Hoth

Been crushing Hill Farmstead Society and Solitude 4 and 5, Mosaic and Double Galaxy. All pretty damn spectacular. Merry Christmas everyone!

Oh lol. Time to schedule a visit with the optometrist. Or cut back on the IPAs...

Lol a 1057 high over New England in addition to a snow storm down to thr Space Coast. Who do I have to pay to see that play out?

What did you get in Jan '11? Would've thought you'd crack 20 there easy.

Yeah, I remember well thinking the same thing, then waking up one morning to posts about the Euro burying us. Then the NAM crushed, and by afternoon almost all guidance was on board. That was a fun couple days.

I'm pretty sure you were in a bad way at the end of Jan '13. I could be wrong, but 2012 into '13 was a rough stretch for both of us.

Since we're getting to the bitter end of the '10s, it seems fitting to reflect upon what has been a great decade for NE winter storm lovers. No reversion to the mean this decade. Strictly from an IMBY perspective (Hamden, CT/Boston, MA), the '10s have crowded my greatest hits list. We had the two greatest months of winter of my life to date: Feb '15 and Jan '11. If one includes the dying week of Jan in with Feb '15, it was the greatest winter period I'll ever experience: bitter cold, ferocious storms of all stripes (Manitoba Maulers, mid-level magic, SWFE on roids, super long duration), seemingly endless light ocean effect and 90" give or take that ground the Boston area to a virtual halt. Jan '11 was likewise very special, and had Boxing Day '10 not been a fiasco in southern CT, could have been up there with '15. But let's not quibble, for that month featured my first true NORLUN, a fluffy 9", followed hard upon by the 27" of the great Blizzard of '11, topped off by 15" of epic rates and thundersnow on the 27th. 2011 marked my first experience with roof rakes, ice dams, frozen pipes and a blown out furnace. Anyway, here's a tabulation of the best events I remember. The decade was so productive on the whole, there may well be events that have fallen through the cracks. Boxing Day '10. A disappointment in the accumulation department, but the miraculous turnaround in the modeling on Christmas Day (including the NWS' initial rejection of some of the data) makes this one memorable. The wind was ferocious. Jan '11 NORLUN. Worked its way through southern CT and dumped as much as 15" in a few hillier towns. If memory serves, a 9" fluff job in Hamden. Jan '11 Blizzard. 27" in roughly 13 hours. North Haven put up a 30 spot, Berkshires and southern VT destroyed with 40". Jan 27, 2011. A two part hit with a few inches of light wet snow in the morning, followed by a blitzkrieg at night. 4-5"/hr rates, thunder, 15". Capped off a great month. October '11: Dud in Cambridge, but obviously warrants inclusion for sheer exotic rarity and disastrous impact in much of SNE. March '12: Not a storm, but an epic epic torch, which was welcome after the horror show that was that winter. I recall the trees budding over Paul Revere's grave and choosing to walk home a few days in caressing 70s and low 80s. Girls in summer dresses on the Common. Feb '13: Epic in its own right, perhaps made more so for the catharsis it brought after a wretched, tortured '12 and early '13 season. Scott melted hard in the lead up (a good contra indicator) and Kevin initially tossed the Euro's blizzard depiction hard and far. Perhaps the only time I have ever received a 2 foot snow storm, but felt gipped because back home pulled a 40 spot of man snow. March '13. The Fire hose storm. Wild system, which gave me fits professionally. I was tasked with giving an investor day presentation atop 60 State as the snow was dumping all around, and it was mightily distracting. Who, I ask you, can cogently conduct business while a long Atlantic fetch of moisture dumps gorgeous parachutes outside the floor to ceiling windows at 2"/hr? It was one of those late season storms where the difference between downtown and the suburbs was striking. Maybe 8-10" of slush downtown, tack on another 5" at home across the Charles, and 30" in the Blue Hills. RI with an epic screwgy. Winter of '14. I know there were some great events in here, including several blizz warnings, but dates and amounts elude me for whatever reason. At any rate, I recall snow storms with near zero temps and a great December. Jan '15 Manitoba Mauler. Another cathartic event as many here, self included, were preparing to cheer for the futility record. Ushered in most epic winter period of my life, as already tabulated above. 30" amounts widespread across eastern CT, RI, MA, NH. '15 Superbowl SWFE. Pats win and another foot plus in the bag. What more needs to be said? '15 long duration storm. Felt like it snowed for days, tacked on another 2 feet. Scott pulled close to 3 with the ocean enhancement. '15 mid-level magic. Models struggled, Ginx and Clinch were all over it. Epic rates, magical fluff and thunder pushed me to a lifetime record depth (see pic) '16 Generally a dud winter, but we did manage to catch the northern fringe of the epic Mid-Atlantic blizzard. 8" or so. Still basking in the afterglow of '15, so wasn't much bothered by the crap season. VT struggled mightily. '17. Back in CT. Awesome quick hitter in Jan (?) to the tune of 14 or 15", Miller A in March that had a lot of promise but got too tucked and wound up flipping after a quick 9" or so. Epic hit for the Albany region. '18. Jan "super-bomb". One of the coldest weeks in NE history preceded this beast of a nor'easter. It was a beginning to occlude by the time we felt its effects, but it was still a solid foot+ locally, with some areas over 20. Bottomed out around 950mb. March '18. 4 impressive nor'easters, two horrible busts IMBY and one paste bomb with fantastic thundersnow (thanks to 4 Seasons for reminding me). If only we'd had seasonable thermals for the first event (apologies to Ray) '19. A generally abysmal season, but bookended by a few nice events. Mid Novie traffic nightmare storm and the quick hitting foot in March. Damaging ice storm in January worth throwing in the mix too. Think there was a great squall somewhere in there. Had more inches of rain than snow at the end of February. December '19. No go for the early December interior HECS, squeezed out a few inches here and there. Had a fun squall and a solid ice event with close to .5 accretion. Likely quiet through Christmas, but may get active again as we enter the '20s. All in all, I grade this decade an A. Below, a pic from Hampshire St in Cambridge the morning of ML Magic '15. The second, morning after Feb '13 at my parents' in Hamden.

I stayed up all night for that one. Still remember watching the radar in NJ explode and knowing we were gonna get smoked. We caught the edge of the dry slot for an hour and still picked up 27". Great, great storm.

Man, you killed it. Some of my all time faves in there. I'm a big fan of their Curiosity series, too.

Well played, sir. It always cracks me up watching people coming out of there with dollies stacked with the good stuff. What did you pick up?

Same to you and yours.

I got a bunch of Hill Farmstead coming to me tomorrow. Should be enough to get me to early January, when things start looking up in the weather dept. Until then, we IPA.

Awesome footage. And I believe the week before the blizzard was one of the coldest in NE history, too.

Vim Toot?

I should mention that my preference is colored by the fact that I was living in Boston in '15. Obviously Jan '11 in southern CT still stands alone.

I would love a Jan '11 redux. Two great nor'easters and the only legit norlun I've experienced. My only quibble with that season was that it virtually shut off Feb 1, but I didn't think I'd ever beat that month until Feb '15 walked through the door.

The January storm was a lot of fun, if only for the exotic intensity of the storm itself. I think that thing bottomed at like 950mb, give or take. Was initially modeled off shore, but kept gradually ticking further and further west up until go time.

Oh that one! I do remember. Had a couple almost instantaneous flash/bangs. Paste job with some power issues too, right? That was a good storm.

Funny, the frustration of the other three was so strong, I don't even remember the event on March 7th.

Yeah, that one hurt too. Spots due south of us on LI got like two feet. I seem to remember some miffed viewer of Ryan's forecast threatened to sue him for that bust lol.

Yup. Back in the days when I would pull all-nighters for big storms. Did the same in Jan '11.

Worst storm ever. One of several awful busts that month. No way I got close to 5". More like 2.5 or 3 that washed away while Ray was doing naked cartwheels in 30" of pow. May it live in infamy with Boxing Day.

I believe that was the storm where I first became aware of Eastern and of weather discussion boards in general. It was a glorious discovery to find that others shared my enthusiasm. The storm itself was fun, although I recall agonizing a bit as that epic deform band stalled just east of my location and pummeled southeast CT.

Motion sickness I could see. That's a very windy road. Altitude sickness is a bit harder to countenance, but who knows. Maybe the kid has a sensitivity to edema.

Awesome shot. You can really see where the squalls came through yesterday.