Sparky

Really dry air up here dewpoint hovering in lower single digits. Delay of onset?

Nice pivot all the way back into Carroll.

PD II (25.5" IMBY) was the storm that could have eclipsed the Blizz of '96 (30") in my backyard if it weren't for the changeover to sleet Sunday night for several hours. I figure it would easily have reached 35"+ if all snow. But every other thing about that storm was plain boring compared to '96. There was very little wind, little drifting, and even the snowfakes were small and unimpressive to watch falling. The flakes in '96 were smallish too, but not quite as small. But '96 had some kickass wind on Sunday evening and through the night into Monday morning which gave it a genuine blizzard look and feel. Drifting was about as impressive as I have ever seen. Mind you it is pitch black at night where I live but whenever I flicked on the floodlights on Sunday night to see the action all I could see was a sideways curtain of snow blowing around the house. I could barely see the darkness of the woods that lie about 100 feet in the back. The only other storm that gave me that '96 look and feel was the 2/10/10 blast (27" IMBY) which had much larger dendrites to enjoy and was compressed into a shorter period of time with heavier rates. 2/10/10 was like a blend of '96 winds (though not as intense) and PD1 (Feb 79) snow rates. PD 1 is still the rates king though. That's when I saw 10" in a 3 hour continuous period which I haven't seen beaten since with a total of about 20" in the end.

^^ why guesstimate snowfall to the nearest tenth? Seems silly, just round to nearest inch.

Looks to me like Myrtle Beach is lucking out. Offshore winds all day with the center passing north of them not hugging the coast like it was forecasted.

Oh I agree concerning the the 2010 twins, the first one was a more gentle heavy dumping compared to its late born twin. I actually ended up with one more inch (27) from the 2/9-10 storm than the 2/5. It was a remarkable feat for a miller B.

Surprised 2/5/10 is so low....wish I was in Carroll for Mar 93 but alas I was living in NE Baltimore and only got a foot with sleet/ice....Even though 2/03 was a massive storm out here, I got 25.5", it just leaves a meh feeling in me. I think it was the seemingly tiny snowflakes that made it less exciting and lack of real winds.

Jan 96 is still king for me. Slightly more snow and much stronger winds. I did like the rates better during Jan 16 since it was more concentrated and seemed heavier for the most part. Jan 16 is now the 2nd largest single snow storm in my lifetime...Just by a hair over the 2010 twins.

That was a frigid month though with good snow. Probably one of the better snow cover months for DCA considering they didn't get a massive storm. At the time, Jan 82 reminded me a lot of Jan. 78 only with colder temps. I had snow building on top of snow and that was when I lived in Baltimore not the colder Westminster area.

Jan 96 was just stunning out here from start to finish. I really have never seen anything like it in my entire life. During the final hours of 2/10/10 I was having a feeling of deja vu with Jan 96 only it was not as intense in the wind/drifiting dept. I got 27" from the second Feb. storm, one inch more than 2/5/10, so that was a unbeatable combination for total depth of snow and the one and only time I hired a contractor to remove snow from the driveway and front walkway.

I will say that Feb 79 had the heaviest snow rates I have ever witnessed for a period of time. That time being roughly a 3 hour window between 7-10 am Monday morning. I was in Baltimore for this one. That intense snowfall, about 10 inches in that 3 hour span was combined with very gusty raucous winds. But once that heavy band dissapated, the sun quickly came out and winds dropped to calm. Blizz of 83 - In Baltimore will always hold a special place in my heart. It had an intense period or two of snow too with CG lightning/thunder for about an hour in the early afternoon. Winds were stiff and gusty at times for most of the storm too. It was the single deepest snowfall I had ever witnessed up to that point in time, about 22 inches IMBY, only to be blown out of the water by Jan 96 (in Westminster).

I don't recall 2/5/10 being a very windy storm around here. The windy one here was 2/9-10 which made me think about Jan 96 but not quite as intense or long lived wind... Jan 96 wind out here was off the hook from Sunday evening into Monday noonish. Jan 96 was rather windy the whole time, 36 hours, but it was the Sunday overnight when the biggest drifts were built and exposed places were scoured down to bare ground like around the corners of my house. At least a foot of snow fell during that Sunday night/Mon. morning period alone. Total was around 30".

No question Jan 96.

If you missed this one you missed the best damned December storm EVER!

This was a great storm 21" IMBY. Great time of year too. I was watching the temps fall all day long Saturday. It was getting progressively colder the whole time. By evening Saturday close to 20F. Still, Jan 96 remains the biggest dumper with the strongest sustained winds and drifting since I moved to Westminster from Balto in Dec 93 (missed the Superstorm here). The most buried that I have ever been was after the second Feb 2010 blizzard, over 50" on the ground. I actually hired a contractor to clean my driveway and sidewalk after that for the first time.

I would describe it as a pitch and roll feeling. I was seated on a bench. I felt like it came from behind me and pushed me forward then a sensation of moving back, like I had my back to a wave in the ocean I guess. This happened several times in quick succession that got harder toward the end of the 25 seconds of quaking.

So glad those big mirrors at the gym didn't come off the wall. I was within striking range.

Baltimore City and Anne Arundel Co are reporting building damage.

I had a nice ride here. I was at the gym sitting on a weight bench next to giant mirrors and windows. Mirrors swaying, windows rattling loud, ceiling tiles swaying, felt the roll in my body for a good ten seconds while sitting on the bench. Cool.