This winter has been among the worst in years for many parts of the U.S., but a new weather index finds that it’s been especially bad for one city in particular.
On a relative basis, Detroit is experiencing the most extreme weather of any city in the country, the Associated Press reported Tuesday. That report was based on an index created by National Weather Service meteorologist Barbara Mayes Boustead.
Boustead's analysis, based on cold temperatures and snowfall, found that Detroit is in the middle of its harshest winter since 1950. Detroit has had 6.5 feet of snow so far this winter and 100 days of below-freezing temperatures.
New York, Milwaukee and Duluth, Minn. also topped Boustead’s extreme weather index—those cities are experience their fourth worst winters—while Minneapolis-St. Paul, Louisville and Cheyenne, Wyo. are experiencing winters that rank in their respective top 10 worst.
Much of Detroit’s extreme weather this winter can be attributed to geography and bad luck, the index’s co-creater Steve Hilberg explained, as a change in the jet stream has directed arctic winter air towards the city.