Fozz Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 There was also another 4-8-6-10" event a week later I believe on January 11-12, 1996. But Feb 5-10th beats Jan 6-12th 1996 overall. Agreed. At least in my area, I don't think even January '96 can beat the two back to back 20"+ events of Feb 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbarney Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 "The Great Furlough Storm" closed the federal government for over a week. Here in Lynchburg, VA we received our largest 24 hour snowfall (20 inches). My favorite storm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VAsnowlvr82 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I think people are confusing two different issues when discussing 96 vs 2010. I would agree that snow removal was considerably worse in 96, but the number of 4 wheel drive vehicles getting stuck on my street before it was plowed in 2010 appeared to overtake 1996. I would say for where im located (Springfield), 2010 was a deeper snow and much more difficult to drive through. So until a plow came through it was worse than 1996. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deck Pic Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 There was more scrutiny in 2010. Expansion of media attention and delivery systems is one reason. But also high impact events were a greater part of our consciousness with Jan 2000, PD 2003, VD 2007, and of course DEC 2009. But even the events that missed. March 2001, jan 2005 heightened our awareness. There was a huge amount of attention paid to 1/96 once the models honed in. Especially once it was apparent that it would go north of 40. March 93 was game changer in terms of media coverage of weather events, but even with the air mass i think the sun angle did a formidable job a couple days later. There was no gameplan for 1996 because there was no playbook for that kind of storm. Major roads in DC were untouched until the thaw came on the 18th. When I went back to law school the following Monday. Which I think was the 15th some roads were still practically impassable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Probably the best wind and snow combo I have ever seen and been old enough to remember. Also the deepest single storm ever for me of 30 inches. The sunday night/monday morning wrap around blow out was the best part of it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 96 gave me that overwhelming feeling immediately after with so much snow and drifting but I chipped away at my sidewalk and somewhat lengthy driveway, about 80 feet, and got it shoveled. Even more overwhelmed after the back to backs in Feb 2010, more snow, heavier snow, 53 inches total for the two storms, I had to call an outside contractor to dig me out. I was lucky to get one and in a couple of days of the second storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattie g Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I was on semester/Christmas break from my junior year in coillege during that storm. My family (and hence I) was living in South Jersey at that time, and my hometown got 33" from the storm. Unfortunately, I went with a high school friend up to Kings College in Wilkes-Barre during that storm to party and ski in the Poconos, and we only got around 18" up there. But we got stuck in that sh*tty town because the NE Extension of the Turnpike was closed and pretty much every main artery in SJ was a mess. Wilkes-Barre isn't much fun when everything is open, let alone when everything is closed because of a snowstorm. I was in college in Central PA (Bucknell) at the time, and Lewisburg got stuck in a band in the storm later that week that gave them upwards of 20 more inches. When I got back to school the following week, we were walking in snow up to our waists, and local businesses were doing their best to clear roofs and the like because of the sheer volume of snow on them. Of course, we got that nice warmup and rainstorm not much later than caused the Susquehanna to flood downtown Lewisburg. Fun times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
real Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I think the discussion of what storm was worse on DC roads for longest has to be predicated on how cold it was after each storm. Salt and chemicals these days do wonders in above-freezing conditions. I wasn't here in 1996, but remember after Dec. 09 it seemed it got above freezing within day or two, making it easier for roads to be cleared. After Feb. 2010, I think it stayed cold one day, but by about Tuesday before the second storm it had warmed up above 32. And after the blizzard on Feb. 10, remember it was sunny and not that cold the following day. Did it get above freezing quickly after 1996 or stay cold for few days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVclimo Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 as i watched the local TV coverage from Cathedral Heights in DC the 96 storm made me wish I lived west of the Blue Ridge. I remember them interviewing George Michael out at his home, or he was doing his sports spots as a remote from there? I wanted to be a the no-mix zone for a major snowstorm. I got sleeted on in College Park and finished with just shy of 20" I had the same feeling then as I did in '83, when Front Royal- Winchester- Hancock-Hagerstown got the 30+ totals.. Wished I lived up this way where totals topped out. The 2010 storm was awesome, but we still got beat by areas to the south and east. Still waiting for the one that jackpots us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 as i watched the local TV coverage from Cathedral Heights in DC the 96 storm made me wish I lived west of the Blue Ridge. I remember them interviewing George Michael out at his home, or he was doing his sports spots as a remote from there? I wanted to be a the no-mix zone for a major snowstorm. no mixing here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymengineer Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Where in Potomac are your parents? My in-laws live in Avenel down the street from Congressional Country Club... They lived by the community center and the golf course bordered by Eldwick. But since they moved to CA last year, I now have to walk over to a nearby neighborhood to measure snow since I live in a condo highrise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymengineer Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I think the discussion of what storm was worse on DC roads for longest has to be predicated on how cold it was after each storm. Salt and chemicals these days do wonders in above-freezing conditions. I wasn't here in 1996, but remember after Dec. 09 it seemed it got above freezing within day or two, making it easier for roads to be cleared. After Feb. 2010, I think it stayed cold one day, but by about Tuesday before the second storm it had warmed up above 32. And after the blizzard on Feb. 10, remember it was sunny and not that cold the following day. Did it get above freezing quickly after 1996 or stay cold for few days? It was pretty cold between the blizzard and the snow/sleet storm that Friday. Highs reached the low 30's on Wednesday, and were in the mid-20's to 30 degrees the other days. But, as has been pointed out in the thread, that storm was so much bigger than any single storm we'd seen since 1983 that plowing just took a long time everywhere. So, chemicals wouldn't have helped much since you had 20+" of drifting, undisturbed snow on the streets. And two more factors: 1) It was cloudy the next morning after the blizzard because of the clipper that dropped another 2-5" across the immediate DC area. 2) As others said, the sun angle and daylight hours were lower than for our February days in 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymengineer Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 In terms of street accumulation comparisons between 2/5-6/10 and 1/96, the nature of the snow itself made quite a difference. In 1/96, the dry, drifting snow allowed the streets to be covered over evenly, smoothing out above tire tracks earlier in the storm. In 2/5-6, the tire tracks from earlier in the storm were still visible at the end of the storm as the snow lumped on itself. That allowed us to dig a path out for cars to leave the Monday after the storm, before any plows had reached the street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIC Airport Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Great storm for the Richmond area. The official airport total has been debated for many years, but 9.5" (10") goes down in the books. They reported 6.0" on January 6 and another 3" during the early morning of the 7th. Afterwards heavy sleet began to fall, especially for the south and eastern portions of the metro area. I think the airport actually went over to freezing rain for a portion of time during the late morning/mid day hours of the 7th. Regardless of what fell, it was a very long lasting event. It was a great storm and certainly the best winter period since late January 1987 when RIC got 16" from the back to back snowstorms. So, 30" of snow for the season with persistent cold from November to early March. Although we did have the blowtorch in mid January, we made up for this when the temperature dropped below 0 in early February with highs only in the teens. 1995-96 truly was a stellar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoast NPZ Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 A good one but it has been surpassed now by PDII and the 09-10 Blizzards. Not even close out here. This was the biggest storm in my entire 41 years. PD II, and neither of the 09/10 storms, were even close. i measured 37" in Front Royal. The next closest storm was Feb '83 (32 inches). PDII produced 21". Dec '09 (which due to the time of year is my all-time favorite) only gave us 21". Feb 6 (2010) gave us 26", and Feb 10 (2010) skirted us with only 3 inches. In the Shenandoah Valley, 1996 is the gold-standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huffwx Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Not even close out here. This was the biggest storm in my entire 41 years. PD II, and neither of the 09/10 storms, were even close. i measured 37" in Front Royal. The next closest storm was Feb '83 (32 inches). PDII produced 21". Dec '09 (which due to the time of year is my all-time favorite) only gave us 21". Feb 6 (2010) gave us 26", and Feb 10 (2010) skirted us with only 3 inches. In the Shenandoah Valley, 1996 is the gold-standard. All in 96 was bigger-- with the impact stretching up to BOS with 2 feet common from SW VA to NEAR BOS. Picking one city-- sure, impact may have been greater but that's a snapshot of one city, not the entire storm path. (and the NESIS ranking kills from 1996 compared to the others) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitalweather Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 not so sure it is a clear win......Almost as much snow for me 1/6-13/96 as 2/5-10/10...about 31" vs 35".......1996 was a colder storm and a colder aftermath and the sun angle was not as much of an issue...and as someone mentioned, I don't think snow removal operations were as good in terms of effectiveness...DC metro had not had to deal with such an impact since January 1987 and as most know that was a debacle....I'd rate the periods equal for me here in DC in terms of impact..... It about killed me when we went over to sleet in Fairfax county in 96. Wasn't expecting that and the several hours of sleet sucked. That knocks 96 down just a bit for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris L Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 It about killed me when we went over to sleet in Fairfax county in 96. Wasn't expecting that and the several hours of sleet sucked. That knocks 96 down just a bit for me. Safe to say, if none of the area down there (DC-Balt) had no sleet, they would have gotten 30 or more inches... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1551 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I remember the Blizzard of "96" like it was yesterday. The best part about the blizzard of "96" was getting my exams cancelled. Everyone got A"s in all of there classes. I lived in northern Prince William county and got "26in". School was out for a week then followed by a week of 2 hour delays. Then the weekend after the 2 hour delays we received around another 1 foot of snow. The Blizzard of 96 is just another reason why I LOVE weather today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huffwx Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Safe to say, if none of the area down there (DC-Balt) had no sleet, they would have gotten 30 or more inches... Nah, it wasn't even a half inch of precpit that fell as sleet, it was a huge dry slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 as bad as it was, the cleanup in 2010 was much better than 1996.....even semi-major arteries in DC were untouched until it rained and we torched on the 18th..... My school was closed for several days after the 19-21st deluge because of the flooding, and had not yet reopened after the blizzard. We ended up having to go to school for extended hours and on Saturdays for the rest of the year. My county recorded the highest totals from the blizzard, with 47" at Big Meadows (up on top of the mountain) and 42" in Stanley. The National Guard had to rescue people and take them to a shelter. Was 96 a Nina year? Steve Rudin on WJLA said it was tonight... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsofprey02 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I live in the little red dot just east of Baltimore (Harford County). We had a few extra bursts in there they put us over 30". I was only 11 at the time, but it was definitely one of the storms that made me interested in winter weather. I specifically remember the weather channel calling out Bel Air, MD which is a rare feat considering most of the time we're just part of the greater DC-BALT metro area. Fun times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Druff Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Not sure I've ever looked at the NESIS map. I can say the red doesn't come far enough south in the Shenandoah Valley. We had well over 30", 36-38" at my house in Augusta County, which is well south of where they end the red in this map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I live in the little red dot just east of Baltimore (Harford County). We had a few extra bursts in there they put us over 30". I was only 11 at the time, but it was definitely one of the storms that made me interested in winter weather. I specifically remember the weather channel calling out Bel Air, MD which is a rare feat considering most of the time we're just part of the greater DC-BALT metro area. Fun times! I live under that light blue dot in central OH. The morning of the storm the forecast was a dusting to an inch. We got close to a foot by nightfall with the NWS playing catchup all day long. For me, '96 wasn't the greatest snowfall but it certainly was by far the greatest bust and biggest forecasting failure I can remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxUSAF Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I live in the little red dot just east of Baltimore (Harford County). We had a few extra bursts in there they put us over 30". I was only 11 at the time, but it was definitely one of the storms that made me interested in winter weather. I specifically remember the weather channel calling out Bel Air, MD which is a rare feat considering most of the time we're just part of the greater DC-BALT metro area. Fun times! I lived in Bel Air at the time as well but only had 24" that I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxUSAF Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Was 96 a Nina year? Weak Nina, yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North Balti Zen Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I live under that light blue dot in central OH. The morning of the storm the forecast was a dusting to an inch. We got close to a foot by nightfall with the NWS playing catchup all day long. For me, '96 wasn't the greatest snowfall but it certainly was by far the greatest bust and biggest forecasting failure I can remember. Echo. I lived in Springfield, OH at the time, and that was supposed to be an absolute nothing storm at that location (between Dayton and Columbus), and it kept snowing and snowing. And the weather types were very slow to react to what was happening. It was marvelous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sauss06 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I was at college in York, PA. Notice that white 38 inch bubble over south Pennsylvania? Oh yeah. Drifts were insane. Still the best storm for me. Best B-day present EVER.. 36", serious drifting. But the thing that sticks out for me, it was fricking cold too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormitecture Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Last person (only person, cause I hiked from Falls Rd & River Rd. all the way down and back) to document Great Falls at the Main canal building: This was from Kensington, MD: Buried car (also Kensington, MD): And my buddy posing for a shot (when Skywarn was still cool) : BTW...sorry for the piss poor quality, these were scanned back in the 1990s. And yes....some of you have seen these in the NWS Winter Skywarn program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midatlanticweather Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 BUMP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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