WEather Winter Patterns: Where did the Snow Go?

By Matthew Rinaldi, 2028

Published 1/29/2025

Have you noticed that we haven’t been waking up to several inches of snow throughout the winter as often as we used to? Well, the reason for this decline is no coincidence. Although there are many aspects of this decline, such as winter droughts, the overarching cause of the snowfall decline is warmer temperatures due to climate change. Climate change doesn’t seem to considerably affect all of us too much right now; however, if we keep ignoring the indicators, we may know a world with no snow in the near future. Guess what, though? You can help make a change!

Some people may argue that we experience less snowfall in the winter due to decreased overall precipitation, which may be true in some cases. Nonetheless, the clear, consistent trend of snowfall declining suggests otherwise. For example, if we only experienced one year of extremely low snowfall, it could be an indicator that that specific winter just happened to be a precipitation “drought”; however, snowfall amounts are declining more and more every year. The winter of 2023 in Connecticut was one of the warmest and wettest we’ve ever experienced to date. This is no drought that we are experiencing. This is likely a much more serious issue: climate change.

Overall, the reason for snowfall decline is due to global climate change, leading precipitation to fall in the form of rain instead of snow. Snowfall is important in many aspects, as several people rely on snowmelt for drinking water, and many crops also rely on snowmelt to survive in the winter. So, the decline in snowfall doesn’t just mean the loss of fun winter joy; it also poses a serious threat to water supply and survivability of reliable crops. Furthermore, winter rainfall can also lead to a number of other problems, including severe storms and fish spawning decline. 

Do you like skiing, snowboarding, or ice skating? Well, you can kiss that goodbye soon, too, if we don’t make an effort to help the Earth. You may feel powerless in saving the planet, but if we all work together, maybe snow can stay for a little bit longer. Protecting snowfall requires all of us to make an effort towards helping climate change and understanding where we are falling short. Some ways you can help is by limiting usage of lights, electronics, gas-powered transportation, or anything that requires nonrenewable energy usage. You can also help by ending littering habits and even picking up trash you find on the ground— don’t worry, you can wash your hands right after or pick it up with your sleeve. To account for decreasing water supply due to less rainfall, you can also make an effort to take shorter, more efficient showers and eliminate idle water usage. 

It may be easy to watch our beloved snow slip away over the years and blame it on something that we can’t control, but the truth hurts. The truth is that we have the power to fix a problem that we did not create, and it is our burden to carry if we don’t do anything about it. So, maybe once you get home from school today, consider picking up some trash on the way or shutting down your phone for just a few hours. Although it may seem useless if we don’t all put in the effort, every effort counts. With every effort, maybe we can see the wonderful blanket of white on a cold winter morning a bit more often.