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Blizzard of '96 remembered


TheTrials

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the greatest storms should be measured by how much is on the ground when it's over...It seemd like this was the method for some storms in the past...If you check past local climate before the 1990's there was little compacting...PD2 wasn't that great compared to last years Dec. storm where I live..But in Central Park there is less than an inch difference... an example of little cpmpacting after big snows...1960-61 from Gravesend Brooklyn......

http://climate.usurf...ucts/output.php

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

NYC Central Park reported a total snowfall of 17.7" for the 40 hour blizzard in February 1978. There was no snow on the ground in the park before the blizzard. A day after the snow stopped falling, they reported a snowdepth of 18".

And this little gem of a clip from an anlysis of the 1888 blizzard written by Kocin (November 1983 Bulletin American Meteorological Society):

post-290-0-40081500-1326344534.jpg

1996 may have been more carefully measured than some earlier blockbusters. Unfortunately, i do not see snowdepth measurements in the NYC climate record during the days before during or after the 1996 blizzard. Maybe someone else has access to better quality records than I do through UCC?

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NYC Central Park reported a total snowfall of 17.7" for the 40 hour blizzard in February 1978. There was no snow on the ground in the park before the blizzard. A day after the snow stopped falling, they reported a snowdepth of 18".

And this little gem of a clip from an anlysis of the 1888 blizzard written by Kocin (November 1983 Bulletin American Meteorological Society):

post-290-0-40081500-1326344534.jpg

1996 may have been more carefully measured than some earlier blockbusters. Unfortunately, i do not see snowdepth measurements in the NYC climate record during the days before during or after the 1996 blizzard. Maybe someone else has access to better quality records than I do through UCC?

in my video of the storm you can see the snow cover the day before it started...There was around an inch on the ground where I lived...there was no snow depth because of the recent AOS taking over...

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NYC Central Park reported a total snowfall of 17.7" for the 40 hour blizzard in February 1978. There was no snow on the ground in the park before the blizzard. A day after the snow stopped falling, they reported a snowdepth of 18".

And this little gem of a clip from an anlysis of the 1888 blizzard written by Kocin (November 1983 Bulletin American Meteorological Society):

post-290-0-40081500-1326344534.jpg

1996 may have been more carefully measured than some earlier blockbusters. Unfortunately, i do not see snowdepth measurements in the NYC climate record during the days before during or after the 1996 blizzard. Maybe someone else has access to better quality records than I do through UCC?

I know LGA officially had 1 inch of snow on the morning of the blizzard. They finished up with a total depth of 24 inches at the end of the blizzard. It was the deepest one storm total I had ever seen.

You know that if LGA reported that depth of 2 feet that it must have been a hell of storm, especially since the winds would have probably blown the snow away given that the ASOS sits like 20 feet to the south of a body of water lol.

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If I remember correctly in 1978 there was about a 4-5 hour period where it didn't snow in NYC buring the afternoon/early evening of the 6th.

I was freaking out at the time that we were missing the snow lol.

You are probably thinking of a different storm (maybe Feb 1983 waiting for the snow to start?). The afternoon of 2/6/78 was pure snowy mayhem:

Feb1978Journal-1and2.jpg

FYI, These notes were transcribed from Central Park observations at the time.

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some snowstorms and snow depth when it ended or next days snow depth...

date..........snowfall.....snow depth.....notes...

02/21/1947...10.7"...10.7"...snow depth was in tenths of an inch...

12/27/1947...25.8"...25.0"...1" snow depth at the start...

12/04/1957.....8.0".....8.0"

02/16/1958.....7.9".....8.0"

12/22/1959...13.7"...14.0"

03/04/1960...14.5"...15.0"

12/12/1960...15.2"...15.0"...15" 12/13

01/20/1961.....9.9".....9.0".....9" 01/21

02/04/1961...17.4"...24.0"...7" snow depth at start...24" 2/5...

01/13/1964...12.5"...13.0"

02/09/1969...15.3"...15.0"

01/20/1978...13.6"...15.0"...1" snow depth at start...15" 1/21...

02/07/1978...17.7"...18.0"

02/19/1979...12.7"...16.0"...3" snow depth at start...

02/12/1983...17.6"...19.0"...2" snow depth at start...

02/09/1994.....9.0".....9.0"

02/11/1994...12.8"...22.0"...9" snow depth at start...22" snow depth 2/12...

01/23/2005...13.8"...14.0"...14" 1/24...

02/12/2006...26.9"...17.0"...17" 2/13...no snow depth for 2/12

12/20/2009...10.9"...10.0"

02/10/2010...10.0"...10.0"

02/26/2010...20.9"...21.0"

12/27/2010...20.0"...20.0"

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Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of Central Park obs for that day (2/6/78) in the Wunderground history. The only hour that is listed both there and in the handwritten notes is 1PM and they are a match, but the handwritten notes are the better record of the two.

http://www.wundergro...eq_statename=NA

Interesting that the wunderground obs just show a sleetstorm with 6 miles viz all day. Not sure how that got coded so wrong.

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Thanks for that research Unky. 2/12/2006 is a clear outlier.

some snowstorms and snow depth when it ended or next days snow depth...

date..........snowfall.....snow depth.....notes...

02/21/1947...10.7"...10.7"...snow depth was in tenths of an inch...

12/27/1947...25.8"...25.0"...1" snow depth at the start...

12/04/1957.....8.0".....8.0"

02/16/1958.....7.9".....8.0"

12/22/1959...13.7"...14.0"

03/04/1960...14.5"...15.0"

12/12/1960...15.2"...15.0"...15" 12/13

01/20/1961.....9.9".....9.0".....9" 01/21

02/04/1961...17.4"...24.0"...7" snow depth at start...24" 2/5...

01/13/1964...12.5"...13.0"

02/09/1969...15.3"...15.0"

01/20/1978...13.6"...15.0"...1" snow depth at start...15" 1/21...

02/07/1978...17.7"...18.0"

02/19/1979...12.7"...16.0"...3" snow depth at start...

02/12/1983...17.6"...19.0"...2" snow depth at start...

02/09/1994.....9.0".....9.0"

02/11/1994...12.8"...22.0"...9" snow depth at start...22" snow depth 2/12...

01/23/2005...13.8"...14.0"...14" 1/24...

02/12/2006...26.9"...17.0"...17" 2/13...no snow depth for 2/12

12/20/2009...10.9"...10.0"

02/10/2010...10.0"...10.0"

02/26/2010...20.9"...21.0"

12/27/2010...20.0"...20.0"

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Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of Central Park obs for that day (2/6/78) in the Wunderground history. The only hour that is listed both there and in the handwritten notes is 1PM and they are a match, but the handwritten notes are the better record of the two.

http://www.wundergro...eq_statename=NA

Interesting that the wunderground obs just show a sleetstorm with 6 miles viz all day. Not sure how that got coded so wrong.

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Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of Central Park obs for that day (2/6/78) in the Wunderground history. The only hour that is listed both there and in the handwritten notes is 1PM and they are a match, but the handwritten notes are the better record of the two.

http://www.wundergro...eq_statename=NA

Interesting that the wunderground obs just show a sleetstorm with 6 miles viz all day. Not sure how that got coded so wrong.

my local climate data copy reads...

Precipitation from 11pm 2/5/78 to 4pm 2/7/78...

T... T T T .02 .02 .03 .02 T .02 .02 .02 .04 .06 .04 .04 .04 .04 .04 .04 .08 .08 .08 .08 .08... .08 .04 .04 T T T T T T T .02 .04 .02 T T T...

01am 21 degrees

04am 20 degrees

07am 22 degrees

10am 25 degrees

01pm 26 degrees

04pm 26 degrees

07pm 25 degrees

10pm 24 degrees

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

01am 27 degrees

04am 28 degrees

07am 24 degrees

10am 25 degrees

01pm 28 degrees

It has ice pellets instead of snow throughout the storm...The mistake came from the official climate data???

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my local climate data copy reads...

Precipitation from 11pm 2/5/78 to 4pm 2/7/78...

T... T T T .02 .02 .03 .02 T .02 .02 .02 .04 .06 .04 .04 .04 .04 .04 .04 .08 .08 .08 .08 .08... .08 .04 .04 T T T T T T T .02 .04 .02 T T T...

01am 21 degrees

04am 20 degrees

07am 22 degrees

10am 25 degrees

01pm 26 degrees

04pm 26 degrees

07pm 25 degrees

10pm 24 degrees

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

01am 27 degrees

04am 28 degrees

07am 24 degrees

10am 25 degrees

01pm 28 degrees

It has ice pellets instead of snow throughout the storm...The mistake came from the official climate data???

Fortunately the ISP obs are better. The youngsters here can look at these and drool:

http://www.wundergro...ilyHistory.html

The highest visibility between 10AM and 10PM was 0.1 mile and mostly flat out 0!

This is why LI'ers don't get as emotional about storms like '96 as those in NJ.

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Fortunately the ISP obs are better. The youngsters here can look at these and drool:

http://www.wundergro...ilyHistory.html

The highest visibility between 10AM and 10PM was 0.1 mile and mostly flat out 0!

This is why LI'ers don't get as emotional about storms like '96 as those in NJ.

Wow, that's simply stunning. We probably had those conditions here in the 12/26/10 storm, but the intensity of the snow itself likely wasn't as much as 2/78. Didn't 26" fall at Babylon? I remember the 1996 blizzard as the first really huge snow I've ever seen, and I remember it being windy but nothing like 12/26/10.

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Wow, that's simply stunning. We probably had those conditions here in the 12/26/10 storm, but the intensity of the snow itself likely wasn't as much as 2/78. Didn't 26" fall at Babylon? I remember the 1996 blizzard as the first really huge snow I've ever seen, and I remember it being windy but nothing like 12/26/10.

I think parts of LI got 30"+ from 1978...

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Wow, that's simply stunning. We probably had those conditions here in the 12/26/10 storm, but the intensity of the snow itself likely wasn't as much as 2/78. Didn't 26" fall at Babylon? I remember the 1996 blizzard as the first really huge snow I've ever seen, and I remember it being windy but nothing like 12/26/10.

'78 featured insane conditions during the daylight hours, which is a departure from the more recent biggies. Thats probably why it was the biggest traffic nightmare of them all.

78_blizzard_newsday.jpg

February 1983 is a contender for 2nd worse traffic nightmare (Friday afternoon/night rush hour). The night and weekend storms tend to be a lot less disruptive to road travel. Some minor snowfall events, typically those involving rain to snow with flash freezes have also caused major headaches on the highways. February 2, 1976 and March 8, 2005 come to mind.

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Wow, that's simply stunning. We probably had those conditions here in the 12/26/10 storm, but the intensity of the snow itself likely wasn't as much as 2/78. Didn't 26" fall at Babylon? I remember the 1996 blizzard as the first really huge snow I've ever seen, and I remember it being windy but nothing like 12/26/10.

well for Long Island 1978 was the biggie..yes 26 inches in Babylon...but the drifts were the real deal 5-10 ft drifts that went to the top of my garage..got more from the backlash then from the first part..between 8pm and 8am on the 7th..hurricane force north winds and blinding snow..a big part of the LIE in Suffolk was closed due to abanded cars that were buried..there was nothing like it..shame many here were not alive

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'78 featured insane conditions during the daylight hours, which is a departure from the more recent biggies. Thats probably why it was the biggest traffic nightmare of them all.

78_blizzard_newsday.jpg

February 1983 is a contender for 2nd worse traffic nightmare (Friday afternoon/night rush hour). The night and weekend storms tend to be a lot less disruptive to road travel. Some minor snowfall events, typically those involving rain to snow with flash freezes have also caused major headaches on the highways. February 2, 1976 and March 8, 2005 come to mind.

AHHH...i lived right off Route 110 in Melville until last year but i was born in 1984...SOB...would have loved to have seen it!

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The 1978 storm was probably a true 20 incher by todays standards. Read the following from the 2/8 NYTimes:

post-290-0-33541400-1326399117.jpg

The south Queens measurement from Sanitation is an interesting contrast with the 14" measured at JFK.

they stopped measuring at 7am..so I would say another 4 inches fell in the city..probably 20 or so inches in the park..again for the city it wasn't as big as it was when you went east and Northeast

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The 1978 storm was probably a true 20 incher in NYC by todays standards. Read the following from the 2/8 NYTimes:

post-290-0-33541400-1326399117.jpg

The south Queens measurement from Sanitation is an interesting contrast with the 14" measured at JFK.

it looks like they didn't measure every six hours like they do today...There was 0.8" of precipitation with four or five hours with a trace that day...At least one inch wasn't added to the totals...

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