Not snow fast: National Weather Service says the end of February doesn't mean winter is over
NEW YORK -- This time of year, the weather can be especially difficult to forecast.
Spring is just around the corner, but don't let the calendar fool you -- we've seen snow as late as May.
So far this year, parts of the Tri-State Area have seen as much as 35 inches of snow or more.
Did you know the people who keep track of all the numbers are just up the road at the National Weather Service on Long Island?
CBS2's Elise Finch stopped by to get a look ahead at what winter still has in store for us.
A lot of people think when February ends, so does winter, but that simply is not the case.
Even with our storm at the end of January, our snow totals are still slightly below seasonal norms for the year, at least so far, but a few of the biggest snowstorms ever recorded in the Tri-State Area happened in March.
"One of the biggest blizzards on record ... March of 1888. We had over 200 people, fatalities in New York City alone. Paralyzed the East Coast and one of the most severe winter storms to ever affect the Tri-State Area," NWS warning coordination meteorologist Nelson Vaz said.
He says recent storms prove that March remains an active month.
"In 2018, we actually had four nor'easters ... For some parts of the area, that was a record," he said.
Sleet and freezing rain are also big winter weather threats that can persist well into early spring.
Snow is the form of precipitation you get when the air is sufficiently cold from a cloud all the way down to the ground, but sleet is formed if there's a layer of warm air that melts the snow as it's falling. Then it encounters another substantial layer of cold air before hitting the ground, and that melted snow refreezes into little ice pellets.
Freezing rain starts out the same way, as snow, but in this case, after it passes warmer air and melts, it remains liquid until reaching the ground where it re-freezes and turns into an icy glaze. That can happen on roads, vehicles, trees and power lines.
Even though it may not look dangerous, a light glaze can cause mayhem on the roads. We recently saw hundreds of crashes in Westchester and Bergen counties.
"It can be a challenge to forecast ... l because it could just be a difference in temperature by a degree or two can be the difference between seeing snow versus sleet and freezing rain," Vaz said.
When storms are likely to produce dangerous amounts of snow, sleet or freezing rain, the National Weather Service will issue weather alerts.
"Our mission at the National Weather Service is protection of life and property through our watches, warnings, advisories," Vaz said.
The CBS2 weather team will take that information and draw your attention to potentially dangerous winter conditions with a First Alert Weather day.