When it snows it is global warming and when it doesn't it is global warming. Why?

Because 'climate' is grossly different in definition than weather and 'weather' is dominated by climate.  The subject seems to be beyond the capability in the USA to comprehend.  Pity.  Sort of like understanding the etiology of the Great Recession, there is a political divide in the USA that causes changes in cognition.

Unusually cold December weather in some places distracted attention from warmth elsewhere

2010 was the warmest year since global temperature records began in 1850 - although margins of uncertainty make it a statistical tie with 1998 and 2005. (click title to entry - thank you)

Arctic Oscillation Chills North America, Warms Arctic (click here)

Posted January 26, 2011

Snow fell in the U.S. Deep South, severe storms battered the East Coast, and International Falls, Minnesota, set a new temperature record: -46 degrees Fahrenheit (-43 degrees Celsius) on January 21. But in areas north of the United States and southern Canada, temperatures were above normal. In fact, unusual warmth forced residents of Iqaluit, capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, to cancel their New Year’s snowmobile parade....