Got up for a restroom visit and couldn’t resist looking. Steady light snow here on the north side if KC. Everything coated A balmy 2 degrees and -13 wind chill
Yeah, with the exception of the brief interlude with a IPWP/WPAC dominant low frequency state (2012/13 - 2015/16) and the aberration of 2009/10, the last 20 years have largely favored the west. The stretch from 2016/17 - 2022/23 was especially one-sided.
It can be attributed to interdecadal variability in the tropics and the associated low frequency axisymmetric general circulation regimes. Nothing unprecedented or concerning about it, really, other than the fact it can suck if you’re on the losing end of a persistent low frequency state, as we were for a long time until the 2024 Niño.
If there’s good news for the West, it’s that the closest analogs to the new low frequency regime we’re entering tended to have less extreme summers, although I’m not confident that will be the case this time. But I’ll wager that the extremes in seasonality observed during the early 2020s are comparatively dampened through the late 2020s.
The eye test looks like around 1" accumulation so far and a light to moderate snow falling. First measurable snow since Dec 1. Hopefully, I didn't wake anybody up with this 3AM update...