Rank 'Em

[TheTrials]

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

assuming they measured correctly which I am sure 99.99% of people don't, especially with the wind.

[Sundog]

Alex you got 18 inches on Boxing Day don't be a COC. Did you forget your own pictures?

[A-L-E-X]

Alex you got 18 inches on Boxing Day don't be a COC. Did you forget your own pictures?

Yeah, that's what I said lol. Circa 18.5 on Boxing Day and circa 16.5 on January 26-27.

Unless you're talking about the other Alex lol.

[Sundog]

Yeah, that's what I said lol. Circa 18.5 on Boxing Day and circa 16.5 on January 26-27.

Unless you're talking about the other Alex lol.

If anything his pics looked more impressive than mine so I really think he forgot how much snow fell. It was the only storm in my life outside the tornado to knock the power out at my house. The winds were vicious and I spent that night in my house using only the glow from outside from the streetlights reflecting off snow.

[ag3]

If anything his pics looked more impressive than mine so I really think he forgot how much snow fell. It was the only storm in my life outside the tornado to knock the power out at my house. The winds were vicious and I spent that night in my house using only the glow from outside from the streetlights reflecting off snow.

I measured 14"-16" in Astoria and 18"-20" in Bayside.

Great storm but not nearly as good as Jan. 26-27, 2011.

[ag3]

If anything his pics looked more impressive than mine so I really think he forgot how much snow fell. It was the only storm in my life outside the tornado to knock the power out at my house. The winds were vicious and I spent that night in my house using only the glow from outside from the streetlights reflecting off snow.

You were up all night with me on the night of January 26-27. You saw the insane snow while most slept. The amount of thunder was insane. The snow rates were greater then boxing day in our parts.

Boxing day was great also and would be in my top 5 all time. But no way ahead of Jan. 26-27, 2011. If that insane band over Earthlight hadn't formed and robbed most of us, Boxing day would have dropped 20"-25" on ALL of us and be no doubt the king on the past 10 years.

[MJO812]

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.

That was the best storm that I ever experienced. 25 inches of snow and 10 foot snow drifts. Just amazing.

[ag3]

Also Jan. 26-27 had strong winds also.

LGA was at blizzard levels on a couple reports. And near blizzard for more. LGA also reported thundersnow at least once.

Someone post the observations of LGA for both Boxing day and Jan. 26-27 during height of both storms.

[ag3]

That was the best storm that I ever experienced. 25 inches of snow and 10 foot snow drifts. Just amazing.

Yeah your area got buried. Only one other storm was comparable in your area. I think it was PD2.

[Sundog]

You were up all night with me on the night of January 26-27. You saw the insane snow while most slept. The amount of thunder was insane. The snow rates were greater then boxing day in our parts.

Boxing day was great also and would be in my top 5 all time. But no way ahead of Jan. 26-27, 2011. If that insane band over Earthlight hadn't formed and robbed most of us, Boxing day would have dropped 20"-25" on ALL of us and be no doubt the king on the past 10 years.

I agree the Jan storm was better but Boxing Day had more snow than what you say. At the absolute least you had 16 inches and that would have been an isolated case with higher amounts all around. Pull up a Boxing Day pic you took and post it.

[ag3]

I agree the Jan storm was better but Boxing Day had more snow than what you say. At the absolute least you had 16 inches and that would have been an isolated case with higher amounts all around. Pull up a Boxing Day pic you took and post it.

The pics I took that you have seen are street pics, affected by drifting and huge amounts being blown off roofs on my tight street. I measured 14"-16" in many areas not affected and told you that right away.

Either way a great storm that couldve been a 1996 type storm, if the ridiculous band over Jersey, hadn't stole the energy. It Wouldve been a 20"++ storm for everyone and probably most of LI also.

[MJO812]

Radar loop of the Boxing Day Storm

Yeah your area got buried. Only one other storm was comparable in your area. I think it was PD2.

Yep, PD2 was amazing in my area. Feb 2006 was alright for the area. Brooklyn only received 16 inches from that storm, while Central Park received 26.9 inches.

[CooL]

Radar loop of the Boxing Day Storm

i get destroyed by dark blues the whole time. the hi resolution radars are even better... My mouth was druling that night while watching the radar live on Wunderground. It just kept getting better and better. Best weather moment/storm of all time so far in my 19 years on earth. I was not expecting 25"+

[TheTrials]

i get destroyed by dark blues the whole time. the hi resolution radars are even better... My mouth was druling that night while watching the radar live on Wunderground. It just kept getting better and better. Best weather moment/storm of all time so far in my 19 years on earth. I was not expecting 25"+

This was better. Two part storm and a convective cell that had rotation which went right over AG3!

[NJwinter23]

Also Jan. 26-27 had strong winds also.

LGA was at blizzard levels on a couple reports. And near blizzard for more. LGA also reported thundersnow at least once.

Someone post the observations of LGA for both Boxing day and Jan. 26-27 during height of both storms.

Newark Airport recorded true blizzard conditions for 10 straight hours during the Boxing Day storm..In fact, I believe I remember looking at the METAR obs from that day and noting how Newark or Teterboro would have met blizzard conditions if they required three consecutive hours of 45+ mph winds and 1/16 mile visibility

[TheTrials]

Newark Airport recorded true blizzard conditions for 10 straight hours during the Boxing Day storm..In fact, I believe I remember looking at the METAR obs from that day and noting how Newark or Teterboro would have met blizzard conditions if they required three consecutive hours of 45+ mph winds and 1/16 mile visibility

wind is nice but not when it ruins all hope of snow fall measurement. I know it sounds silly, but not being able to see it pile up on railings and cars really ruins it for me. Even though 1/27 was windy the dendrites were much better formed with less wind.

Earthlights pictures show excellent accumulation on 12/27 as it was slightly colder to the west as the deep storm drew in warmer air to the east even though the LP was offshore and it was a little less windy.

Is it winter yet?

[NJwinter23]

wind is nice but not when it ruins all hope of snow fall measurement. I know it sounds silly, but not being able to see it pile up on railings and cars really ruins it for me. Even though 1/27 was windy the dendrites were much better formed with less wind.

Earthlights pictures show excellent accumulation on 12/27 as it was slightly colder to the west as the deep storm drew in warmer air to the east even though the LP was offshore and it was a little less windy.

Is it winter yet?

Well to each his own

Looking at the hourly obs for both storms at Laguardia:

Winds gusted to 40 mph on the nose from 7-730PM on 1/26, it was right when the thundersleet was falling (though the airport never reported thunder, just SNPL during those hours). The winds never gusted higher then 25-31mph thereafter during the really heavy snowfall rates. The temperature was also deadlocked at 32º which explains why the snow plastered onto everything you described.Heavy snow was reported at LGA from 1149pm to 151am.

Boxing Day at LGA had temps in the low-mid 20s at laguardia which is pretty similar to elsewhere to the west. +SN was reported for several hours during the first part of the storm, but down to moderate snow for much of the 2nd half qhwn the winds frequently gusted in the 40s. Rather than the wind/temps, the lighter snowfall rates outside the mega band was the reason you didn't match John's area in totals.

[TheTrials]

Well to each his own

Looking at the hourly obs for both storms at Laguardia:

Winds gusted to 40 mph on the nose from 7-730PM on 1/26, it was right when the thundersleet was falling (though the airport never reported thunder, just SNPL during those hours). The winds never gusted higher then 25-31mph thereafter during the really heavy snowfall rates. The temperature was also deadlocked at 32º which explains why the snow plastered onto everything you described.Heavy snow was reported at LGA from 1149pm to 151am.

Boxing Day at LGA had temps in the low-mid 20s at laguardia which is pretty similar to elsewhere to the west. +SN was reported for several hours during the first part of the storm, but down to moderate snow for much of the 2nd half qhwn the winds frequently gusted in the 40s. Rather than the wind/temps, the lighter snowfall rates outside the mega band was the reason you didn't match John's area in totals.

well, I actually had grauple mix in for a bit, so that didn't help. I had plenty of heavy echos, but you are right, i didn't have the mega band. Its just fun to talk about what makes people like different storms more than others.

[ag3]

Well to each his own

Looking at the hourly obs for both storms at Laguardia:

Winds gusted to 40 mph on the nose from 7-730PM on 1/26, it was right when the thundersleet was falling (though the airport never reported thunder, just SNPL during those hours). The winds never gusted higher then 25-31mph thereafter during the really heavy snowfall rates. The temperature was also deadlocked at 32º which explains why the snow plastered onto everything you described.Heavy snow was reported at LGA from 1149pm to 151am.

Boxing Day at LGA had temps in the low-mid 20s at laguardia which is pretty similar to elsewhere to the west. +SN was reported for several hours during the first part of the storm, but down to moderate snow for much of the 2nd half qhwn the winds frequently gusted in the 40s. Rather than the wind/temps, the lighter snowfall rates outside the mega band was the reason you didn't match John's area in totals.

Do you have hourly snow reports from both storms?

[ORH_wxman]

wind is nice but not when it ruins all hope of snow fall measurement. I know it sounds silly, but not being able to see it pile up on railings and cars really ruins it for me. Even though 1/27 was windy the dendrites were much better formed with less wind.

Earthlights pictures show excellent accumulation on 12/27 as it was slightly colder to the west as the deep storm drew in warmer air to the east even though the LP was offshore and it was a little less windy.

Is it winter yet?

I agree with this. I like to see the snow pile up high while being able to simultaneously take accurate measurements. The wind can "ruin" it. The exception for me is if the snow is quite wet (or starts wet and then eventually turns dry)...then the wind will make it stick to the side of everything and that gives its own unique and spectacular look. I suppose if there was 30" of snow and high winds, it really wouldn't matter as it would be a ton of snow either way, but those storms that are more like 15" with a ton of wind can produce ugly looking results with almost bare spots showing after the storm is over while other spots have 3-4 foot drifts.

[TheTrials]

I agree with this. I like to see the snow pile up high while being able to simultaneously take accurate measurements. The wind can "ruin" it. The exception for me is if the snow is quite wet (or starts wet and then eventually turns dry)...then the wind will make it stick to the side of everything and that gives its own unique and spectacular look. I suppose if there was 30" of snow and high winds, it really wouldn't matter as it would be a ton of snow either way, but those storms that are more like 15" with a ton of wind can produce ugly looking results with almost bare spots showing after the storm is over while other spots have 3-4 foot drifts.

[Diego]

Not that I'm against effective and large measurements, but I prefer wind to measurements because of its' visual appeal. You can't beat the combination of heavily falling and blowing and drifting snow, especially when visibilities are virtually reduced to 0 or white out conditions,

[CooL]

wind is nice but not when it ruins all hope of snow fall measurement. I know it sounds silly, but not being able to see it pile up on railings and cars really ruins it for me. Even though 1/27 was windy the dendrites were much better formed with less wind.

Earthlights pictures show excellent accumulation on 12/27 as it was slightly colder to the west as the deep storm drew in warmer air to the east even though the LP was offshore and it was a little less windy.

Is it winter yet?

agree, which is why i had a gun to my head on feb 5-6 2010. That storm was a heavy wet QPF loaded snowstorm. Would have dropped in excess of 2 feet if it didnt get bullied by the PV.. The only wind exception is dec 2010 when there was just so much snow it didnt matter lol

[A-L-E-X]

Newark Airport recorded true blizzard conditions for 10 straight hours during the Boxing Day storm..In fact, I believe I remember looking at the METAR obs from that day and noting how Newark or Teterboro would have met blizzard conditions if they required three consecutive hours of 45+ mph winds and 1/16 mile visibility

If there wasnt a temp requirement they could have met heavy blizzard requirements also. I had winds up to 70 mph here, almost hurricane force, did JFK meet blizzard requirements too? I think it's the first blizzard since 1978 which was a true blizzard pretty much areawide.

[A-L-E-X]

The fact is if you go over all the major snowstorms over the past 2 winters, you can find a reason to like any of them more than the others-- they were all great for some portion of our area at least:

Dec 2009 -- buried most of Long Island in 20"+

Feb 2010 (I) -- seems to get forgotten a bit, but it was another two parter, when it wasnt snowing by midday people were getting upset and then it came in like a freaking hurricane in the early afternoon and we piled on the snow.

Feb 2010 (II) -- the great retrocane storm that took the unusual path and dumped either all heavy snow or heavy rain to heavy snow

Dec 2010 -- best combination of wind and snow since probably Feb 1978

Jan 2011 -- best two part storm I have ever seen, besting Dec 2003 here

All of the above dumped at least 14 inches of snow here.

We also remember the fact that we got screwed on Feb 5-6,2010 in what could have been a 20"+ HECS region wide but we got at most a few inches in the southern areas to nothing at all from NYC north and Jan 11, 2011 when we were sideswiped by a snowstorm that dumped 20" of snow on the north shore of Long Island and 30"+ amounts in CT but only 6-10" around here.

[MJO812]

i get destroyed by dark blues the whole time. the hi resolution radars are even better... My mouth was druling that night while watching the radar live on Wunderground. It just kept getting better and better. Best weather moment/storm of all time so far in my 19 years on earth. I was not expecting 25"+

I was also in utter shock. I was trying to go into my backyard but I couldn't get out of the house because of the winds and the snow drifts. Hopefully we see a repeat of this next winter.

[MJO812]

agree, which is why i had a gun to my head on feb 5-6 2010. That storm was a heavy wet QPF loaded snowstorm. Would have dropped in excess of 2 feet if it didnt get bullied by the PV.. The only wind exception is dec 2010 when there was just so much snow it didnt matter lol

Feb 25-26 should have dropped over 2 feet of snow in the area. We lost a lot of qpf in the morning hours.

[Sundog]

Do you have hourly snow reports from both storms?

Rays winter storm archive should have all the obs.

[A-L-E-X]

Feb 25-26 should have dropped over 2 feet of snow in the area. We lost a lot of qpf in the morning hours.

I think one of these years we will get 50" plus of snow in a month.... so many close calls in Feb 2010 and places well to our south have already done it so we can too.

[Neblizzard]

Not to get off topic here but i strongly doubt we will see another strong La Nina for winter 2011-2012, even a neutral or weak La Nina would set the stage for a potentially cold and stormy winter especially if we can get the Atlantic to cooperate once again. So far the Atlantic ssts looks favorable for more sustained blocking, but it's only june and there is plenty of time..