Meteorological winter wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, and all the climatological data for December, January and February is now in. Those numbers point to a paradox: Winter was colder than average, but Connecticut still experienced a snow drought. The lack of snow could have significant implications as the state moves into spring and summer. It was a colder-than-average winter for most of the Northeast. Of the Northeast Regional Climate Center’s 35 major sites, 30 were colder than normal...

It has been a frigid February in Connecticut and across much of the country, but we should stop complaining. Chilly winter air, uncomfortable for some, has health benefits for those who brave it. “There are forces of nature where a body's metabolism has to rapidly increase to handle an acute physical situation,” said Neal K. Shah, CEO of Careyaya Health Technologies, a caregiving platform that serves thousands of older adults. One of these forces is cold. “When humans are exposed to cold,”...

Meteorologists use weather models to see when snow may be coming. Can some people actually use their noses to sniff out clues in the air that snow is on the way? Like making a forecast, finding an answer to that question is complicated. One thing that seems certain is that there is less snow to smell nowadays. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study found snow cover across North America decreased at a rate of just over 2,000 square miles per year between 1972 and 2023. A study done by...