Rank 'Em

[ORH_wxman]

The 1st 4-6" of the storm occurred in morning and in only a small area...the actual storm hit later that night and dropped 12"-14" more. The 16"-20" amounts were only in the areas that got hit with the morning surprise snow, like NYC.

Maybe the split in snow is counted as separate?

I don't think they are separated because the map shows an isolated 20" contour or two in NE NJ. No way that would have just been from the 2nd part. But even if they were separated, I doubt it affects the rating much considering its only advisory snow amounts over a pretty small area. People forget sometimes that 12/30/00 was a NESIS 1 storm. Coverage of the heavy snows matters.

[A-L-E-X]

I don't think they are separated because the map shows an isolated 20" contour or two in NE NJ. No way that would have just been from the 2nd part. But even if they were separated, I doubt it affects the rating much considering its only advisory snow amounts over a pretty small area. People forget sometimes that 12/30/00 was a NESIS 1 storm. Coverage of the heavy snows matters.

How much is it weighed towards where people are densely populated, Will? I think they weigh that into the equation, but it isn't as much as some people think it is.

[WeatherX]

I don't think they are separated because the map shows an isolated 20" contour or two in NE NJ. No way that would have just been from the 2nd part. But even if they were separated, I doubt it affects the rating much considering its only advisory snow amounts over a pretty small area. People forget sometimes that 12/30/00 was a NESIS 1 storm. Coverage of the heavy snows matters.

If only anyone cared...that would be something.... aggravation 3 and his sister sun fairy. Truly forgettable....

[ORH_wxman]

How much is it weighed towards where people are densely populated, Will? I think they weigh that into the equation, but it isn't as much as some people think it is.

Here's the formula:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/snow-and-ice/docs/squires.pdf

the main NESIS page:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/snow-and-ice/nesis.php

[Nikolai]

That storm was insane. I have never seen a storm to that loop da loop before. The best part was that it rained in Boston while it snowed in NYC. The storm started out as snow then turned to drizzle in the afternoon and then it turned to heavy snow at night. My area received 18 inches.

I only caught the tail end of 12/26 this past winter (took the train up right in the middle from DC... after it was apparent things WERE NOT WORKING OUT), so I'd definitely rank the experience of 1/26 higher than the December storm, although 12/26 was probably two or three times as crippling for the city.

The bonus snow in the morning of 1/26 was awesome, as was the thunder sleet/snow at night--my friends didn't believe me that it was going to change back over, but... indeed it did. I was in Greenpoint and we definitely had 20" or so, it was ridiculous. The peak snowfall rates were 3-4" per hour, it was just pouring snow (still doesn't compare to going through 2/5/2010 in DC though , 27" there ).

[JBG]

If we get a weak La Nina, we will be in business

We learned during 2009-10 that was could be in business with a strong El Niño and last winter with a strong La Niña. Nothing wrong with either winters. -NAO rules in my opinion.

[UncleSalty]

We learned during 2009-10 that was could be in business with a strong El Niño and last winter with a strong La Niña. Nothing wrong with either winters. -NAO rules in my opinion.

Gotta love that NAO trump card. Definitely wouldn't mind seeing more negative winters, which could very well be the case.

[Amped]

4 Feb 1961

27 Dec 1969

Edit:

16 Feb 1958

25 DEC 1947

22 Feb 1947

15 Feb 1940

15 Feb 1940 (sub 960 MB

5 Feb 1920

16 Jan 1905

13 Feb 1899

12 March 1888

[Dsnowx53]

I missed 1/26, because of the stupid AMS conference. I also missed PDII. lol

1) 12/26/10 (In Rockville Centre, almost 19")

2) 12/19/09 (In Rockville Centre, 17")

3) 2/10/10 (In New Brunswick, 16+")

4) 12/30/00 (In Rockville Centre, 15")

5) 1/22/05 (In Rockville Centre, 17")

Sometimes, though, it's how you enjoyed the storms as opposed to how great the storm was itself. 2/12/06 was kind of a screw-job in my hometown, but I still really enjoyed that storm, because a friend of mine and me were out almost all night with our video cameras, documenting a "snow film", and the snow rates were really impressive overnight. I was "out" in that storm a lot more than in 1/22/05, though 1/22/05 had more snow here.

[Stormlover74]

I definitely agree. I was driving from Philly to Bergen county on the afternoon of 1/22/05 and had ridiculously heavy snow the entire way. Was kinda cool driving on the turnpike with just a couple other cars, and even though it took about 5 hours since we couldnt go much over 30-40 mph it was really cool being out in it. Jan '96 I missed the big snows because I was heading back to Central PA on a bus but was really cool as we headed south and west watching the snow pile up where it had been snowing alot longer. I left mostly bare ground in NE NJ to over 6" by allentown to nearly a foot by the time we got to harrisburg.

I missed 1/26, because of the stupid AMS conference. I also missed PDII. lol

1) 12/26/10 (In Rockville Centre, almost 19")

2) 12/19/09 (In Rockville Centre, 17")

3) 2/10/10 (In New Brunswick, 16+")

4) 12/30/00 (In Rockville Centre, 15")

5) 1/22/05 (In Rockville Centre, 17")

Sometimes, though, it's how you enjoyed the storms as opposed to how great the storm was itself. 2/12/06 was kind of a screw-job in my hometown, but I still really enjoyed that storm, because a friend of mine and me were out almost all night with our video cameras, documenting a "snow film", and the snow rates were really impressive overnight. I was "out" in that storm a lot more than in 1/22/05, though 1/22/05 had more snow here.

[Manny]

Ah, the morning of January 27th, 2011. Waking up to a snow day.

[TheTrials]

Ah, the morning of January 27th, 2011. Waking up to a snow day.

Streets look great there!

[ag3]

The best part of January 27th, 2011 was the actual storm from 11pm-3am.

If you slept through that part of the storm, you missef epic lightning and thunder and 2"-4" an hour rates.

[TheTrials]

The best part of January 27th, 2011 was the actual storm from 11pm-3am.

If you slept through that part of the storm, you missef epic lightning and thunder and 2"-4" an hour rates.

You didn't believe me at first when I told you it was 4+ inches an hour. Epic night, just epic.

[A-L-E-X]

You didn't believe me at first when I told you it was 4+ inches an hour. Epic night, just epic.

Yup, and the peak was actually 5 inches per hour!

[ag3]

Yup, and the peak was actually 5 inches per hour!

Oh yeah. You and Jm and Noreaster had insane rates towards the end of the storm. I remember 1 band that was 4"-6"/hr. over the Long Beach area! Sick.

At its peak, my part of Queens easily saw 3"-4" an hour for 2 hours straight. And thats with nonstop lightning and thunder. Occured around midnight until 2am. Epic.

[TheTrials]

Winter cannot come soon enough. Big winter incoming, long duration and epic cold.

[A-L-E-X]

Oh yeah. You and Jm and Noreaster had insane rates towards the end of the storm. I remember 1 band that was 4"-6"/hr. over the Long Beach area! Sick.

At its peak, my part of Queens easily saw 3"-4" an hour for 2 hours straight. And thats with nonstop lightning and thunder. Occured around midnight until 2am. Epic.

Yes, the only thing that would have made last winter even more awesome would be to get that kind of dump during the day. The rush hour would be nonexistent lol.

[SnowGoose69]

Yes, the only thing that would have made last winter even more awesome would be to get that kind of dump during the day. The rush hour would be nonexistent lol.

Thats what got us on 12/5/03...the worst case scenarios these days for rush hour disasters are unforecast snow events....fortunately in 2011 we don't get many events which are missed 12 hours out...the problem is that most people who work in NYC who live in CT, LI, NJ will either not go into work or will take mass transit when they anticipate the weather will be bad by 4-5pm...if the forecasts miss an event though everyone drives and then you have a pileup similar to 12/5/03 when it too me 6 1/2 hours to drive 25 miles.....2/8/94 was another bad one since the 1-3 inch AM forecast busted quite severely...it also took me 3 hours to drive home Xmas night 2002, I can't even imagine how bad that day would have been if it was a normal work day.

[A-L-E-X]

Thats what got us on 12/5/03...the worst case scenarios these days for rush hour disasters are unforecast snow events....fortunately in 2011 we don't get many events which are missed 12 hours out...the problem is that most people who work in NYC who live in CT, LI, NJ will either not go into work or will take mass transit when they anticipate the weather will be bad by 4-5pm...if the forecasts miss an event though everyone drives and then you have a pileup similar to 12/5/03 when it too me 6 1/2 hours to drive 25 miles.....2/8/94 was another bad one since the 1-3 inch AM forecast busted quite severely...it also took me 3 hours to drive home Xmas night 2002, I can't even imagine how bad that day would have been if it was a normal work day.

The only one which was somewhat of a miss from the last two winters, was the missed timing of 12/19/2009, which was delayed until the middle of the night unfortunately. That occurred on a weekend, so it didn't really affect anyone. The one glaring bust from the last few years was, of course, January 2008.

[SnowGoose69]

The only one which was somewhat of a miss from the last two winters, was the missed timing of 12/19/2009, which was delayed until the middle of the night unfortunately. That occurred on a weekend, so it didn't really affect anyone. The one glaring bust from the last few years was, of course, January 2008.

I was terrified at 6pm on 12/19/09 that the storm was going to be the worst moden bust we've had...the precip which had been struggling all day to make it north of C-NJ finally made a push around 530pm, then another dry shot pushed down the CT Valley around 6pm and stopped it yet again, when I saw that I remember thinking it was game over but the next push around 7pm finally made it...that was pretty close though to being a black eye for a long time which would have made everyone forget about March 2001 in a hurry....DT had been pounding the idea for awhile that he did not like the 850mb low orientation being elongated WSW-ENE off the DE coast which of course results in more of a NE flow at 850mb over NYC than the typical E or ESE flow you get when the 850mb low is oriented more circular as it usually is.

[Sundog]

The only one which was somewhat of a miss from the last two winters, was the missed timing of 12/19/2009, which was delayed until the middle of the night unfortunately. That occurred on a weekend, so it didn't really affect anyone. The one glaring bust from the last few years was, of course, January 2008.

It was fitting that January 2008 missed. It went along with the trend of that winter. The part that made me hate that winter the most was seeing Boston get wrecked that December. What did they get like 55 inches that year?

[Manny]

Streets look great there!

Yeah, I was walking around at 3 am thru those very streets, and it was near impossible to drive or even walk but sanitation did a great job in cleaning up quickly. I took that pic like at 11 or 12, since I stayed up all night. lol

[A-L-E-X]

I was terrified at 6pm on 12/19/09 that the storm was going to be the worst moden bust we've had...the precip which had been struggling all day to make it north of C-NJ finally made a push around 530pm, then another dry shot pushed down the CT Valley around 6pm and stopped it yet again, when I saw that I remember thinking it was game over but the next push around 7pm finally made it...that was pretty close though to being a black eye for a long time which would have made everyone forget about March 2001 in a hurry....DT had been pounding the idea for awhile that he did not like the 850mb low orientation being elongated WSW-ENE off the DE coast which of course results in more of a NE flow at 850mb over NYC than the typical E or ESE flow you get when the 850mb low is oriented more circular as it usually is.

That was one of the largest snowfall gradients I've seen in awhile-- we went from 10 inches in NYC to 15 inches at JFK to almost 30 inches in Suffolk County. That would have been our storm of the winter had it been about 100 miles west and even moreso had it been moving slower.

A winter of big hits and close misses.

[A-L-E-X]

It was fitting that January 2008 missed. It went along with the trend of that winter. The part that made me hate that winter the most was seeing Boston get wrecked that December. What did they get like 55 inches that year?

Yes, and a very front loaded winter-- I think they got half or more of their snow in December lol. Our biggest storm was the surprise 6-8" snowfall on Feb 22, 2008.

[CAT5ANDREW]

I was terrified at 6pm on 12/19/09 that the storm was going to be the worst moden bust we've had...the precip which had been struggling all day to make it north of C-NJ finally made a push around 530pm, then another dry shot pushed down the CT Valley around 6pm and stopped it yet again, when I saw that I remember thinking it was game over but the next push around 7pm finally made it...that was pretty close though to being a black eye for a long time which would have made everyone forget about March 2001 in a hurry....DT had been pounding the idea for awhile that he did not like the 850mb low orientation being elongated WSW-ENE off the DE coast which of course results in more of a NE flow at 850mb over NYC than the typical E or ESE flow you get when the 850mb low is oriented more circular as it usually is.

I am stunned I got over a foot of snow with that storm.I was expecting nothing at 6PM as well.WHen the snow did come in at 7PM I thought I would get a quick couple of inches as I expected it to dry out.Thankfully it got heavier and I ended up with a great snowfall.Still,we missed the biggest snow bust in NYC history by not a large margin.

[TheTrials]

I am stunned I got over a foot of snow with that storm.I was expecting nothing at 6PM as well.WHen the snow did come in at 7PM I thought I would get a quick couple of inches as I expected it to dry out.Thankfully it got heavier and I ended up with a great snowfall.Still,we missed the biggest snow bust in NYC history by not a large margin.

Crappy storm away from the island and north of mid-jersey. Doesnt even rank in my top 100. I have had snow squalls that were better.

[Sundog]

Crappy storm away from the island and north of mid-jersey. Doesnt even rank in my top 100. I have had snow squalls that were better.

Lol top 100. Which storm is number 100?

[TheTrials]

Lol top 100. Which storm is number 100?

Thanksgiving 1989.

[nzucker]

Crappy storm away from the island and north of mid-jersey. Doesnt even rank in my top 100. I have had snow squalls that were better.

12/19 was a mediocre storm here; dry air ate away much of the initial banding, and then a deformation zone set up from Central LI-GON with subsidence on the NW side of that deformation axis. I got 8" but wasn't too pleased to hear that SE CT and OKX saw 20"+...I think the NWS OKX measured 26.9" in that event, which seems like a lot but I have personal confirmation that rates were over 4"/hr in that band. The storm was fun for exploring outside however as conditions were quite severe in the heavier banding...>20mph winds, temperatures around 16F, and visibility around 1/4mi. I remember how the wind-blown snowflakes stung my face as I couldn't pull my hat down far enough to guard myself. We barely managed a White Christmas despite the 8" on 12/19 with a bowling ball over the Midwest cutting and destroying our snowpack. However, I went to Old Lyme on 12/21 and had a great time sledding in the 20-24" they had accumulated. Drifts were massive over there, to the point that seeing around turns while driving was a big problem. I remember accidentally turning onto Route 1 without looking, a very dangerous move, because the stop-sign and view of the intersection were blocked by snowbanks. Westchester got its revenge on 2/25 however, when CT changed to rain with temperatures in the 50s while 26" fell here.

Winter 09-10 was simply the best for juicy, unusual storms. I ended with 68" in Dobbs Ferry for Winter 09-10 compared to 69.5" this year, although snowpack and arctic outbreaks were better this past winter.

Quick shots of 2/25/10, the cap of a big winter, don't believe I've posted these before: