Rank 'Em

[ag3]

What about Boxing Day 2010?

Boxing day wasn't great everywhere. Parts of Queens only received 12"-14".

Jan. 27, 2011 is the king in this area. I had at least a dozen lightning strikes with rates of 2"-4" for several hours.

I put Jan. 27, 2011 in 2nd all time behind 1996. Boxing day is not in my top 5 either.

1996 however is way ahead of anything for me. It's on a different level.

[nzucker]

Boxing day wasn't great everywhere. Parts of Queens only received 12"-14".

Jan. 27, 2011 is the king in this area. I had at least a dozen lightning strikes with rates of 2"-4" for several hours.

I put Jan. 27, 2011 in 2nd all time behind 1996. Boxing day is not in my top 5 either.

1996 however is way ahead of anything for me. It's on a different level.

Boxing Day is not in my Top 5...I only picked up 13" in the storm as I sat in long periods of subsidence due to being east of the mega-band over NE NJ, although I have to admit it was a difficult measurement, so it may be a bit conservative. I deliberately attempted to be conservative since I knew how easy it would be to overestimate with the insane drifting. I had to take an average of 10 measurements, since there were areas that literally retained just a skiff of snow, while other places had 4-foot mounds. I will never forget the walk I took during the storm with the insane winds rattling the trees; my friend and I decided not to go into the nature preserve for fear of falling limbs. The combination of temperatures around 17F, heavy snowfall rates, and 50-60mph wind gusts did make that a life-changing, transformative evening...nothing like seeing the power of nature. At the same time, given all the great storms we've had, and the fact that 2/25/10 also had high winds as well as many other Nor'easters, I felt the low total in Boxing Day disqualified it from Top 5. It would make the Top 10, however.

If I had started following weather earlier, I'm not sure I would've even put 1/27 in there either. I was away for PDII and have but vague memories of January 2005 and December 2003. It's interesting....I remember XMAS 2002, the brutal cold of January 2004, the cold/Hudson River freezing in Jan 2005, and Feb 2006 much better than I do the Jan '05 storm or the Dec '03 storm. Those just seem to have slipped my memory a bit. In any case, I only measured 14" in 1/27...that puts it on par with 1/12/11 and 1/22/05, much less than classics like the 2010 Snowicane (26") and Feb 12 2006 (20"). However, I feel that 1/27 symbolized much more...it was the capping achievement of an historic winter, a storm which pushed my snowpack to over 2', one of the deepest packs I've ever seen. It was a storm surrounded by snow...we had 2" from an Ohio Valley clipper the morning before, 4" in the first wave of overrunning, and then another quarter inch the following night with a weak clipper swinging through. Pretty much the epitome of winter. And it had stunning snowfall rates with thunder; the night is just etched in my wind with snow rapidly piling up on an already snow-covered landscape.

1/27:

[CooL]

Ahhh the memories with the Jan 26th storm. I remember the Euro was showing a mega storm like 1993 and we get flooded to the max while Henry Margusity got 6 feet... I remember seeing H5 close off over NOLA..LOL those runs were insane, and it looked almost impossible for us to get snow. I remember the blocking wasnt really there so thats why everyone was like no way this can work out for us..QPF was off with that storm too. The NAM always showed like 0.75" total for us with no first batch and i ended up with like 19" total. Models really did suck last winter, the atmosphere owned them

[Sundog]

Ahhh the memories with the Jan 26th storm. I remember the Euro was showing a mega storm like 1993 and we get flooded to the max while Henry Margusity got 6 feet... I remember seeing H5 close off over NOLA..LOL those runs were insane, and it looked almost impossible for us to get snow. I remember the blocking wasnt really there so thats why everyone was like no way this can work out for us..QPF was off with that storm too. The NAM always showed like 0.75" total for us with no first batch and i ended up with like 19" total. Models really did suck last winter, the atmosphere owned them

That was the storm where every PA member and their mothers repeated again and again that there was no way it could snow in the NYC area and that that storm was theirs. All this from like 5 days out mind you. They were more confident than earthlight posting a 200 hour heat prog.

[RutgersWx92]

Boxing day wasn't great everywhere. Parts of Queens only received 12"-14".

Jan. 27, 2011 is the king in this area. I had at least a dozen lightning strikes with rates of 2"-4" for several hours.

I put Jan. 27, 2011 in 2nd all time behind 1996. Boxing day is not in my top 5 either.

1996 however is way ahead of anything for me. It's on a different level.

Oh I totally realize that Boxing Day wasn't great everywhere. I was caught in the subsidence just west of the NE NJ megaband and only got like 9 inches in my backyard. I wouldn't put that storm in my top 10 even. But I thought for where the poster I replied to lived (East Brunswick), the storm was really memorable, and I was just surprised he didn't put it on his list.

January 26-27, 2011 is my personal favorite storm of all time. Nice overperforming front-end dump in the morning, followed by an epic night of thunder sleet/snow and incredible snowfall rates of 2-4'' per hour, some of the heaviest I've ever seen. Surely Blizzard of 1996 would've exceeded it if I hadn't been too young to remember it, and December 30, 2000 probably would have also (it was absolutely incredible around here), but I was away that weekend and have very vague memories of it anyway. PDII produced more snow here than 1/27/11, but it didn't have the same kind of epic snowfall rates and lightning, and I was still pretty young when it happened.

[Neblizzard]

FOr me it's the December 26th storm, I live in union county and we got just as much snow as the blizzard of 96....and we did it in half the amount of time. Truly incredible...

[A-L-E-X]

My top 5:

Feb 2003

Jan 1996

Feb 1983

Dec 2010

Jan 2011

[green tube]

What about Boxing Day 2010?

this is purely subjective, but somehow (and in all honestly i know this sounds absurd) but i never experienced a "mother of god" moment during that storm...... despite 20"

actually my favorite moment of the boxer day storm was when i saw the full radar loop of the event that was posted a few days later. it was pretty much a perfect storm, no pun intended. yep. yep. i have no excuse for not putting it on the list... but i guess that's what makes this thread interesting.

jan96,

dec2000

jan27, 2011

all gave me "holy mother of god" moments

and feb 78 was on my list because i was a kid and it was my first blizzard... and it was genuinely a classic.

[green tube]

Yeah Jan 27 2011 was a great storm but not good enough for top 5 here.

it was the greatest over-performer of all time IMBY.

8" in 2 hours was what put it so high on my list.

[ag3]

Nate,

You received 14" on Jan. 26-27?

Is that just from part 2?

How about from the surprise overrunning part 1?

I received 4"-5" of surprise in morning and then an additional 13"-15" from part 2.

[TheTrials]

Boxing day wasn't great everywhere. Parts of Queens only received 12"-14".

Jan. 27, 2011 is the king in this area. I had at least a dozen lightning strikes with rates of 2"-4" for several hours.

I put Jan. 27, 2011 in 2nd all time behind 1996. Boxing day is not in my top 5 either.

1996 however is way ahead of anything for me. It's on a different level.

I feel like boxing day has a bigger reputation than it deserves for the following reasons

1) The model chaos prior to the event made it a great story

2) NYC screwed up the cleanup (they should have been able to handle that and if they did it would have been a lot different in terms of impact)

3) Extreme winds (which actualyl hurt the snow totals for many)

4) So close to X-Mas gave it a special feel

However, the big totals were really localized, whereas PDII and Blizz 96 really spread the love around.

[forkyfork]

march 2001

jan 06

feb 5, 2010

january 2003

dec 2007

[Stormlover74]

It's funny with how great a winter 09-10 was that few people mention any of the storms from that winter...for me the Dec 09 and Feb 26 were just 10-12" type variety and nothing special except for the fact that Feb 26 was just such an unusual event. I did like the Feb 10 event however since most of it took place during the day. I spent much of Jan 96 on a bus and though we still got 18" out in central PA it didnt compare with the video I saw of what occurred back home. The Blizzard of 93 was special because it was out biggest storm in a decade so at the time a 12" storm was quite monumental and quite rare, though my area got about the same in Jan 87 so with that being said my faves are:

1. Dec 26 2010, just an incredible storm, everything came together perfectly and I lucked out being in the deformation band for hours and hours....true blizzard conditions

2. Feb 83 - first storm I really remembered. Was 8 years old and even though I recall other snows this one even at that age I knew was a big one. Remember it starting in the morning and getting out of school early, thunder and lightning, waiting for my dad to get home from work. Took him over 5 hours to drive the 40 miles. Went ou the next morning and measured 19" but drifts as high as our 4 foot fence. Wasn't even a fun snow because when its waist high there isn't much you can do with it!

3. Jan 22, 2005 - probably because I was out in it for most of the duration. Was in philly that morning and left early afternoon with about 4" on the ground. Drove home in incredibly heavy snow all the way up the turnpike..took approximately 5 hours, but seeing nobody on the road and being out in the heavy snow made it a cool storm. Plus the next morning we had some blizzard conditions as the coastal low wrapped up and moved away

4. Feb 2003 - just the duration and how long it took the snow to get going made this one special....

5. March 93 - first major storm in 6 years, for so late in the season it was just an incredible storm. The consistency and the fact that it changed to sleet and rain made cleaning up very difficult. Didnt go back to school until the following wednesday, more than 72 hours after the snow stopped falling

[CAT5ANDREW]

Boxing day wasn't great everywhere. Parts of Queens only received 12"-14". Jan. 27, 2011 is the king in this area. I had at least a dozen lightning strikes with rates of 2"-4" for several hours. I put Jan. 27, 2011 in 2nd all time behind 1996. Boxing day is not in my top 5 either.1996 however is way ahead of anything for me. It's on a different level.

I believe that amount is underdone as I had 22 inches here in Rego Park.Nassau and Suffolk got less than I did but everyone I spoke to agrees about the winds and the drifting that this was the mose intense that they could remember.1996 was a completly different storm,that was a CAT 5 storm.That will never be taken away from it and it will always be the champ as far as total accumulations go here in Queens county.But that 5 hour period from 8PM to 1AM will be tough to equal let alone surpass in my lifetime as far as wind and snowfall combined.

[uncle W]

I'll give my top 5 in chronological order.

The winter of 1977-1978 was the most memorable of the 1970's for snow .

Although the February 1978 blizzard was the most intense of the 1970's,my

favorite storm of that winter was the surprise snowstorm of 1/19-1/20.

I went to bed that evening listening to NOAA Weather Radio calling for rain.

The next morning I could not believe that there was over a foot of snow on the ground

and school was closed.This is at the top of my list for all time favorite weather surprises.

..........................

The night of the 1/19-20th storm it was snowing heavy from the start...I watched Allan Kasper on TV that night and he said the rain snow line was actually moving south instead of north and called for 4-8" while others were calling for much less...I went home around midnight and we already had 4" on the ground...We had two other storms just before this one that changed to rain...I was surprised we got 14" before it finally changed to sleet and freezing rain/drizzle...A great storm...

[ag3]

I believe that amount is underdone as I had 22 inches here in Rego Park.Nassau and Suffolk got less than I did but everyone I spoke to agrees about the winds and the drifting that this was the mose intense that they could remember.1996 was a completly different storm,that was a CAT 5 storm.That will never be taken away from it and it will always be the champ as far as total accumulations go here in Queens county.But that 5 hour period from 8PM to 1AM will be tough to equal let alone surpass in my lifetime as far as wind and snowfall combined.

I am in Queens and had no more then 14" from Boxing day.

The period from 11pm-4am on Jan. 26-27, 2011 will never be matched in my lifetime. 2"-4" an hour rates, non-stop thunder and lightning and intense accumulations. Had 14" in a very short period, along with the 4"-5" of surprise overunning in the morning.

Jan. 1996 is the king though for overall storm. Winds, ridiculous accumulations that were very widespread and cold temps. 1996 caused havoc for a few days after also, and thats with the city actually trying to clean up.

Best radar capture probably in my lifetime, during Jan. 26-27, 2011 snowstorm...3" an hour rates and 10+ lightning strikes with loud thunder for an hour straight

[forkyfork]

I am in Queens and had no more then 14" from Boxing day.

The period from 11pm-4am on Jan. 26-27, 2011 will never be matched in my lifetime. 2"-4" an hour rates, non-stop thunder and lightning and intense accumulations. Had 14" in a very short period, along with the 4"-5" of surprise overunning in the morning.

Jan. 1996 is the king though for overall storm. Winds, ridiculous accumulations that were very widespread and cold temps. 1996 caused havoc for a few days after also, and thats with the city actually trying to clean up.

Best radar capture probably in my lifetime, during Jan. 26-27, 2011 snowstorm...3" an hour rates and 10+ lightning strikes with loud thunder for an hour straight

i got 18" from jan 27th and boxing day had better rates

[ag3]

i got 18" from jan 27th and boxing day had better rates

Agreed for your area. Not in my part of town.

[TheTrials]

Agreed for your area. Not in my part of town.

love seeing all these responses, its so location dependent. Wait till some more of the LI guys chime in as March 2009 gave several of them close to 2 feet while earthlight barely scraped out 5 inches IIRC.

[forkyfork]

Agreed for your area. Not in my part of town.

how did you not get 18+ from boxing day?

[CAT5ANDREW]

I am in Queens and had no more then 14" from Boxing day.The period from 11pm-4am on Jan. 26-27, 2011 will never be matched in my lifetime. 2"-4" an hour rates, non-stop thunder and lightning and intense accumulations. Had 14" in a very short period, along with the 4"-5" of surprise overunning in the morning. Jan. 1996 is the king though for overall storm. Winds, ridiculous accumulations that were very widespread and cold temps. 1996 caused havoc for a few days after also, and thats with the city actually trying to clean up. Best radar capture probably in my lifetime, during Jan. 26-27, 2011 snowstorm...3" an hour rates and 10+ lightning strikes with loud thunder for an hour straight<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/ilc37t.jpg" /> <img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/mlgshe.jpg" />

You are only a few miles East of me.Are you sure you measured right?THe wind really made it nearly impossible to get a true measurement.

I was underground in the subways from 12AM to 230AM and I was shocked at how much had fallen in that 2 and 1/2 hour period.I saw 12 inches fall in 3 hours during FEB 12th 2006 but the band stopped right over my area so you probably dont remember that.

As impressive as JAN 26-27th was,it was nothing like The boxing day storm.The digout was much easier and there was little if any drifting.

As impressive as our winter was though,Parts of the MD and VA had nearly 60 inches in from FEB 1-10 2010.

[A-L-E-X]

how did you not get 18+ from boxing day?

Those amounts are pretty accurate as I got about 18.5 from Boxing Day and 16.5 from Jan 26-27

[A-L-E-X]

I am in Queens and had no more then 14" from Boxing day.

The period from 11pm-4am on Jan. 26-27, 2011 will never be matched in my lifetime. 2"-4" an hour rates, non-stop thunder and lightning and intense accumulations. Had 14" in a very short period, along with the 4"-5" of surprise overunning in the morning.

Jan. 1996 is the king though for overall storm. Winds, ridiculous accumulations that were very widespread and cold temps. 1996 caused havoc for a few days after also, and thats with the city actually trying to clean up.

Best radar capture probably in my lifetime, during Jan. 26-27, 2011 snowstorm...3" an hour rates and 10+ lightning strikes with loud thunder for an hour straight

I just wish that part had occurred during the day because we all got to share in on the heaviest snowfall rates!

[A-L-E-X]

I believe that amount is underdone as I had 22 inches here in Rego Park.Nassau and Suffolk got less than I did but everyone I spoke to agrees about the winds and the drifting that this was the mose intense that they could remember.1996 was a completly different storm,that was a CAT 5 storm.That will never be taken away from it and it will always be the champ as far as total accumulations go here in Queens county.But that 5 hour period from 8PM to 1AM will be tough to equal let alone surpass in my lifetime as far as wind and snowfall combined.

Andrew, we supposedly had 22 inches here but it looked like a lot more than PD2, even though we got 28 inches in that blizzard. I heard parts of Suffolk County around Babylon and Bayshore got 29-32 inches from Jan 1996. We got into a bit of a dry slot on the second day of the storm and the sun even came out for a bit, or else we all would have gotten around 30 inches.

[NJwinter23]

I think in Earthlight's area on into Monmouth county....Dec 26, 2010 has to be up there, and likely #1. I mean that storm had insane rates combined with wind. A true blizzard.

I constantly debate 96 or Boxing Day 2010 for #1. It isn't easy to pick one in large part because I was only 8 during 96 and last year's is soo fresh in my mind that it might not be fair to judge just yet. 2010 though does give me the "I can die happy now" mentality when I think back on it.

While I remember 96 vividly, I can't fathom the true Meteorological experience like I could the storm last Dec.. 96 did have about 5" more snow in my specific town (~30") and was longer duration, but certainly it was not as intense and consistent with snowfall rates/epic winds as 2010. Still though, 96 was no slouch in those 2 regards, and the winds were comparable along the Jersey shore, albeit a bit weaker (probably was still a true blizzard in these parts like Trenton I'm confident).

I want to give 96 the benefit of the doubt as #1 still because it was more widespread, really fueled my interest in the field at a young age, and was embedded in the greatest winter.

Dec 2010. People that live along the gsp for years say that was the worse blizzard they experience . People where snowed in, literally . I will never forget what I saw plowing that night. Gsp a parking lot for two days. The state towing cars to the art center. It was a lake shore drive. I remember talking to john and gkrangers that saying hands down the worse we ever seen. Local stations on xmass eve saying no snow and 24 hours later 12-18. Just a unreal turn if event. Plowing one drive lane and hanging ur head out the window to see backing up, and having a. 25 of snow on ur next pass. Winds made it impossible to see.

Hands down the most crippling impact I've ever seen a snowstorm do. I really didn't think it was possible for neighborhoods to be unplowed for 4 days due to a snowstorm in this day and age. Every single storm since 96 I've seen a plow move through my neihborhood at least once or twice during the storm, even in the bad ones like PDII..Not until 5PM the following day did a plow enter on the 27th though.. and our Twp was pretty prepared, calling all houses and telling them to keep cars off the streets or be towed.

Yeah Jan 27 2011 was a great storm but not good enough for top 5 here.

I have never seen 8" of snow in a 2 hour period before. I didn't even think that could happen around here, let alone in the 10:1 ratio fasion that it did it in. This wasn't 8" of dry, fluffy, high ratio powder that fell in 2 hours. This was 0.4"/hour liquid equivalent pouring down. We also still had some 30-40 mph winds mixed in to make visibility < 1/8 mile at times. Including the surprise 4" we started out with in the morning along with thundersleet, what a great long storm this was that also put us over the top for the best packed down snowcover i've ever seen.

In fact, I just convinced myself to include it in my top 5.

1a)Blizz 96 / 1b)Boxing Day 2010

3)PDII

4)Jan 22-23, 2005

5)Jan 26-27, 2011

Notable mentions

6)Dec. 30, 2000

7)Feb 9-10, 2010

8)Feb 12-13, 2006

9)Dec 19-20, 2009

10)Dec 5-6, 2003

[TheTrials]

I constantly debate 96 or Boxing Day 2010 for #1. It isn't easy to pick one in large part because I was only 8 during 96 and last year's is soo fresh in my mind that it might not be fair to judge just yet. 2010 though does give me the "I can die happy now" mentality when I think back on it.

While I remember 96 vividly, I can't fathom the true Meteorological experience like I could the storm last Dec.. 96 did have about 5" more snow in my specific town (~30") and was longer duration, but certainly it was not as intense and consistent with snowfall rates/epic winds as 2010. Still though, 96 was no slouch in those 2 regards, and the winds were comparable along the Jersey shore, albeit a bit weaker (probably was still a true blizzard in these parts like Trenton I'm confident).

I want to give 96 the benefit of the doubt as #1 still because it was more widespread, really fueled my interest in the field at a young age, and was embedded in the greatest winter.

Hands down the most crippling impact I've ever seen a snowstorm do. I really didn't think it was possible for neighborhoods to be unplowed for 4 days due to a snowstorm in this day and age. Every single storm since 96 I've seen a plow move through my neihborhood at least once or twice during the storm, even in the bad ones like PDII..Not until 5PM the following day did a plow enter on the 27th though.. and our Twp was pretty prepared, calling all houses and telling them to keep cars off the streets or be towed.

I have never seen 8" of snow in a 2 hour period before. I didn't even think that could happen around here, let alone in the 10:1 ratio fasion that it did it in. This wasn't 8" of dry, fluffy, high ratio powder that fell in 2 hours. This was 0.4"/hour liquid equivalent pouring down. We also still had some 30-40 mph winds mixed in to make visibility < 1/8 mile at times. Including the surprise 4" we started out with in the morning along with thundersleet, what a great long storm this was that also put us over the top for the best packed down snowcover i've ever seen.

In fact, I just convinced myself to include it in my top 5.

1a)Blizz 96 / 1b)Boxing Day 2010

3)PDII

4)Jan 22-23, 2005

5)Jan 26-27, 2011

Notable mentions

6)Dec. 30, 2000

7)Feb 9-10, 2010

8)Feb 12-13, 2006

9)Dec 19-20, 2009

10)Dec 5-6, 2003

Well played, well played.

[ag3]

how did you not get 18+ from boxing day?

You just posted a map that shows most of Queens in the 14"-20" shade. I live in NW Queens, Astoria. 14"-16" max was my measurement. LGA confirms.

Jan. 26-27 produced 17"-20" in this area. I enjoyed the storm the most because of the intense lightning and thunder while it was pouring snow. Boxing day had a couple of lightning bolts as well, but no where near the amount I experienced around midnight on Jan. 27, 2011

[ag3]

You are only a few miles East of me.Are you sure you measured right?THe wind really made it nearly impossible to get a true measurement.

I was underground in the subways from 12AM to 230AM and I was shocked at how much had fallen in that 2 and 1/2 hour period.I saw 12 inches fall in 3 hours during FEB 12th 2006 but the band stopped right over my area so you probably dont remember that.

As impressive as JAN 26-27th was,it was nothing like The boxing day storm.The digout was much easier and there was little if any drifting.

As impressive as our winter was though,Parts of the MD and VA had nearly 60 inches in from FEB 1-10 2010.

I live in Astoria, Queens. NW Queens.

Bayside was my old home but I still work there. Bayside had more snow. I measured 18"-20" the next day in Bayside.

[nzucker]

Nate,

You received 14" on Jan. 26-27?

Is that just from part 2?

How about from the surprise overrunning part 1?

I received 4"-5" of surprise in morning and then an additional 13"-15" from part 2.

I had 4" from the morning and 10" at night, for a total of 14"...it was the second largest storm of the season for me with 1/12 the highest at 14.5" accumulation.

Best radar capture probably in my lifetime, during Jan. 26-27, 2011 snowstorm...3" an hour rates and 10+ lightning strikes with loud thunder for an hour straight

Looking at that radar, you can see why I didn't get as much...only 20-25dbz in Westchester whereas you were near 40dbz.

[A-L-E-X]

Looking at that map, some place in northern Manhattan probably got 20"+