There’s no chance people can’t attribute at least a tiny percent of the weather this past winter to climate change. It’s a very unusual winter across the country and it has been slowly building over the years as we continue to increase the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. New England’s massive snowstorm, Oregon’s unusually dry and sunny months. Climate change has to be some sort of answer somewhere along the line.

When the groundhog sees his shadow, it’s six more weeks of winter. New England is going on it’s fifth straight week of snow and rain storms. Yes, they are calming down, but the snow is still pilled up, accumulating an astonishing 60.7 inches over the five weeks in Boston, Massachusetts. Snowstorms Juno and Marcus rank 6 and 7 respectively in Boston’s top 10 snowstorms of all-time. And it is still going.

Snowstorm Juno, hit Boston between January 26 through January 28, 2015. One weekend, three feet of snow. I’m not from Boston, but to me, that seems like a large amount of snow over the weekend for a town that’s elevation is a little over 100 feet higher than sea level. Three feet sounds reasonable for the top of a mountain, not a sea-level city. Additionally, Juno brought more than just snow, with winds as high as 70mph, high waves, and flooding in towns closer to the ocean. The type of disaster brought on by these snowstorms sounds a bit familiar to the super storm Tammy that Nathanial Rich writes about in Odds Against Tomorrow. Snow storm Marcus arrived in the beginning of February, bringing with it another three feet of snow, and a tie to record high snow falls in parts of New England. I’m not sure about you, but that doesn’t sound like a typical winter to me.

These massive snowstorms traveled as far east as Michigan, which is near the center of the United States. That fact alone puts into perspective how massive these storms must have been in order to maintain their strength that far into the United States. There has to be more at work than just nature that helped propel the storm to mid-USA.

On the west coast, the weather is looking completely opposite, with blue skies and sunny afternoons. Temperatures have gotten to the mid-sixties in Oregon, which is extreme for a spring day, and unheard of in the middle of February. Additionally, the only “winter downpour” I’ve seen this year was that of a few weeks ago where one step outside was like pushed into a pool fully clothed. There have been about 4.5 inches of rain in February this year, which is far below what rainy Oregon is used to. I’ve hardly touched my rainboots and raincoat this year. But what interests me the most is the stark difference between the winter this year and the winter last year, where there were two snowstorms within a few weeks, and the temperatures dropped to below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

The huge difference between the weather on the East Coast and the West Coast this year is alarming. Additionally, the difference between Eugene’s winter of 2014 and Eugene’s winter of 2015 is unreal. Climate change has to be the results of these, at some level. There’s no denying it, and that is a bit nerve-wracking.