Things were bad this winter and not just bad, apparently, but downright bleak: Lowe’s home improvement chain on Friday declared Portland one of the “10 Bleakest Cities of 2015.”

It based the rating on an Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index that looks at cold, snow — how much and how long it stuck around — along with historical weather data, according to a news release.

Boston, Buffalo, Nashville and Newark, N.J. — also bleak, bleak, bleak and bleak, Lowe’s says.

Company volunteers will visit each city for a community makeover project this spring but didn’t have word Friday on what it planned for Portland.

Lowe’s 10 Bleakest Cities of 2015

· Boston

· Buffalo

· Detroit

· Hartford, Conn.

· Louisville, Ky.

· Nashville

· Newark, N.J.

· New York City

· Portland, Maine

· Providence, R.I.