Rank 'Em

[uncle W]

1993-94 and 1995-96 must be near the top for total hours with frozen precipitation falling...Maybe 1919-20 had more but I'm not sure...

[Thunderdude]

The top 3 most memorable winters of my life time were the

1995-96

2010-2011

1993-94

[A-L-E-X]

It wasn't even that good for NYC bro. Regardless of the dry air, it was a real fast mover. In ten years, people won't even remember that the storm occured.

NYC had 10 inches of snow but EWR and LGA both got only 8 or so and although JFK got 15, I still wasnt happy with the storm because it was such a quick mover and was gone by the time I woke up at daybreak. Suffolk County was a different story of course, where they got close to 30 inches and the storm lingered thru the morning.

[A-L-E-X]

The top 3 most memorable winters of my life time were the

1995-96

2010-2011

1993-94

dont forget 2002-03!

[Thunderdude]

dont forget 2002-03!

Another good one that lasted for almost 6 months where the first frozen precipation fell in the end of October and of course the last snowstorm came in April.

[ORH_wxman]

Another good one that lasted for almost 6 months where the first frozen precipation fell in the end of October and of course the last snowstorm came in April.

'02-'03 was a great winter from Virginia to New England. I think its really the last classic winter that slammed everyone. Last year screwed DCA to BWI, the year before screwed New England, '04-'05 screwed DCA/BWI again.

But '02-'03 had it all and is almost underrated nowadays in my book. I think the recent winters have sort of put that one on the back burner of people's memories. It had Miller Bs, Miller As, clippers, inland specials, coastal specials, good snow pack, and some solid arctic outbreaks. That winter gave something good for everyone.

[Sundog]

NYC had 10 inches of snow but EWR and LGA both got only 8 or so and although JFK got 15, I still wasnt happy with the storm because it was such a quick mover and was gone by the time I woke up at daybreak. Suffolk County was a different story of course, where they got close to 30 inches and the storm lingered thru the morning.

LGA did not really have 8 inches, I can assure you that. This is the day after the storm, about 3 miles east of LGA:

Not 15 inches like JFK, but not 8 either.

[TheTrials]

LGA did not really have 8 inches, I can assure you that. This is the day after the storm, about 3 miles east of LGA:

Not 15 inches like JFK, but not 8 either.

that looks no worse than a run of the mill clipper. Stupid storm that shouldn't even be called a storm.

[A-L-E-X]

that looks no worse than a run of the mill clipper. Stupid storm that shouldn't even be called a storm.

I agree it should be called the one foot flizzard lol. It looks like about a foot of snow which makes me wonder about the NYC total also. I know we were all suspicious with all the integer totals that winter, particularly the 10.0 in the first February storm, which was the measurement in the middle of the storm and which they kept as the storm total even though it snowed moderate to heavy another 2-3 hours.

[Isotherm]

'02-'03 was a great winter from Virginia to New England. I think its really the last classic winter that slammed everyone. Last year screwed DCA to BWI, the year before screwed New England, '04-'05 screwed DCA/BWI again.

But '02-'03 had it all and is almost underrated nowadays in my book. I think the recent winters have sort of put that one on the back burner of people's memories. It had Miller Bs, Miller As, clippers, inland specials, coastal specials, good snow pack, and some solid arctic outbreaks. That winter gave something good for everyone.

No doubt 02-03 was an excellent winter, but each of the past two winters surpassed it (for my area at least). 02-03 only had one 12"+ event, PD II, while 10-11 had a HECS, MECS (16.5") and a SECS. In addition, snow pack duration was much more impressive this past winter compared to 02-03, and that's a pretty important factor in my mind. 09-10 had a HECS and 3 MECS events for me, so beats 02-03 by a long shot.

It's amazing, I thought I was living in great times for the 02-05 period with consecutive winters of 40-50"+, but I never thought I'd be looking at 58-70"+ consecutive winters only a few years later! The entire 2000-2011 period has been absolutely phenomenal time for snow lovers, a period which rivals the 1960s for sure.

[A-L-E-X]

No doubt 02-03 was an excellent winter, but each of the past two winters surpassed it (for my area at least). 02-03 only had one 12"+ event, PD II, while 10-11 had a HECS, MECS (16.5") and a SECS. In addition, snow pack duration was much more impressive this past winter compared to 02-03, and that's a pretty important factor in my mind. 09-10 had a HECS and 3 MECS events for me, so beats 02-03 by a long shot.

It's amazing, I thought I was living in great times for the 02-05 period with consecutive winters of 40-50"+, but I never thought I'd be looking at 58-70"+ consecutive winters only a few years later!

I rank 02-03 higher in terms of total snowfall here (60"), biggest single snowfall by a wide margin (28"), much longer duration of snowfall season (lasted thru April 7 with a significant snowstorm that day.)

[Sundog]

I rank 02-03 higher in terms of total snowfall here (60"), biggest single snowfall by a wide margin (28"), much longer duration of snowfall season (lasted thru April 7 with a significant snowstorm that day.)

That April storm stuck with such ease and speed on all surfaces in the middle of the day that you would have thought it was the dead of winter. Definitely one of the best significant April snows this area has ever seen.

[A-L-E-X]

That April storm stuck with such ease and speed on all surfaces in the middle of the day that you would have thought it was the dead of winter. Definitely one of the best significant April snows this area has ever seen.

I call that the sun angle killer storm for that reason lol. Whenever someone brings out a line about the sun angle, mention that storm to get them to be quiet lol. We got 6-7 inches of snow here, all during the day. It actually ended right around sunset.

[ORH_wxman]

No doubt 02-03 was an excellent winter, but each of the past two winters surpassed it (for my area at least). 02-03 only had one 12"+ event, PD II, while 10-11 had a HECS, MECS (16.5") and a SECS. In addition, snow pack duration was much more impressive this past winter compared to 02-03, and that's a pretty important factor in my mind. 09-10 had a HECS and 3 MECS events for me, so beats 02-03 by a long shot.

It's amazing, I thought I was living in great times for the 02-05 period with consecutive winters of 40-50"+, but I never thought I'd be looking at 58-70"+ consecutive winters only a few years later! The entire 2000-2011 period has been absolutely phenomenal time for snow lovers, a period which rivals the 1960s for sure.

Well certainly most areas have a better winter than '02-'03. I was talking the Northeast as a whole. I'll take '92-'93, '04-'05, '00-'01, etc over '02-'03 for IMBY, but other areas of the northeast got jobbed in those winters.

'02-'03 was the last classic winter that gave everyone a good or great winter. '95-'96 before that.

[A-L-E-X]

Well certainly most areas have a better winter than '02-'03. I was talking the Northeast as a whole. I'll take '92-'93, '04-'05, '00-'01, etc over '02-'03 for IMBY, but other areas of the northeast got jobbed in those winters.

'02-'03 was the last classic winter that gave everyone a good or great winter. '95-'96 before that.

Hey Will, now that we have you here, did you see Unc's thread on ENSO? Do you see any signs favoring weak el nino over neutral? I think he posted some stats showing if we go +0.2 by September the chances are really good we will have a weak el nino for next winter.

[CAT5ANDREW]

LGA did not really have 8 inches, I can assure you that. This is the day after the storm, about 3 miles east of LGA:Not 15 inches like JFK, but not 8 either.

Everyone here in NYC who got this much snow should feel blessed as this storm had all the makings of a FEB 1989 disaster.I honestly believed that after the inital burst of mod-heavy snow at 1PM which stopped in 15 minutes with a brightening sky that the storm was going to miss us.It is a miracle that we got into the heavy snow around 630PM.I wont ever complain about the 14 inches I had,it just as well could have been 0.It reminded me a bit of PD1 in 1979 with the sharp snow gradients.

[RutgersWx92]

I hate night time storms too-- thats why I take Dec 2009 right off my list. We were all waiting for it to snow and I stayed up all night the previous night and when it finally started snowing the next night I was too tired and passed out and when I woke up the sun was coming up and the snow storm was over. That's my pet peeve about last winter too-- the storms ended before daybreak and the damn sun came out.

Yeah that's been the one downside of the past two winters -- most of the storms have been nighttime storms. The bulk of the snow from December 2009 occurred at night, much of the snow from February 25-26, 2010 occurred when it was dark (where I live, at least), and the bulk of the three major storms last winter (Boxing Day, January 11-12, and January 26-27) occurred at night. The one exception to that was the February 10, 2010 storm, which had very heavy snow in the daytime, which was totally awesome. I loved that storm; it ranks as my second favorite storm of all time (second to 1/26-27).

[MJO812]

The top 3 most memorable winters of my life time were the

1995-96

2010-2011

1993-94

Mine is the same except for 1993-1994. I would put 2002-2003 in place of that.

[TheTrials]

Everyone here in NYC who got this much snow should feel blessed as this storm had all the makings of a FEB 1989 disaster.I honestly believed that after the inital burst of mod-heavy snow at 1PM which stopped in 15 minutes with a brightening sky that the storm was going to miss us.It is a miracle that we got into the heavy snow around 630PM.I wont ever complain about the 14 inches I had,it just as well could have been 0.It reminded me a bit of PD1 in 1979 with the sharp snow gradients.

Agree 100%. That storm was a lot further away than people realize and really the models did a terrible job forecasting it both in the long and short range.

[tamarack]

'02-'03 was a great winter from Virginia to New England. I think its really the last classic winter that slammed everyone. Last year screwed DCA to BWI, the year before screwed New England, '04-'05 screwed DCA/BWI again.

But '02-'03 had it all and is almost underrated nowadays in my book. I think the recent winters have sort of put that one on the back burner of people's memories. It had Miller Bs, Miller As, clippers, inland specials, coastal specials, good snow pack, and some solid arctic outbreaks. That winter gave something good for everyone.

02-03 was a long winter, starting with a 7.5" event in mid-November and with over 140 days of snowcover IMBY, but it had only 67.8" snowfall, over 20" below my avg. It's my coldest winter here, but snowfall was kind of meh. Except for the almost 14" on Jan. 4-5, the big storms remained south for most of Maine. However, your comment seems right on for the Bos-Wash megalopolis.

[weatherMA]

Yeah that's been the one downside of the past two winters -- most of the storms have been nighttime storms. The bulk of the snow from December 2009 occurred at night, much of the snow from February 25-26, 2010 occurred when it was dark (where I live, at least), and the bulk of the three major storms last winter (Boxing Day, January 11-12, and January 26-27) occurred at night. The one exception to that was the February 10, 2010 storm, which had very heavy snow in the daytime, which was totally awesome. I loved that storm; it ranks as my second favorite storm of all time (second to 1/26-27).

This. Even here, in central mass, the major storms this year were mostly at night. The best snow rates for me ever was January 12th from 3-7am...I beilive I got 10-11" in those 4 hours. I was up for it, (obviously ) but it would have been much better if it happened during the daylight hours. 1/12, 1/27, 12/26, and even 4/1 up here where 4" fell, all occurred at night. I just wish one snowstorm could start at like 9am and finish around 1am. That would be perfect.

[TheTrials]

02-03 was a long winter, starting with a 7.5" event in mid-November and with over 140 days of snowcover IMBY, but it had only 67.8" snowfall, over 20" below my avg. It's my coldest winter here, but snowfall was kind of meh. Except for the almost 14" on Jan. 4-5, the big storms remained south for most of Maine. However, your comment seems right on for the Bos-Wash megalopolis.

coming right after the dud of 01-02 made it even better.

[CAT5ANDREW]

Agree 100%. That storm was a lot further away than people realize and really the models did a terrible job forecasting it both in the long and short range.

People here talk about FEB 6th 2010,but as painful as it was to watch,we were never in the game for heavy snow.The GFS had us getting 6 inches,but other models had the snow-no snow line good 3 days before the event.DEC 19 was just abysmal,one of the worst model performances of all time.Had that storm missed us the fallout from it would have been worse than MARCH 2001 I believe.

[TheTrials]

People here talk about FEB 6th 2010,but as painful as it was to watch,we were never in the game for heavy snow.The GFS had us getting 6 inches,but other models had the snow-no snow line good 3 days before the event.DEC 19 was just abysmal,one of the worst model performances of all time.Had that storm missed us the fallout from it would have been worse than MARCH 2001 I believe.

Feb 6th was totally expected, agree. And agree,a total miss by 12/19 would have been worse than March 2001 on a meteoroligical level but not societal. NYC shut down for two days at a cost of billions and billions in revenue to the city. That didn't happen on 12/19.

[CAT5ANDREW]

Feb 6th was totally expected, agree.  And agree,a total miss by 12/19 would have been worse than March 2001 on a meteoroligical level but not societal.  NYC shut down for two days at a cost of billions and billions in revenue to the city.  That didn't happen on 12/19.

This board would have shutdown and had numerous suspensions and bannings had it happened.Thankfully it didnt happen but man was that close.This is why I like storms like the Boxing day storm so much better.We didnt have any dry air issues to worry about.Once the snow came in,that was it,it was only a matter who was under the heaviest banding.

[CAT5ANDREW]

One winter I did like was 2008-09.I was expecting a crappy winter and was pleasantly suprised.We had the cold JAN,a multitude of 1-3.......2-4 inch storms from 12/19 to early FEB,we had a break where many thought winter maight be over,then we had the decent March storm.for SOME of us as not everyone got hit with moderate amounts.

[TheTrials]

One winter I did like was 2008-09.I was expecting a crappy winter and was pleasantly suprised.We had the cold JAN,a multitude of 1-3.......2-4 inch storms from 12/19 to early FEB,we had a break where many thought winter maight be over,then we had the decent March storm.for SOME of us as not everyone got hit with moderate amounts.

not a fan of the long month off in February. It was a lot of missed opportunities. I liked December and January and even though the March storm moved a little east it was still a decent storm, but a dud February was dissapointing. That being said, a nice surprise overall from what we expected.

[ORH_wxman]

This board would have shutdown and had numerous suspensions and bannings had it happened.Thankfully it didnt happen but man was that close.This is why I like storms like the Boxing day storm so much better.We didnt have any dry air issues to worry about.Once the snow came in,that was it,it was only a matter who was under the heaviest banding.

I didn't think it was that close to totally whiffing NYC. It had some dry air eating away at it, but you were still safely in the big snow by 50 miles. There was expected to be a sharp cutoff in that. The models did overestimate the snow though on the northern edge of the heavy stuff.

March '01 had 2-3 feet predicted 24 hours out for a lot of NYC metro and what fell, 4-6 inches of slop? LI got into some heavy stuff on the deformation band and NW NJ did decent too, but that bust was terrible. I'm not sure how bad the meltdowns on the board would be if that storm happened today...probably off the charts.

[TheTrials]

I didn't think it was that close to totally whiffing NYC. It had some dry air eating away at it, but you were still safely in the big snow by 50 miles. There was expected to be a sharp cutoff in that. The models did overestimate the snow though on the northern edge of the heavy stuff.

March '01 had 2-3 feet predicted 24 hours out for a lot of NYC metro and what fell, 4-6 inches of slop? LI got into some heavy stuff on the deformation band and NW NJ did decent too, but that bust was terrible. I'm not sure how bad the meltdowns on the board would be if that storm happened today...probably off the charts.

agree, but some of the bufkits the day before 12/19 were large. NAM was showing close to 30 inches in bufkit and even the GFS was going nutty.

[Mr Torchey]

not a fan of the long month off in February. It was a lot of missed opportunities. I liked December and January and even though the March storm moved a little east it was still a decent storm, but a dud February was dissapointing. That being said, a nice surprise overall from what we expected.

I would say 70 inches of snow is a nice suprise for Darien Ct! One of top winters in history