Winter Misery Index: How Miserable Has Your City Been This Winter?

If this winter has you feeling miserable, your feelings are not only valid, they are backed by science. The Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI), also known as the “misery index,” is issued by the Midwestern Region Climate Center and shows places especially across the South and Ohio Valley are experiencing a severe or extreme winter season.

If you look at the national misery index, the country might seem flip-flopped by what you would imagine. The northern tier of the country is experiencing only “mild” misery while much of the South and Ohio Valley is “extremely” miserable.

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Much of this is thanks to the latest few rounds of winter weather that impacted the South.

How the misery level is determined

This is determined by three main factors: the intensity and persistence of cold weather, the frequency and amount of snowfall and the amount and persistence of snow on the ground. The index uses five categories – mild, moderate, average, severe and extreme – to rate the severity of winter weather in cities across the U.S. over an entire cold season. The higher the index, the more persistent snow and/or cold you've experienced.

Record misery for some, mild for most

On January 22, parts of Florida and Louisiana had a nice snowpack, while parts of the Midwest and Plains remained bare – that’s something you don’t see every day!

Most stations in the Midwest, Plains, Rockies, West and even Northeast and New England are experiencing a mild or moderate winter season, according to the misery map. That’s because parts of the Midwest and northern Plains have only received 10-20% of their annual snowfall to date this season, while the South has received more than 700% of their annual snowfall.

Omaha, Nebraska is having one of its lowest snow seasons ever, with less than an inch of snow. They are roughly a foot below where they should be for snowfall this time of year.

As we have seen with Winter Storm Enzo, it only takes one big winter system to turn the tables, so we will have to see how the rest of the winter season shapes up.

J​ennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.