Defining frigid winter illuminates its loss across seasonally snow-covered areas of eastern North America

Abstract

Abstract Winter is often understudied in ecosystem sciences and viewed as a burden for human systems and infrastructure. However, the importance of winter in regulating ecological processes and shaping human communities has emerged as a topic of great interest, particularly in areas that experience seasonal snow cover. Traditional seasonal definitions may not fully represent below freezing winters and snow accumulation that have historically characterized these areas. Here we: (1) propose the concept of ‘frigid winter’ to address longstanding problems with traditional delineations of winter; and (2) define frigid winter as a period of sustained temperatures below freezing and snow accumulation that together regulate ecological processes and their services. We explore this definition and the changes occurring within it using 100 years of meteorological data from northeastern North America. Trend analysis demonstrates that frigid winters have shortened by ∼3 weeks over the last century, that cold, snowy conditions have become more intermittent, and that the choice of winter delineation (astronomical, meteorological, hibernal, or frigid) influences the apparent rate at which winter conditions disappear.