I'm just wondering if you think that winters are getting worse then what they use to be? For me, I think they are. For example, in December we (Newfoundland, Canada) has about 6 snow storms, 3 of which were major and we got almost 30 cm of snow. 1 of those storms also knocked out power for almost a week. 4 of those storms occured in only 6 days! We had storm after another after another. It was crazy. We had a storm last night and we are expecting another tomorrow and another on Wednesday and yet another on Friday. It is crazy.

I think the opposite... when I was little, we used to have plenty of snow in the beginning of December, but now it's almost January and there still isn't any snow, and it's been like this for the last 2-3 years.

I think they're getting more abnormal, not necessarily "worse". In Estonia (Northern Europe) the winters used to have steady periods of snow, but on the more recent years it fluctuates a lot between snow and mud/rain. As a result, I'd say most of the winter is extremely unpleasant, all wet and slushy.

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Originally posted by Vilkku
I think the opposite... when I was little, we used to have plenty of snow in the beginning of December, but now it's almost January and there still isn't any snow, and it's been like this for the last 2-3 years.

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well in February we had a few snow storms, school was out for like an entire 2 days , but so far we've had no snow, the dodgy weather forecasters said there would be snow, but there wasn't, maybe in February again,  we'll have some snow

Here in the Netherlands we had the warmest winter ever last year, this one is looking to be close to the record too.

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Originally posted by Vilkku
I think the opposite... when I was little, we used to have plenty of snow in the beginning of December, but now it's almost January and there still isn't any snow, and it's been like this for the last 2-3 years.

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It highly depends on the area you live in.

Moreover, people tend to forget bad stuff too. So a severe storm now may seem bad, but it may not be worse than the one last year.

Both these elements make that people experience change in the weather.

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Anyways, on a global scale, yes, the weather changes and gets more 'extreme'; hot summers get hotter (or milder depending on where you live) and cold winters get colder (or milder depending on where you live). And/or weather patterns shift to different areas; where it once never rained, you see big downpoors, or vice versa.

For example, it might be that Canada gets more severe winters in the last couple of years, but in Europe the winters are milder than ever.

I can remember from my childhood that we had massive amounts of snow (I still have pictures too) in December/Januari, it has been more than a decade since it snowed like that here and usually the winter doesn't get colder than cold autumns. Hell, temperatures of 20°C during the day in the winter aren't rare either. A bit of snow and cold in late Februari/March, or almost in spring, isn't an exception anymore.

The climate here at the Northsea has definatly changed for sure. It is turning into a French Rivièra so to speak. North-Euopeans stays more at home during the holidays then going to the warmer South-Europe regions because it gets warmer here.

No snow yet in England, like always. Maybe in January or February, but nothing much. Not getting worse here.

The problem I've seen in Scotland this winter is that it's been really mild (and when I say that, I've been going out wearing only a light fleece) and then suddenly we've been getting cold snaps(complete with ice). The change is being so sudden that no one quite what to do. Then of course you have the elderly who fall and break their hips etc etc etc.

Prediction is another sudden cold snap end January in to Feburary or end of Feburary into March

total snow fall this [winter] in moncton, new brunswick has hit over 100 cm, and its only the beginning of january, thats more snow then we've gotten all last year, and maybe the year before combined

We've had our own abnormal weather as well.

I'm down in North Central Texas, DFW area to be precise. This June, we've had more rain the the entire year of what we're suppose to get. Talk about a monsoon season for us when we rarely get that much rain at all during the summer. Some tend to be dry, but some are wet.. We've had a fairly bad drought for a while now and the rain is a welcome sight, just too much can do damage.

Our winter though, vary sometimes. Last year was really cold, while this year it's just mild. Although, we have had a couple cold snaps for this winter where it was a 80 degree F for a high, and suddenly, we get 50 F for a high the next day. That's how our weather can be...

For the area I live in, we have some very unstable weather, so we could have a bad year at any time. Not to toot my own horn though, but we haven't had any tornado reports either in my area. o.O At least, for the year of 2007. Couple times has scared me, but nothing official came up. Maybe 2008 will hold a surprise for me, so who knows....

(Yes, I study weather, so I can get some historical data on places on the web. Actually, anyone could do that, it's not hard to find. XD)

Australia doesn't get winters + its summer here all the time