The snowy 70s and nordic skiing

I came of age in Montreal in the 70s. It was a snowy time, and, not coincidentally, Cross Country (Nordic) skiing was relatively popular. There were cross country resorts as far south as mid-Pennsylvania.

Then came the 80s. The snows went away, the resorts closed, and cross country skiing declined. When global warming became obvious in the late 90s I figured that was the end of my favorite sport.

Now some are wondering if the 70s are back ...

Snow storm snarls Midwest: Is US facing another extreme winter? - CSMonitor.com

.... Scientists at the University of Wisconsin in Madison are among those trying to understand the mysterious interplay between Pacific and North Atlantic weather phenomena that threaten to dunk the Eastern US into a second year in a row of 1970s-style blizzards and cold snaps...

... Scientists speculate that heat released from storms racing up the US East Coast toward the Labrador Sea may be feeding the so-called North Atlantic Oscillation – nicknamed "The Greenland Block" – in ways that are not yet understood. The region of high pressure over Greenland has pushed huge troughs of Canadian air into the US, causing the fifth biggest snow storm on record in Minneapolis over the weekend and now threatening Orlando, Fla., with 20 degree F temperatures.

The atmospheric upset has had the opposite effect on parts of the West, where cities like Long Beach, Calif., and Phoenix saw record high temperatures Monday...

So now I know why my childhood was snowy. It's news to me. I found a bit more about it in this Feb 2011 article inspired by DC snow ...

The North Atlantic Oscillation, a mid-oceanic pressure system, has some distinct internal variability, but generally it alternates between roughly 25-year-periods of warm, then cold, temperatures. During the previous cold phase, which lasted from about 1960 to 1985, there were major winter storms in the Washington, D.C., area every couple of years — big snow storms hampered John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961 and a week of sub-zero temperatures chilled many people attending Ronald Reagan's second inauguration. Like the current storm, these storms dumped lots of snow: A 1979 storm dropped 18.7 inches and a 1983 storm dropped 16.6 inches. The storm that struck the capital region in December 2009 also dumped 16.6 inches of snow in D.C.

Those biggies of the past were usually also associated with El Niño, like this year. The North Atlantic Oscillation brings colder weather; the El Niño, which arises out of an unusually warm equatorial Pacific Ocean and occurs roughly every two to seven years, brings moisture to the Mid-Atlantic...

From my selfish point of view, snowy winters are excellent. Even with global warming Minnesota is cold enough for winter snow -- we're just too dry. These past two years we've gotten the moisture we need.

Maybe cross country skiing will make a bit of a comeback, even if the long term outlook is a bit bleak.