What happened to Syracue winters? I’m sure we’ve all noticed the changes that have been happening all over the world due to global warming. Weather you believe it or not (see what I did there), the effects are there. Summers have been getting much warmer, natural disasters have been more severe with a higher frequency, lasting longer and traveling farther than ever before. This change in the global climate has had an impact on our local weather.

Looking at the past winter season, according to syracuseweather.com, the average snowfall should fall between 165-175 inches. Unfortunately, the past four years have been significantly lower, with the average snowfall barely reaching 75 inches. This season alone, the area was projected to get five feet of snow. You’ve probably noticed that we were nowhere close to that projection. 

I spoke with a local student, Rebecca Kassis; having lived in Syracuse her entire life, she has picked up the hobby of skiing. Usually, Kassis would without a doubt get a season pass to Mt Lavado, a local mountain in the Syracuse area, going to ski every Sunday. When asked about a shift in the winter weather, she eagerly stated that she’s “noticed it.” Kassis had also mentioned that it is no longer worth it for her to get a season pass, let alone a day pass. When going to ski, there isn’t enough snow, with Kassis stating that “one out of the three trails are open,” and that’s if you are lucky. 

This season, snowstorms have felt like a fluke or an anomaly, with the average temperature hovering around the 30-50 range; it has felt rare to even have snow. Looking back at the holiday season, we had a “green holiday.” There has been talk about “fake spring,” a term often being used to describe a period of days where the weather undoubtedly feels like spring, then we get back to the cold snowy weather if we are lucky. Thinking back to the beginning of February, the temperature was amazing and the sun was shining, then we got hit with a Valentine’s Day storm. 

So what happened to Syracuse weather? Pollution happened. These are the effects that climate change has on the world, and if things don’t change, we will be seeing even more drastic changes to our winters.