In January 2013, a group of Midwest climatologists presented a way to objectively answer the question of who has it worst.
Called the Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index, it scores locations on a system that awards them points for low temperatures, snowfall and snow depth. The more points, the more severe the winter.
Using this system, a city can compare past winters and cities can compare their winters with each other.
Anchorage climatologist Brian Brettschneider has turned this system into a remarkable map.
Averaging winters from 1980 to 2014 shows Anchorage, which has a relatively mild winter by Alaska standards, stacks up with the most severe winter in the Lower 48, that found in Duluth, Minnesota.
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