While the big weather story of late has been the Hoth-like cold and snow under which New England is buried, there's a much different scenario unfolding in the west: it's nice! Really nice. Almost too nice. Given that it seems the country's weather is split between Moscow and Boca, has it really been that bad of a winter? Not really.

Models are showing yet another multi-day winter storm in the Northeast this weekend. Accumulations could reach double-digits by Monday night, and that might not even be the worst thing to happen next week. We could see "Dennis Quaid hiking up I-95 to save Jake Gyllenhaal" levels of cold around Valentine's Day. Isn't winter fun?

This beast of a nor'easter looks incredible on infrared satellite imagery this evening, and the storm is only in its infancy. Conditions will rapidly deteriorate in locations that haven't gone down hill already. Locations caught under the deformation zone (heaviest persistent bands) will see two or more feet. Stay safe and enjoy.

After a short night of restless sleep, it appears that forecasters are still predicting the end of the world in the Northeast this evening. If you haven't panicked yet, you have several hours to do so before it's too late. Hug your children. Hoard booze. This is not a drill. Here's what you need to know to make it through the storm.

Rattling off snowfall amounts for various locations around your city is a staple of local news reports, and every so often you'll hear the reporter mention that the local airport saw a "trace" of snow. What exactly is a trace of snow, anyway?

Coming as welcome news to residents of western New York who were buried under nearly seven feet of snow last November, the surface of Lake Erie is now covered in enough ice to declare Buffalo's lake effect snow season effectively over for this winter. Hallelujah.

We've had different phrases to talk about specific types of winter storms long before the "polar vortex" became the media's go-to scapegoat for all things snowy and cold. The most well-known type of winter storm is a "nor'easter." Another big winter term is an "Alberta Clipper," and you're going to hear a lot about them this week.

Every winter, one of the coolest trends to circulate around the web is courtesy of unfortunate, bored souls stuck in the northern tundra with nothing better to do than throw cups of boiling water into the air. Once the water leaves the cup, it immediately turns into "snow." Let's take a look at how and why that happens.

After more than a week of warning, a frigid Arctic airmass is finally sweeping across the eastern half of the United States. Tonight and tomorrow, dangerously cold temperatures will encase the country from the Plains to the Atlantic and down to the Gulf of Mexico. This will probably—hopefully—be the coldest air we'll see this winter.

The coldest air of the winter is draining into the United States, and holy crap it's cold. Temperatures in much of the north are struggling to climb into the single digits today, while Boston and the NYC suburbs will flirt with lows near zero on Thursday morning. Here's what you need to know to survive the deep freeze.

Ho ho holy crap, there's going to be a "SantaBomb" next week, according to the hive mind on social media. The term is a nickname for a potentially large and disruptive storm that weather models are suggesting could affect much of the eastern United States and Canada just in time for Christmas next week.

If you're one of the tens of thousands of people who are trapped in one of the United States' many fine airports on this Thanksgiving Eve, you may find yourself wondering when the hell you're going to get out of here and on to your destination. Here's a quick forecast for your (eventual) departure.

The East Coast's first major snowstorm of the year is expected to start cranking tomorrow afternoon, dropping significant snow in the Northeast the busiest travel day of the year. Out of all of the major cities, New York City is poised to see the most, with up to six inches possible.

A travel nightmare will unfold this week as odds increase that a highly disruptive snowstorm will affect the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Wednesday. Travel through all major cities from Washington D.C. to Boston will be heavily affected by this impending snowfall.

Before it formed, forecasters were concerned that today's lake effect snow could form over the areas that saw five feet of snow earlier this week, dropping a total of 100 inches of snow by Friday. That's just from two storms! How many snowstorms would it take elsewhere in the country to reach 100 inches of snow?

The Buffalo Bills are offering local residents $10/hour plus game tickets if they swing by Ralph Wilson Stadium and help dig out the arena before the football game on Sunday. The Bills should pay people to dig out their trapped neighbors, not their football stadium.

More than five feet of snow is on the ground near Buffalo, New York, and a few more feet could fall by Thursday night. Some communities could see up to eight feet of snow by the time the storm is done. Governor Cuomo has called in the National Guard to dig out the buried region.

The above photo, taken from a plane above Buffalo yesterday by photographer Jeff Suhr, shows the brutal lake effect snow storm in effect over Western New York right now. Some areas are expecting up to six feet of snow by the end of the week. These snowstorms are among the most intense in the world, and the processes that create them are pretty spectacular.

People keep calling these early-season snows "unprecedented" when they're really not. What is the earliest it's ever snowed, and when does it usually start snowing? Let's take a look at some data from major cities around the country to settle the question.