRIBLE! I mean we are getting a couple of snow days so that’s nice but imagine all the snow lol</p>
<p>In response to this subject heading: Go to hell.</p>
<p>Seriously though this winter has been literally the snowiest in the history of the city of Philadelphia. After this storm we are going to break a 14 year old record (the winter of '96 was SO FUN… I had off from school for a week after the big blizzard!) for seasonal snowfall – more than 65" combined.</p>
<p>Never in history had Philadelphia gotten two snowfalls of more than a foot in one season, let alone two feet. The snowstorm in December was the second biggest in history, and the blizzard last weekend then overtook it and is now also the second biggest in history. </p>
<p>WITH THAT SAID</p>
<p>This winter has been anomaly. In the Mid-Atlantic snowiness in the winter is determined by the North Atlantic Oscillation, the NAO, which varies from year to year. In years when it is positive, high pressure dominates the North Atlantic, and its clockwise flow pulls Alberta Clippers (little storms that drop south from Alberta into the Mid-Atlantic) to the north, past Boston, and it either pulls coastal storms (Nor’easters) out to sea to the south of North Carolina, thus giving Philly little snow or pulls nor’easters to the north so that the warm sections of these storms hit Philly, giving a little bit of freezing precipitation before changing over to rain.</p>
<p>In years with a negative NAO, low pressure dominates the North Atlantic. Alberta Clippers will go straight through Baltimore/Philly/NYC and usually bring a quick 2-4 inches of snow in about six hours. Nor’easters are drawn off the coast of North Carolina, where the cold, northwestern, section of the storms tracks straight across the Megalopolis (but usually sparing Boston from it all).</p>
<p>The second factor is the El Nino effect. When the tropical Pacific is warmer than average, it changes weather patterns across North America, Africa and Western Europe, dropping the two major American jet streams to the south and making storms track across the desert Southwest. The warmer water creates a more active weather pattern in addition, which adds to the raininess across much of the US. Also, with the Arctic jet stream dropped to near the US/Canada border, storms that would typically track through mid-Canada actually track through Southern Canada and the northern US.</p>
<p>When all of these factors come together, it creates the perfect situation for coastal snowstorms affecting the Megalopolis. Northern storms track across the lower Midwest, often when southern storms track across Texas and through the Gulf of Mexico, where they absorb a TON of moisture from the very warm waters. After crossing over Florida they are pulled northward. The northern storm, which does not go much further north, interacts with the southern storm, and at the same time, as parts of the southern storm move off of the Carolinas, a new low pressure center develops, rapidly intensifying into a nor’easter. The original northern storm will affect western PA, WV, MD, NC, TN and the midwest but typically with accumulations between 3 and 6 inches.</p>
<p>The northern storm is actually a blessing for the major cities because its motion pushes the nor’easter north and east. </p>
<p>This winter, a strong El Nino has combined with a strongly negative NAO, and the storms have intensified abnormally quickly, bringing HUGE snow amounts to the major cities. </p>
<p>With all that said, the snowfall we got on Friday/Saturday in Philadelphia is roughly as much as we got the previous two years combined. An average winter brings around 20" of snow, and though it gets very cold in early January, the weather is usually pleasant. Fall weather can be very very nice, and the spring is beautiful!</p>
<p>sorry if that long meteorological thingy was inaccurate/boring.</p>
<p>Your response was anything but boring, chrisw. It was very informative and appreciated. Thank you.</p>
<p>I’m from Southern California, so we have similar weather experiences. I think Philadelphia has milder weather than all the other major cities in the Northeast, so therefore probably the mildest weather of all the Ivies as well. No doubt, your first year will be a shock, what with perpetual cold and all. Grayness did get me down my first year. I mean, it really is gray a lot of the time. Ironically, it seems sunnier during the winter than any other seasons (I don’t know about summer, I’ve never experienced it). My first year, the weather really did get to me. I wondered why I gave up warmth and blue skies for freezing cold and gray skies, for a place where the weather makes it a burden to go outside and do anything. Why do people put up with it? But now I don’t really mind the weather. Sure, cold sucks. But I’ve gotten to the point where 35 degrees is not bad at all. You just kind of change your mindset when you’re in a new environment. When I’m back home, 50 degrees fees FREEZING to me. Here, it’s t-shirt weather. You’ll get used to it. Just be thankful it’s not as cold as Boston, Ithaca, Hanover…or anywhere north of Philly, really.</p>
<p>TWO snow-days in a row!</p>