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This snowy and bitterly cold winter may be a boon to area dealers of snow shovels, snowblowers and other winter goods, private snowplowers, and travel agents sending more people than expected on warm getaways despite the tight economy.

But the rest of us are just going to have to tough it out as forecasts call for more of the same weather for coming weeks.

It is shaping up to be one of the coldest winters in several years, and the 35.75 inches of snowfall has already eclipsed the total of 33 inches last winter, when there was 22.25 inches by this time, according to Attleboro Water Department records. And we are only slightly over one-third into a season that ends March 20.

Is it no surprise area communities have already overspent their snow removal budgets? Not the most opportune year to do so by any stretch given extremely tight finances.

With two months of winter to go, Attleboro has already piled up at least a $273,788 deficit for snow and ice removal, Public Works Superintendent John Clover said. That doesn’t include the latest storms. North Attleboro budgeted $200,000 for snow and were close to that before last weekend’s back-to-back storms.

Attleboro and North Attleboro highway workers have also been spending nights removing snow that has piled up in their downtowns. Not only because it obscures vision and poses safety problems for pedestrians and motorists. There is little room left to plow and shovel anymore white stuff. 

Mansfield has spent about $415,000 on plowing, according to Mark Cook, manager of the highway department. The town budgeted $191,000 for snow removal in this year’s budget, but Cook said he expects to spend between $600,000 and $700,000 before winter ends. And the town is still waiting for $100,000 worth of salt to be delivered.

Over in Wrentham, Public Works Superintendent Irving Priest was faced earlier this week with an empty salt storage shed and a blooming snow removal shortfall as well. It has been quite an initiation for the new superintendent.

“I would give anything for a two-foot snow over six hours and the sun comes out than these 30-hour storms that give you six inches of snow,” Priest said. “You waste more money with these small storms that are just brutal. We have been cursed with them this year.”

The town budgeted $150,000 but nearly $90,000 more has been spent. Salt, which cost $50 a ton last year, this year has been going for $70, and Priest was planning to order over 1,000 tons. In light of money woes, the superintendent has instructed plowers to spread less salt on the roads.

The public works department has fielded a few complaints from those living on dead-end streets and back roads who have been irked with the amount of snow left on roads. “After explaining we are trying to curtail expenses as much as we can, I think people have been very understanding so far,” Priest said, adding crews will do more complete jobs when there are bigger storms around the corner.

Even before last weekend’s approximately 1-foot snowfall tally, Foxboro had spent $128,000, wiping out a $105,000 budget.

No wonder when December had 14.5 inches of snow, all but 1 inch of that falling over three straight days. The snow one of those days ran 9 inches, which ranks in the upper Top 10 for December snowfalls in the 69 years the city’s water department has been keeping records.

And this month has seen 21.25 inches — already ninth most for January, whereas last January had 5.25 inches. The January before had a mere 1.25 inches during a season of only 15.50 inches and just 2.5 inches by this time. January 2005 had a record 50 inches over a winter that rang up 95.25 inches of snow. That fell into second place on the books behind 106.50 inches in 1995-96. Monthly snowfall can be deceptive. December 2007 brought us 18 inches — 11 inches from one storm. Naturally, last winter was looking like it was going to be one snow-filled season. But the rest of the winter saw little snow — only 15 more inches fell over the next three months, with more rain than snow days.

And it was warmer than usual last winter, with three straight days in January of 59, 67, and 64 degrees setting record highs. Temperatures have been nowhere near that this month.

After an early part of winter that was warmer than normal, having three record high days in the 60s in December, there have been well below normal temperatures many days.

Try the 6 degrees New Year’s Day that accompanied a New Year’s Eve blustery snowstorm, or the six consecutive days recently where low temperatures ranged from 2 to 17 degrees, with one day the thermometer never getting beyond 20. That 2 degrees was the coldest day in four years, water department records show, and was followed by a 4-degree low. It was part of the deepest cold spell in these parts in several years, stemming from an Arctic system that swept across the country from Alaska.

Last year, the coldest day was 7 degrees, Jan. 3. It hit 8 degrees the next day. The thermometer plunged to 3 degrees in January 2007. The coldest day in 2006 was 9 degrees, also in January. And in January of 2005, the temp fell to minus-3 degrees.

“It is either snow and ice or been very cold,” Meteorologist Walter Drag of the National Weather Service in Taunton said. “We are definitely well above normal for snow and in the middle of what appears to be a long, hard winter in Southern New England. I think people who like snow and cold should enjoy this and all those who don’t have to endure it and should welcome spring warmth when it finally arrives.”

What is the cause of this snowy and cold weather?

 “The bottom line is the storm track out of the Ohio Valley, and most storms are coming just south of New England, so that has provided us with plenty of opportunities for snow and ice since the first week of December,” Drag said. “It is probably going to continue for the foreseeable future. I don’t think we need a groundhog to know there is plenty of winter left.”

Drag advises residents to make sure their heating systems are in working order and be aware of snow and ice piling up on roofs and in gutters.

“If snow keeps piling up, it may have some ramifications on homes and rooftops,” Drag said.

While the plunging thermometer has stretched home heating budgets, energy costs have dipped substantially from the summer, easing the strain for many. But for those who locked into costly oil supply contracts when prices were at record levels last summer and fall, the cold winter has been a double punch.