List of strongest Nor' Easters to hit New England

[CapturedNature]

March 2010... best noreaster ever for you know who.

That was a classic.....rain in New England and snowing in New York. If anything, that storm has got to be an oddity for the times. My favorite part was the cold FROPA from the south. How often does that happen in CT?

[klw]

Also, the Dec 23-24 1994 event was one of those most powerful storms I've witnessed. Word on the street is the NHC has been looking at that since it had warm core characteristics! I had quite a bit of damage at my house in Brockton and lost power for about 8 hrs in that. I mean how often do you have a storm se of the Cape, and not one flake fall in New England...in December no less!

Here is a piece on the 1994 storm as well as the 91 "Perfect Storm"

http://www.usatoday....er/wdisguis.htm

Like other hybrid storms, this system also developed an eye feature while still south of New England. Forecasters at the NHC debated whether this storm was in fact a hurricane. The question remained for quite some time into 1995. But, like the Halloween storm, it too never was classified as a tropical storm or hurricane, so it never earned a name.

Also a nice wiki entry on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_1994_nor'easter

[CT Rain]

I think Will is looking for intense wind and weather producers. Another standout was Jan 1977 Arctic cold Noreaster.

Yeah the wind from HVN to NYC metro was most impressive. hours and hours of 60-70 mph winds.

[CoastalWx]

That was a classic.....rain in New England and snowing in New York. If anything, that storm has got to be an oddity for the times. My favorite part was the cold FROPA from the south. How often does that happen in CT?

I think you are thinking of the February 25 2010 storm?

[radarman]

How strong were the wind gusts on Valentines day '07? ~65MPH? I think the pressures bottomed out in the mid 970's or something. I'm sure it was not intense enough to make the list, but I was at Killington and it got brutally cold and windy as it departed with 2'+ of heavy snow. The fact it passed over SE MA probably kept the highest gusts down somewhat in the usual spots.

[CoastalWx]

Here is a piece on the 1994 storm as well as the 91 "Perfect Storm"

http://www.usatoday....er/wdisguis.htm

Also a nice wiki entry on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_1994_nor'easter

Yeah it was a hybrid and a nasty one at that. Nobody ever talks about that storm, but it was one of the more prollific storms we had. Here is a write up.

"An intense ocean storm, known as the tropical hybrid

nor'easter, lashed New England with high winds and heavy rains

on this day and continued into the 24th. The storm had its

origins in the western Gulf of Mexico two days before and had

the characteristics of a hurricane, even as it reached 40

degrees north latitude. It dumbelled around a regular

developing baroclinic low on the coast of the Carolinas, and

had an extremely tight pressure pattern, with a central

pressure of 969 millibars as it approached New England.

High pressure to the north only enhanced the pressure gradient,

and resulted in winds exceeding hurricane force over coastal

areas. A wind gust of 88 mph was recorded at Walpole,

Massachusetts. Sustained winds of 63 mph with a gust to 84

mph were record on Nantucket Island. Falmouth, Massachusetts

recorded a 78 mph wind gust and a 74 mph gust was reported at

Ashaway, Rhode Island. Plymouth, Massachusetts was deluged

with 4.85 inches of rain and Gloucester, Massachusetts checked

in with 4.72 inches."

[CapturedNature]

I think you are thinking of the February 25 2010 storm?

Yeah....I guess I got them mixed up. I see it tops the list!

[Ginx snewx]

Yeah it was a hybrid and a nasty one at that. Nobody ever talks about that storm, but it was one of the more prollific storms we had. Here is a write up.

"An intense ocean storm, known as the tropical hybrid

nor'easter, lashed New England with high winds and heavy rains

on this day and continued into the 24th. The storm had its

origins in the western Gulf of Mexico two days before and had

the characteristics of a hurricane, even as it reached 40

degrees north latitude. It dumbelled around a regular

developing baroclinic low on the coast of the Carolinas, and

had an extremely tight pressure pattern, with a central

pressure of 969 millibars as it approached New England.

High pressure to the north only enhanced the pressure gradient,

and resulted in winds exceeding hurricane force over coastal

areas. A wind gust of 88 mph was recorded at Walpole,

Massachusetts. Sustained winds of 63 mph with a gust to 84

mph were record on Nantucket Island. Falmouth, Massachusetts

recorded a 78 mph wind gust and a 74 mph gust was reported at

Ashaway, Rhode Island. Plymouth, Massachusetts was deluged

with 4.85 inches of rain and Gloucester, Massachusetts checked

in with 4.72 inches."

Ashaway RI was me!! I had two stations at that time and both recorded the same, crazy for a home station. My neighbor had one too and he recorded 78, I called him to make sure before I sent the report in.I was interning for USDA and working at Pfizer at the time, also was part of the Doppler Ground truth program. I worked at Pfizer in GON that night, just insane with a huge surge, not just rising tide but an actually surge. Pieces of sheet metal were flying around making for a most dangerous situation in a chemical plant. Luckily we got power back Christmas Morning. I distinctly remember how all of a sudden it got extremly warm and sultry.

[powderfreak]

How strong were the wind gusts on Valentines day '07? ~65MPH? I think the pressures bottomed out in the mid 970's or something. I'm sure it was not intense enough to make the list, but I was at Killington and it got brutally cold and windy as it departed with 2'+ of heavy snow. The fact it passed over SE MA probably kept the highest gusts down somewhat in the usual spots.

[eekuasepinniW]

February 25-26, 2010 was awesome. Excellent coastal flooding, off-the-charts wind.

[Ginx snewx]

For a river station this was impressive down on the Thames on Dec 23rd-24th 1994, normal tidal range is less than a foot

8461490 19941223 23:24 1.01 LL

8461490 19941224 08:18 5.35 HH

[scituate]

The February 19, 1972 Nor'easter caused a great deal of coastal flooding on the South Shore of Massachusetts.

[moneypitmike]

Awesome!

Wasn't there a big one around November 10 1990?? I didn't see that one listed in the thread.

73.3/67

[CapturedNature]

Wasn't there a big one around November 10 1990?? I didn't see that one listed in the thread.

Not sure, but speaking of that date, back in 1986 & 1987 I remember we had back to back Veterans Day storms. That boded well for the seasons but those two relatively good seasons were followed-up by four horrible years. The December 1992 storm seem to end all that, although the October storm the year before was a taste of things to come.

I was married on a November 11th so maybe it's a good date for things to happen?

[H2Otown_WX]

What about Noel remnants/noreaster? That was a pretty fun storm.

I think we ripped like 55kt at the house in East Falmouth, with 70kt+ gusts over the open waters and farther east towards the elbow.

That's on the list (November 3, 2007).

[free_man]

That's on the list (November 3, 2007).

ugh, I was looking for Oct. storms instead of Nov .

[Snow Bow]

February 25-26, 2010 was awesome. Excellent coastal flooding, off-the-charts wind.

Even though I got nothing in terms of snow, except for a few flurries as the storm pulled away it was one of the best weather events imo. Had about four hours of intense winds in Hooksett, NH, was amazing to gear those trees snapping over and over again while watching from my garage. Lost power for about 12 hours and the basement flooded without the sump pump running. But it was all worth it as I didn't have much of anything downstairs that was damaged by the water.

[CoastalWx]

Even though I got nothing in terms of snow, except for a few flurries as the storm pulled away it was one of the best weather events imo. Had about four hours of intense winds in Hooksett, NH, was amazing to gear those trees snapping over and over again while watching from my garage. Lost power for about 12 hours and the basement flooded without the sump pump running. But it was all worth it as I didn't have much of anything downstairs that was damaged by the water.

It really was. Yeah we didn't get snow, but c'mon man....you had 70+mph gusts all the way into the interior of NH. How often does that happen? From a coastal no less? If you'd rather have 3-6" of snow....well than you don't like wx I guess. I have friends that live near Newburyport and over in Londonderry, and their accounts of that night were incredible.

[eekuasepinniW]

Even though I got nothing in terms of snow, except for a few flurries as the storm pulled away it was one of the best weather events imo. Had about four hours of intense winds in Hooksett, NH, was amazing to gear those trees snapping over and over again while watching from my garage. Lost power for about 12 hours and the basement flooded without the sump pump running. But it was all worth it as I didn't have much of anything downstairs that was damaged by the water.

I'll never forget the near constant power line/transformer flashes in every direction in the sky... it was almost scary.

I remember the gridpoint wind forecasts kept climbing with every update. When I saw the NH seacoast go from predicted gusts around 60 to gusts to 90, I knew I had to go down there. I was 99.9999% sure that the wind forecast was going to be very wrong.... just had to be an error, right? 90mph?

Later that night, Isle of Shoals did in fact get a gust to 90 or 91, don't remember which. Total madness.

I'd love to know what made that storm so special.

[hurricaneman]

December 23-24, 1994

This storm I would qualify as of now a noreaster, but could be also considered a subtropical storm after reanalysis, It had wind gusts over 90 on parts of the cape and 3to5 inches of rain, nothing like a winter storm at all

[Ginx snewx]

It really was. Yeah we didn't get snow, but c'mon man....you had 70+mph gusts all the way into the interior of NH. How often does that happen? From a coastal no less? If you'd rather have 3-6" of snow....well than you don't like wx I guess. I have friends that live near Newburyport and over in Londonderry, and their accounts of that night were incredible.

I think you read his post wrong Scooter

[ackwaves]

Great thread. I don't get excited until the breeze gets over 60. March '84, Dec. '94 and Noel are some of my favorites.

[ORH_wxman]

Yeah I mentioned in the original post about Boxing Day possibly being worthy. I also recall a pretty intense nor' easter in October 2005, but not sure whether it was high enough to make the list. It was originally modeled to phase with the remnants of hurricane Wilma, but in the end, the remnants (still a strong TS I think) went well east and the main nor' easter was on its own, but I still recall a lot of high winds from that....but originally about 3-4 days out we were wondering if places like PVD and the south shore would see sustained 60-70 knots winds.

[CoastalWx]

I think you read his post wrong Scooter

The Feb 25 storm is what gave NH the winds.

[CoastalWx]

I'll never forget the near constant power line/transformer flashes in every direction in the sky... it was almost scary.

I remember the gridpoint wind forecasts kept climbing with every update. When I saw the NH seacoast go from predicted gusts around 60 to gusts to 90, I knew I had to go down there. I was 99.9999% sure that the wind forecast was going to be very wrong.... just had to be an error, right? 90mph?

Later that night, Isle of Shoals did in fact get a gust to 90 or 91, don't remember which. Total madness.

I'd love to know what made that storm so special.

I think they had sustained hurricane force in that with a gust to 91.

[CoastalWx]

Although Tippy said the Boxing Day storm wasn't a big deal, so maybe it shouldn't be mentioned.

[tamarack]

Ash Wed 1962 and the 965 bomb groundhog day 1976.

2/2/76 kept on bombing, with CAR's 957 their lowest ever. It had winds to 115 mph on the Maine coast and probably 70-80 up the Penobscot estuary, enough to cause the tidewater in BGR to rise 15' in 15 minutes, flooding the downtown parking lots and drowning about 200 cars. Winds were southeast, though.

Ash Wednesday took a hard right just before giving my NNJ home its forecast 20" - we got 2. The damage to mid/south coastal NJ was immense.

Later that year the central Maine blizzard dumped 30-40" BGR to MLT with winds 60+ (don't have the official numbers) on 12/30-31. Though the heavy snow was pretty much confined to Maine, the backside winds extended to the MA. NYC recorded its fastest mile in Dec, 43 mph, but I don't have gust info - did not top the current 78 mph record. The wind's effects in NNJ suggest 70, significant building damage, large leaf-off oaks uprooted (from semi-frozen ground - my temps on 12/31/62 were -8/5, with only 2" OG at my NNJ home.)

April 1982 kept on intensifying as it moved north. I'd guess it gusted inot the 60s there, and it had 26" of new snow to play with at CAR.

November 1950 was pretty windy, too, though I'm not sure how much it affected New England.

[ORH_wxman]

Although Tippy said the Boxing Day storm wasn't a big deal, so maybe it shouldn't be mentioned.

Snow grains with 2 mile visibility in Ayer, MA.

[CoastalWx]

Snow grains with 2 mile visibility in Ayer, MA.

At least the atmosphere choking and spitting out snow grains is fun with 50kt winds.

[ORH_wxman]

At least the atmosphere choking and spitting out snow grains is fun with 50kt winds.

That storm did have amazing winds....I looked it up finally and there were 80mph gusts reported on the Cape so we should include it on the list. It wasn't quite as prolific as some of these other storms, but the coverage of 50 knot winds was pretty impressive...quite far inland.