Despite a warm December and some March days that have felt like May, this winter has brought below average temperatures and above average snowfall.
Detection equipment at the Williamsburg Jamestown Airport has registered 10.5 inches of snow so far this winter, more than twice the 4.6-inch average registered from 1981 to 2010. Other than the 2009-2010 winter, which brought 18.5 inches of snow to the area, the last double-digit season came in 1995-96 when 22 inches fell.
“It’s definitely above average,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Dan Proch said of the snowfall levels, “but I wouldn’t say it’s extremely rare.”
Proch said the 18 to 20 inch range is when a winter goes from above average to memorable. He said there is a possibility of a late season storm before the season ends, which could add to the total.
A cold January drove down average temperatures across the area, with a low point coming on the night of Jan. 28 and morning of Jan. 29, when a low temperature of 5 degrees was recorded at the airport. There has not been a temperature that low recorded in the Historic Triangle since Jan. 28, 2000, Proch said.
The maximum high temperature so far this winter is 45.8 degrees — 1.6 degrees cooler than average — while the average minimum is 23.1 degrees, 6.5 degrees lower than average.
“There were a lot of cool, clear nights in January,” Proch said. “We were able to pull in a lot of cold air.”
He said the cool air did not stick around for more than a few days at a time but there were enough bursts of cool air to drag down average temperatures.
The winter weather has been problematic for local schools. Four winter storms have caused school to be canceled, with two in January, one in February and one in March.
Students attending Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools and the York County School Division have missed seven days of classroom time so far this season, a mark higher than in recent years for either school system.
A YCSD spokesperson said in the four winters before this one, two resulted in missed time due to weather. In both the 2011-12 school year and 2009-10 school year, students missed three days each due to wintry weather. No school days were missed in 2012-13 or 2010-11 due to winter weather.
A WJCC spokesperson said the central office has not kept records pertaining to missed school days due to weather in recent years, though she noted this winter caused more missed days than winters in “recent memory.”
Virginia law requires 990 hours of instructional time and a minimum of 180 school days for students. The first five days that cut into the 180 days must be made up entirely. Days six through 10 of missed time requires one of every two missed days to be made up.
The school systems have responded to the seven missed days — which have primarily affected elementary school students due to their shorter school days — by converting half days to full days, scheduling school on holidays and in the case of WJCC, shortening recess and adding time to the end of the school day.
All YCSD students attended school on Presidents Day to makeup for the lost time. They will also attend school April 21, the day after Easter Sunday. Scheduled half days on April 4 and May 9 will also be full days of school, as was a scheduled half day Feb. 28. Scheduled half days June 10, 11 and 12 will be full days of school for elementary and middle school students.
In WJCC schools, recess for elementary school students has been shortened to 15 minutes while the school day has been lengthened by five minutes. All students will attend school April 21, which had been scheduled as a day off. A scheduled half day June 12 will also be a full day of school, as was a scheduled half day Wednesday.
The shift to a shorter recess has drawn criticism from some parents, prompting the start of a petition to restore a full recess.