Winter '09 / '10 - Early October Snowcover

Judah Cohen...director of seasonal forecasting:

"Scant early snowfall in Siberia indicates Arctic wind patterns may reduce cold air flows into the Northeast U.S. this winter, contradicting forecasts that a weak El Niño will cause the coldest season in a decade, a climate scientist said.

“Our forecast for this winter is pretty warm,” Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts, said yesterday at a conference in New York. “Siberian snow cover has been running well below normal."

"Cohen said a rapid buildup of snow in Siberia this month could alter his forecast that so-called Arctic oscillation patterns will create a warm Northeast.

"“In a week’s time, Siberia can get enough snow to cover the entire U.S.,” he said."

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October 2 1997 - 2009



End of October 1997 - 2009

Appears 2008 Eurasian snowcover was fairly low compared to the other images....and last winter was notable for a good portion of the forecast area.