Top climatologists, meteorologists and climate professors have long linked global warming to increased snow totals across the country and specifically in the Northeastern United States. Joe Romm, a writer for ThinkProgress, spoke with Michael Mann and Kevin Trenberth, two of the top climatologists about the trend. Mann notes that increased snowfall totals are due to the increased ocean temperatures off the coast. He speaks about ocean surface temperatures off the coast of Virginia, which are up to 3 degrees Celsius higher than normal. This leads to increased moisture in the air, which powers these superstorms. In Washington, D.C., the National Weather Service issued the first blizzard warning for the city since 1986, due in part to the 75 degree Celsius ocean surface temperature off the coast of Virginia.

Critics generally claim that superstorms like this are evidence against global warming, but they actually support global warming. Global warming hasn’t impacted temperatures in the Northeast enough to raise midwinter temperatures above freezing but they have impacted temperatures enough to increase the moisture in the air.

Paul O’Gorman, an MIT professor, noted that between 1901 and 2000, the heaviest snowfalls (top 1% of snowstorms) occurred in years with above average temperatures. The study concluded that in warmer futures, we will continue to experience more intense snow storms in areas above the rain snow line and more intense storms in areas below the rain snow line.

Source: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/01/22/3741287/climate-science-blizzards/