State College, Pa. — 9 October 2009 — AccuWeather.com meteorologists have discovered an interesting weather correlation in light of the recent announcement by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The committee announced Friday that President Barack Obama is the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, making him the the third sitting president and fourth overall to win the award.
Interestingly enough, severe winter weather followed each of the previous three presidents’ awards, which raises questions if this year will follow the same pattern.
Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906 during his tenure as president. The winter of 1906-07 saw a severe February 4-6 nor’easter that produced up to 10 inches of snow from Washington to Boston, according to Paul Kocin and Louis Uccellini, authors of “Northeast Snowstorms.”
Woodrow Wilson won the award in 1919 while in office, and following winter saw several severe storms. A late January storm dumped ice, sleet and snow across the Northeast.
This storm was immediately followed with a slow-moving February 4-7 storm that left heavy amounts of snowfall from Maine to northern Virginia. According to Kocin and Uccellini, this February storm brought what at the time was considered “some of the harshest winter conditions ever experienced.”
More recently, Jimmy Carter received the award in 2002. The North American blizzard of 2003, which lasted from Feb. 14-19, dumped between 15-30 inches of snow in the major Northeast cities. Boston had a total of 27.6 inches, 23.6 inches on February 17 alone.
AccuWeather.com will release the winter forecast on Wednesday, but preliminary reports predict a cold and snowy winter for the Northeast
Story by AccuWeather.com writer Gina Cherundolo