In the midst of what may go down as the snowiest winter on record in Massachusetts, FSU instructor and longtime meteorologist Dave Epstein has emerged as the go to source for reliable and reasoned weather information. 

Epstein’s popular Weather Wisdom Blog on Boston.com has consistently ranked as the top trending item on the site this winter.

“It’s a little humbling,” Epstein admits. “I try to connect with what people are talking about and dealing with. Like everyone else, I have a house and I’m worried about ice dams. I’m dealing with traffic and snow banks. So that’s what I’m writing about.”

Epstein is lauded for his realist approach to the weather. He never exaggerates a storm and caters to what the vast majority of people are dealing with, rather than to the extreme.

“I think a lot of times people are given the most extreme version of the event, rather than what 95 percent of people are going through,” Epstein says. “I think that’s doing the public a disservice.”

Epstein has been teaching Introduction to Meteorology at Framingham State for ten years. The course gives students a broad overview of the weather, with a focus on forecasting and communication.

“My goal for the students is for them to be much better at communicating when they leave the course,” Epstein says. “That’s going to translate into career success. The weather is my conduit to teach them about communication and critical thinking.”

So what’s causing all this snow this winter? Epstein says the region has been in what’s called the “trough” of the jet stream, which tends to be colder and stormier.

“This has happened during a bunch of prior winters,” Epstein says. “What’s been uncommon is the exact position of the trough staying so stable for so long. There’s no question, this is the most snow we’ve seen in this short amount of time.”

Epstein says people are always trying to derive some meaning behind the record snow, but he says the weather is simply behaving how it’s supposed to.

“The only real meaning is that it’s snowing a lot.”

You can follow Dave Epstein on Twitter: @GrowingWisdom