Winter 22/23 in review - a classic for the lower mainland?

[PortKells]

How do you guys feel about this past winter in retrospect? Many of us surpassed a metre of snow which is a rare feat these days. I believe we out did 16/17 in my backyard and that was a great one.

A quick recap shows that outside of January, we never had to wait long for a snow event.
- Early November teaser that hit western sections.
- November 29 snowfall. Widespread and treacherous, probably more infamous for that dreadful commute but what a start to winter for snow lovers. The subsequent week featured quite cold temperatures on several nights including -8 twice, and Imby 3 straight days below freezing thanks to the inversion and snow cover.
December 17-22. This was the big one. Starting with thunder on the morning of the 17th, western and northern sections got hammered with the arctic front. Then the models shifted north with that low last minute and we got absolutely clobbered. 35 cm here, I believe storm had more. And it was champagne as it gets. I will never forget that one as long as I live.
January 31. Ok, whatever we got a bit of snow, can’t complain.
February 26. An amazing snowfall for late February. But then suddenly February 28 dumps another 15 slab of concrete, and happily it was a daytime event. An A+ event to finish off the winter.

Another few things to note:

- It was a Vancouver centric winter that really washed away any memories of those 2021 or 2019 snubs that favoured Seattle.
-it was a back to back great winter, probably the best back to backs for over 30 years considering how epic December 2021 was.
- the down times were kind of pleasant, not a wash out like many other winters.
- we didn’t get a “long” event but really, la Nina’s are known for their progressive patterns and we got a lot of them.

I’ll leave you with a question: would you choose a guaranteed repeat of 2008/2009 or a repeat of the 2021-2023 back to back winters? Personally…I would lean to wards the latter.

Thoughts?

[VanCitySouth]

I’ll leave you with a question: would you choose a guaranteed repeat of 2008/2009 or a repeat of the 2021-2023 back to back winters? Personally…I would lean to wards the latter.

Thoughts?

I'd still take 2008/09. That's just too epic to pass up, especially because I watched most of it happen from abroad.
2021-2023 was a heck of a run but the 2008/09 season was almost by itself the sum of the other two.

[Abby_wx]

It definitely had most of the ingredients for an epic winter. The most notable thing missing was January.

November and December were both very solid months. January, on the other hand, was a complete torch save for the mini event right at the end. Most of February was pretty dull, but it managed to redeem itself in the final week.

At 87 cm of snowfall, I came up well short of 2008/09 and 2016/17. Snowfall events this winter tended to be more west-based than usual, with YVR recording nearly as much as some parts of the valley. We just caught the edge of a couple of events that smashed Metro Vancouver.

Other minor nitpicks... I never exceeded 30 cm snow depth at my place, and the heavy snowfalls seemed to melt pretty quickly, so there wasn't very many days with deep snowcover.

I'm torn between a B+ and an A-, so I'll have to resort to a numerical grade. I think 8.5 out of 10 sounds about right for my location.

A repeat of any event would be boring IMO, but I'd rather take a truly epic event (like 40 cm in a single storm) over what we saw this winter.

[Rubus_Leucodermis]

A+. Might be able to argue me down to giving it an A, but no less.

Wasn’t the best when it comes to one-day snowfalls or cold minima IMBY, but the general snowiness makes up for it. I think I almost got banned from the AF just for posting my snow total updates. The jealousy at times was almost palpable.

The winters of 2021/22 and 2022/23 will be looked on fondly by winter lovers for many years to come.

[PortKells]

It definitely had most of the ingredients for an epic winter. The most notable thing missing was January.

November and December were both very solid months. January, on the other hand, was a complete torch save for the mini event right at the end. Most of February was pretty dull, but it managed to redeem itself in the final week.

At 87 cm of snowfall, I came up well short of 2008/09 and 2016/17. Snowfall events this winter tended to be more west-based than usual, with YVR recording nearly as much as some parts of the valley. We just caught the edge of a couple of events that smashed Metro Vancouver.

Other minor nitpicks... I never exceeded 30 cm snow depth at my place, and the heavy snowfalls seemed to melt pretty quickly, so there wasn't very many days with deep snowcover.

I'm torn between a B+ and an A-, so I'll have to resort to a numerical grade. I think 8.5 out of 10 sounds about right for my location.

A repeat of any event would be boring IMO, but I'd rather take a truly epic event (like 40 cm in a single storm) over what we saw this winter.

It was not an Abby winter unfortunately. It really favoured western sections, especially December 17. I wish you guys could’ve got in on that.

[Typeing3]

How do you guys feel about this past winter in retrospect? Many of us surpassed a metre of snow which is a rare feat these days. I believe we out did 16/17 in my backyard and that was a great one.

A quick recap shows that outside of January, we never had to wait long for a snow event.
- Early November teaser that hit western sections.
- November 29 snowfall. Widespread and treacherous, probably more infamous for that dreadful commute but what a start to winter for snow lovers. The subsequent week featured quite cold temperatures on several nights including -8 twice, and Imby 3 straight days below freezing thanks to the inversion and snow cover.
December 17-22. This was the big one. Starting with thunder on the morning of the 17th, western and northern sections got hammered with the arctic front. Then the models shifted north with that low last minute and we got absolutely clobbered. 35 cm here, I believe storm had more. And it was champagne as it gets. I will never forget that one as long as I live.
January 31. Ok, whatever we got a bit of snow, can’t complain.
February 26. An amazing snowfall for late February. But then suddenly February 28 dumps another 15 slab of concrete, and happily it was a daytime event. An A+ event to finish off the winter.

Another few things to note:

- It was a Vancouver centric winter that really washed away any memories of those 2021 or 2019 snubs that favoured Seattle.
-it was a back to back great winter, probably the best back to backs for over 30 years considering how epic December 2021 was.
- the down times were kind of pleasant, not a wash out like many other winters.
- we didn’t get a “long” event but really, la Nina’s are known for their progressive patterns and we got a lot of them.

I’ll leave you with a question: would you choose a guaranteed repeat of 2008/2009 or a repeat of the 2021-2023 back to back winters? Personally…I would lean to wards the latter.

Thoughts?

Barring Richmond/South Delta/Downtown/North Shore, winter '16-17 was definitely snowier for most of the Lower Mainland.

I'd still prefer '08-09 to the past winter. Snow on the ground longevity is a very important factor for me personally. Even though we didn't see a classic cold snap in '16-17, that's what made the winter extra special -- persistently cool enough to mostly retain a snowpack for up to 3 months.

[Bonovox]

Hmmm, this is a tough one. I'll have to give it some more thought.

Initially though, I'd give it a B, maybe a B+ (elevated from a B- due to the late season snowfall) and I would take a 2008-09 over back to backs of this winter in a heartbeat. The grandiose of that winter just can't be beat in recent times.

Edit: Much like Typeing Man, I would also take 16-17' over this winter too.

[PortKells]

Hmmm, this is a tough one. I'll have to give it some more thought.

Initially though, I'd give it a B, maybe a B+ (elevated from a B- due to the late season snowfall) and I would take a 2008-09 over back to backs of this winter in a heartbeat. The grandiose of that winter just can't be beat in recent times.

Edit: Much like Typeing Man, I would also take 16-17' over this winter too.

I agree but 2016/17 was a great winter, bordering on incredible in some locations.

I’m surprised you’d call it a B but I respect it.

For me, having thunder snow was truly special too, even if only two claps. A rare event that might not happen for 10-20 years. That whole week was spectacular until the overrunning failed.

[Bonovox]

I agree but 2016/17 was a great winter, bordering on incredible in some locations.

I’m surprised you’d call it a B but I respect it.

For me, having thunder snow was truly special too, even if only two claps. A rare event that might not happen for 10-20 years. That whole week was spectacular until the overrunning failed.

I go back and forth between B and B+. The biggest thing lacking for me was the longevity of the snow cover, which is huge for me versus individual events.

[SouthSardiswx]

Hmmm, this is a tough one. I'll have to give it some more thought.

Initially though, I'd give it a B, maybe a B+ (elevated from a B- due to the late season snowfall) and I would take a 2008-09 over back to backs of this winter in a heartbeat. The grandiose of that winter just can't be beat in recent times.

Edit: Much like Typeing Man, I would also take 16-17' over this winter too.

Same here have to think about it having only spent 4 winters in the central valley so far. But 21/22 and 22/23 have been the best so far.

[SouthSardiswx]

Only thing that sucks the past 2 winters is a big ole * besides both January's. we were all ready to throw in the pineapple.

[Typeing3]

Only thing that sucks the past 2 winters is a big ole * besides both January's. we were all ready to throw in the pineapple.

January has been a throwaway winter month for the past 30 years...

[PortKells]

Only thing that sucks the past 2 winters is a big ole * besides both January's. we were all ready to throw in the pineapple.

Jan 2022 wasn’t exactly a throwaway IMO. We got a 15 cm snowfall with an ice storm and a few small ones afterwards.

[SouthSardiswx]

Jan 2022 wasn’t exactly a throwaway IMO. We got a 15 cm snowfall with an ice storm and a few small ones afterwards.

Correct Kells and end of January 2023 l guess l was thinking something like January 2020 right in the heart of January doesn't seem to exist much anymore.

[Glacier]

Winter was weird. 75.6 cm of snow including November (Penticton airport). 86% of that fell BEFORE January (just 10.8 cm in Jan-Mar)! Average snowfall in the year is 58.7 cm.