Across the Northeast, Midwest, and Plains, it has been one of the coldest and snowiest starts to the winter season on record.

“Winter has gotten off to a fast start across a majority of the United States, particularly across the Northeast. Early season snow plagued I-95 in mid-November, bringing New York City it’s earliest 6” snowfall on record. Record cold blanketed the region on Thanksgiving, partly causing a rapid spike in natural gas prices. Cold also likely played a role in retail performance over the holiday weekend. While most see a reprieve from cold over the next 7 days, another blast of arctic air is expected later in the first week of December across the eastern U.S., which may further complicate energy market movement going forward,” said Ed Vallee, head meteorologist at Vallee Weather Consulting.

Central New York, the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, and much of the Rust Belt have already reported one of the snowiest starts to November in decades.

According to the Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI) also known as the “Winter Misery Index” from the Midwest Regional Climate Center, 74 metro areas from New England to the Plains and Rockies have experienced cold and snow that generally would not occur until January.

AWSSI index computes the “intensity and persistence of cold weather, the frequency and amount of snow and the amount and persistence of snow on the ground (wind and mixed precipitation are not a part of the index),” the Midwest Regional Climate Center said.

The weather index uses five categories – mild, moderate, average, severe and extreme – to assess the severity of winter weather in a particular region.

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