Nearly a month after the fierce windstorm hit Western Washington, the rollercoaster of unpredictable weather continues to affect the local area.

Western Washington neighborhoods experienced another showery windstorm on Tuesday and were hit with a slushy blanket of snow Wednesday evening.

The peculiar mixture of weather conditions has been taking effect not only locally, but globally as well.

According to The New York Times, New York City experienced no snow in December for the first time since 1877 — 129 years.

"The weather is connected globally," said KOMO-TV weather producer Scott Sistek. "A big, warm ridge of high pressure will push polar air further south on its edges which then pushes up warmer air on its other side. Thus it's not too unusual that if you have one spot that's stuck in a warm pattern, other areas will be stuck in cold patterns."

Sistek also said the extremelly weather for Seattle has not been too unusual, with the Nov. 6 flood, Dec. 14 windstorm and the two snow events.

The conditions have been some of the stronger events recorded. He said this is likely the case because the West Coast has been stuck on the stormier side of this pattern while the East Coast has been stuck on the warmer side, resulting in a milder winter.

UW students have expressed their concerns about the fickle weather.

"After losing power last month, I never appreciated electricity more," said sophomore Kevin O'Donnell. "All this change in weather affects how I feel. It makes the day longer and makes me less motivated to do anything, like go to class."

Concerns have also been raised about the correlation between the climate and global warming.

"There are many factors in the atmosphere that influence long-range weather patterns," Sistek said. "El Niño got a lot of hype this winter, and it is still going on. That means a warm and dry winter here with a jet stream split to the far north and south of us. Something else has been in play to mitigate the effect and point the jet stream at us."

Unknown factors could also be contributing.

"It could be something yet undiscovered that makes just the right tweak to the pattern to make the weather as it is right now. Global warming may be a factor in that or it could be just the natural progression of the Earth's climate; it depends on what scale," he said.

Although some may blame the weather patterns on global warming, it may not be at fault after all.

"There's no reason to expect global warming is the cause of the recent weather," said Clifford F. Mass, atmospheric science professor. "It doesn't mean that it is not global warming; there is just no evidence to indicate that at this time."

Even so, some students are still aware of the global warming issue and want to raise awareness.

"One of the worst things about global warming is that it should be easy to prevent, but instead it is rising rapidly," said freshman Sandra Wu. "If everyone was more environmentally conscientious, then the problem might be greatly reduced. I think we are finally seeing the consequences of our treatment to the environment."

Although global warming may not be directly associated with the weather, students have options as far as being environmentally friendly, such as cutting down on auto emissions or looking into hybrid cars.

"If students are truly concerned about global warming, then the best way to help is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions," Sistek said. "Global warming or not, it makes sense to try to be as environmentally clean as possible. It makes sense to have the basic preparedness for individual storms, but otherwise, just be ready to roll with the punches."

Reach reporter Vicky Yan at vickyyan@thedaily.washington.edu