This winter has been among the worst in years for many parts of the U.S., but a new weather index finds that it’s been especially bad for one city in particular.
On a relative basis, Detroit is experiencing the most extreme weather
of any city in the country, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. That
report was based on an index created by National Weather Service
meteorologist Barbara Mayes Boustead.
Boustead’s analysis, based on cold temperatures and snowfall, found
that Detroit is in the middle of its harshest winter since 1950. Detroit
has had 6.5 feet of snow so far this winter and 100 days of
below-freezing temperatures.
New York, Milwaukee and Duluth, Minn. also topped Boustead’s extreme
weather index—those cities are experience their fourth worst
winters—while Minneapolis-St. Paul, Louisville and Cheyenne, Wyo. are
experiencing winters that rank in their respective top 10 worst.
Much of Detroit’s extreme weather this winter can be attributed to
geography and bad luck, the index’s co-creator Steve Hilberg explained,
as a change in the jet stream has directed arctic winter air towards the
city.
