Abstract
A dataset of all significant winter-type weather events reported in Storm Data within the contiguous United States from 1982 through 1994 has been compiled. Statistical analysis of this dataset is used to determine climatological frequencies of winter weather, including seasonal fluctuations, relative frequencies of different hazards (e.g., heavy snow vs freezing precipitation), duration variations, and size (areal coverage) distributions. Findings are intended to assist in development of operational forecasting issues such as staffing requirements, forecast formats and lead times, and local and regional winter weather preparedness activities. In particular, the database is intended to assist in these issues as they apply to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), which will begin operational short-term forecasting of hazardous winter weather in fall 1997. From the 13-yr database of 1663 events and 2075 event days, significant winter weather is shown to occur somewhere within the contiguous United Sta... Abstract A dataset of all significant winter-type weather events reported in Storm Data within the contiguous United States from 1982 through 1994 has been compiled. Statistical analysis of this dataset is used to determine climatological frequencies of winter weather, including seasonal fluctuations, relative frequencies of different hazards (e.g., heavy snow vs freezing precipitation), duration variations, and size (areal coverage) distributions. Findings are intended to assist in development of operational forecasting issues such as staffing requirements, forecast formats and lead times, and local and regional winter weather preparedness activities. In particular, the database is intended to assist in these issues as they apply to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), which will begin operational short-term forecasting of hazardous winter weather in fall 1997. From the 13-yr database of 1663 events and 2075 event days, significant winter weather is shown to occur somewhere within the contiguous United Sta...