«This has nothing to do with ideology, nothing to do with personalities, nothing to do with anything other than the fact that we're constantly looking for clients, and they're only
active part of the
year,» Cunningham told me
during a brief phone interview last week.
For the entire Northern Hemisphere, there is evidence
of an increase in both storm frequency and intensity
during the cold season since 1950,1 with storm tracks having shifted slightly towards the poles.2, 3 Extremely heavy snowstorms increased in number
during the last century in northern and eastern
parts of the United States, but have been less frequent since 2000.11,15 Total seasonal snowfall has generally decreased in southern and some western areas, 16 increased in the northern Great Plains and Great Lakes region, 16,17 and not changed in other areas, such as the Sierra Nevada, although snow is melting earlier in the
year and more precipitation is falling as rain versus snow.18 Very snowy winters have generally been decreasing in frequency in most regions over the last 10 to 20
years, although the Northeast has been seeing a normal number
of such winters.19 Heavier - than - normal snowfalls recently observed in the Midwest and Northeast U.S. in some
years, with little snow in other
years, are consistent with indications
of increased blocking (a large scale pressure pattern with little or no movement)
of the wintertime circulation
of the Northern Hemisphere.5 However, conclusions about trends in blocking have been found to depend on the method
of analysis, 6 so the assessment and attribution
of trends in blocking remains an
active research area.