Winter: A nation divided
While the East shoveled and shivered, the West basked -- and dried out.
Not only the Philadelphia region but the rest of the eastern half of the United States had quite the wintry January.
In the Southeast region, this was the eighth-coldest January in the 120-year period of record, according to the National Climate Data Center.
For the Northeast, it was No. 25; locally, it was the 11th coldest January in southeastern Pennsylvania, and No. 22 in South Jersey.
Generally, weather in the East was dominated by upper-air troughs, areas of lower pressure, which favor cold and storminess.
Mirror-opposite high pressure dominated the West.
So while the Southeast was having one of its coldest, the Southwest was having its third-warmest; the Northwest, its 19th warmest.
California was stunningly dry, with about two-thirds of the state in severe or extreme drought by month's end.
Los Angeles had no measureable rainfall last month.
Would that we could send those folks some of our snowmelt.