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Most underrated snowstorms

ORH_wxman

By ORH_wxman,
in New England

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ORH_wxman

ORH_wxman

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My boxing day meltdown was relatively classic... but the wind was just remarkable with that storm.

Will, I know we've talked about this before, but I remember as a kid (maybe 95 or 96) a late blooming clipper that dropped 7 or 8" of total surprise fluff east of HVN. Wasn't expecting much more than an inch or so when I went to bed then woke up to an awesome scene. It was on a weekend and the snow occurred during the overnight. Any ideas?

The biggest bust storm I remember from '95-'96 winter was the 3/2/96 storm which had a pretty sharp cutoff near I-91. But that storm was Saturday afternoon/evening and not overnight so that probably isn't it..though we did get snow into Sunday morning with a windex event behind it, so perhaps you are remembring that part. I don't recall the storm being a very fluffy snow though...good dendrites however.

I can't think of any others that year that match your description...'94-'95 was obviously an awful winter with literally one storm over 4"...the 2/4/95 storm. Maybe you are thinking of late Feb '94? I'm pretty sure there was a clipper that overperformed near the end of that month.

The only other possibility that comes to mind was the 1/10/96 event that was an over performer in eastern SNE 2 days after the '96 blizzard...but that was during the day.

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CoastalWx

CoastalWx

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The biggest bust storm I remember from '95-'96 winter was the 3/2/96 storm which had a pretty sharp cutoff near I-91. But that storm was Saturday afternoon/evening and not overnight so that probably isn't it..though we did get snow into Sunday morning with a windex event behind it, so perhaps you are remembring that part. I don't recall the storm being a very fluffy snow though...good dendrites however.

I can't think of any others that year that match your description...'94-'95 was obviously an awful winter with literally one storm over 4"...the 2/4/95 storm. Maybe you are thinking of late Feb '94? I'm pretty sure there was a clipper that overperformed near the end of that month.

The only other possibility that comes to mind was the 1/10/96 event that was an over performer in eastern SNE 2 days after the '96 blizzard...but that was during the day.

That was a 6" fluff bomb for me if I'm remembering the correct one.

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ORH_wxman

ORH_wxman

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There are three systems that I bunch up. One may be from '93, but they are all cold, moderate snow events. I want to say they all occurred in '94, but I may be wrong.

I think one of them was Feb 1993...that month was absolutely freezing. It was actually a colder month than Feb '93 in ORH...but slightly warmer than Feb '94 in BOS.

Though it might be one of those Jan '94 systems in the first 2 weeks of the month. One of them had sleet in it with perfect dendrites mixed in on the south shore because of OES...they were sleeting from a warm layer at like 700-750mb but it was so cold in the lower levels that they were actually getting OES on a NE wind with dendrites all being formed below the warm layer.

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CoastalWx

CoastalWx

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I think one of them was Feb 1993...that month was absolutely freezing. It was actually a colder month than Feb '93 in ORH...but slightly warmer than Feb '94 in BOS.

Though it might be one of those Jan '94 systems in the first 2 weeks of the month. One of them had sleet in it with perfect dendrites mixed in on the south shore because of OES...they were sleeting from a warm layer at like 700-750mb but it was so cold in the lower levels that they were actually getting OES on a NE wind with dendrites all being formed below the warm layer.

I'll have to look at Feb '93. Pretty sure it was in the month of Feb.

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tamarack

tamarack

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I've enjoyed reading this thread but have (until now) stayed out of it, as nearly all my best snowstorms are "underrated" because their bullseyes hit areas away from large population centers. However, I think that the whole of Feb 1993 is underrated, simply because of the March superstorm. In central Maine, Feb was the snowier month, though for most March 13-14 was the biggest event. (Not in my then-BY in Gardiner, where it was 4th largest, behind 3 Feb storms.)

Feb-Mar snow:

Farmington: 51.0/46.0 (biggest F-M total on record, 0.4" ahead of 2001. Included 5 storms 12"+, a 6th one on 4/2-3)

New Sharon COOP: 48.0/40.0 (their initial two months of record - what a way to start!)

Gardiner (MBY): 44.9/35.7

Most memorable for me was the first of the string, which began with -SN on 1/31, at about -3F (daily temp was -2/-18.) Total in Gardiner was 13.9" on 0.76" LE, for 18.3 ratio, but the bulk (11.5" on 0.54", 21.3 ratio) fell on 2/1, all as slow-motion clumps of beautiful dendrites at single-number temps; my high for the day was 5. I spent the workday marking trees for a timber sale less than 1/2 mile west of the Gray WSO (which wasn't built yet), where the snow was somewhat lighter and the thinner clouds (sun's location usually just barely visible as a brighter spot) probably allowed temps into the low teens. We were trying a new marking paint that claimed to be cold-weather formulated, but was a phail. This cold meant clogs before the quart can was half empty. I'd leave the partial cans on the pickup dash where the almost-sun would warm them enough to get another 50 squirts out of the paintgun before a reclog. Fortunately, the area I was marking was all within about 1,500' of the vehicle. Leaving a 6" accum in Gray, I was surprised to find nearly twice that at home with the feathers still coming down.

Farmington had 124" that season, and 109" came 2/1 thru 4/3.

Their storms of note (they then recorded at 7 AM, so dates may look out of sync):

2/1-2...14.0"

2/7......7.0"

2/17-18..13.0"

2/22-24..17.0"

3/6-7....15.0"

3/9-10...5.0"

3/11-12..6.0"

3/14-15..18.0"

3/22.....2.0"

4/2-3...12.0"

Edit: Should have added that their snow depth reached 56" on 3/15, and only Dryslot's avatar snow of 2/69 has left a deeper snowpack there. What makes 1993 snowpack even more remarkable is that Farmington's 1/31 measurement was "T".

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ORH_wxman

ORH_wxman

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Feb '93 was a sick month for Maine....a ton of snow there and also temp departures were around -10F for a lot of the state. That's some cold weather...-10 departure in Maine in February.

Here, it was quite cold too, and snowy...but more just run of the mill snowy month...around 20" with a -7 temp departure, so the cold was impressive even if falling short of what they had in Maine. March dumped 44" though, so it was by far the better snow month. But that Feb '93 really was the transition to a lot of colder winter months we had including March, and then of course the following '93-'94 winter.

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danstorm

danstorm

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2/05/01... hands down.

Was a 20 year old and had just started a forecast column in the Yale Daily - went for 3-6" but cautioned that it could be much more... and indeed, it was.

Will never forget the radar signature for that storm in the afternoon... wall of heavy snow spreading due south to north - pretty rare to have such a presentation and have it snowing at the shoreline.

What made it special was that it lasted for ~12 hours, with 3" rates for a time... huge flakes... we even mixed with sleet which compressed things towards the end, but then changed over on the backside and picked up another 3-4" of powder. 15" total in New Haven, first time I had broken a foot of snow since April Fool's 1997.

Inland was crushed, widespread 18-24"+ totals... some sick bands, too.

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tamarack

tamarack

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Feb '93 was a sick month for Maine....a ton of snow there and also temp departures were around -10F for a lot of the state. That's some cold weather...-10 departure in Maine in February.

Here, it was quite cold too, and snowy...but more just run of the mill snowy month...around 20" with a -7 temp departure, so the cold was impressive even if falling short of what they had in Maine. March dumped 44" though, so it was by far the better snow month. But that Feb '93 really was the transition to a lot of colder winter months we had including March, and then of course the following '93-'94 winter.

2/1993 was Farmington's coldest Feb at 7.4F, about 9.5F below the avg, records back thru 1893. The 51" also ranks 4th among Febs, the top 3 (1969, 1898, 1920) being Farmington's only months with over 60" snow.

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HalloweenGale

HalloweenGale

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For Nantucket, MA

 

Feb. 2, 1993. 60 mph winds and 6" of snow.

Dec. 25/26, 1993 Heavy snow squalls associated with an arctic cold front. I believe we got 2" out of it.

Jan. 2-4, 1996. Started off as snow, blowtorch and then back to snow. 4" total when all was done.

Jan. 10, 1996. 8" of fluff.

Mar. 2, 1996. Very fast moving system ( I believe it was off of Hatteras at 0700 AM, and off of Cape Cod by 1200.) 4"

Jan. 17, 1997. Intense band of snow developed over Nantucket, dropping 8" while Edgartown on MV had .8"

Dec. 31, 1998/Jan. 1st, 1999. Low pressure moving well out to sea dropped 6" on the island, I do not have the records for MV or the Cape.

Mar. 16, 2004. The first of my two favorites. 3.5" Changed to ZR late in the day. ( I still remember Todd Gross telling everyone not to be fooled by the sunshine early on the 16th.)

Mar. 19, 2004. Quick hitting 7". Started a little after 0500 and ended at around 1745 that evening.

Dec. 26, 2004. The Boxing Day event. 13.6"

Jan. 15, 2009. The "Miracle on th Hudson" Clipper. 4" it blew around everywhere however.

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CoastalWx

CoastalWx

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For Nantucket, MA

 

Feb. 2, 1993. 60 mph winds and 6" of snow.

Dec. 25/26, 1993 Heavy snow squalls associated with an arctic cold front. I believe we got 2" out of it.

Jan. 2-4, 1996. Started off as snow, blowtorch and then back to snow. 4" total when all was done.

Jan. 10, 1996. 8" of fluff.

Mar. 2, 1996. Very fast moving system ( I believe it was off of Hatteras at 0700 AM, and off of Cape Cod by 1200.) 4"

Jan. 17, 1997. Intense band of snow developed over Nantucket, dropping 8" while Edgartown on MV had .8"

Dec. 31, 1998/Jan. 1st, 1999. Low pressure moving well out to sea dropped 6" on the island, I do not have the records for MV or the Cape.

Mar. 16, 2004. The first of my two favorites. 3.5" Changed to ZR late in the day. ( I still remember Todd Gross telling everyone not to be fooled by the sunshine early on the 16th.)

Mar. 19, 2004. Quick hitting 7". Started a little after 0500 and ended at around 1745 that evening.

Dec. 26, 2004. The Boxing Day event. 13.6"

 

Welcome back man.

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TheSnowman

TheSnowman

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I was looking back yesterday on some snow events that were pretty darn good, but don't really get remembered that much because they weren't KUs or they just somehow get overshadowed by something else in close proximity timewise. Or they fade into history and only the biggest events get talked about the more time that passes.

And just because its not a KU, doesn't mean its underrated either. We talk all the time about 12/9/05...that storm gets its due. Its not underrated (by most).

Here's some of my favorite ones that seem to slip under the radar but were very nice events for a large part of SNE. And this list is pretty SNE-centric:

Jan 26-27, 2005 - pretty decent 6-10" event...E MA special. Nobody (and I mean almost nobody) remembers it really because it happened 3 days after the blizzard. It seemed like flurries compared to it.

Feb 7, 2003 - We've talked about it some on this board, but getting a surprise 12" when 3-5" is forecast is always a great event. It also had the most perfect snowgrowth. Gets overshadowed by PDII which occurred 10 days later.

 

I've said it 100 times and I will say it a million more.  My FAVORITE EVER Snowstorm was Feb. 7th, 2003.  I'm sure it Did have a "perfect" Something, because I have never seen 4" per hour for 2 hours straight.  It was the first memorable snowstorm in the very first year that I truly tracked winters, and it's still my favorite.  Not even Dec. 9th, 2005 had more than 15 minutes of 4" an hour that I could see.  3 Hours of 3" per hour and thunder and a lightning bolt behind my house yes.... but not 2 hours of 4" per hour in a storm that wasn't supposed to do much.  Got 14".  THis was the first of the now 4 Bombogenesis storms I've seen, and we all love those to death as much as we love our 2 Foot + storms.  

 

The storm after the Blizzard of 2005 I remember very well, because I skipped the Whole week of college to stay home and sled, and That storm kept the city of Boston in a rut so it didn't seem wrong to not go back at all.  

 

Got 8.25" I think.  

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HalloweenGale

HalloweenGale

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one year in the 90's the cape got over a foot of oes in one storm

Feb. 19, 1993. We got something along the lines of 4 inches from that. A month later, the superstorm came through. KACK "measured" 2 inches, but I doubt it heavily. KACK is on an open plain, where the wind blows the snow around. At my house my dad and I measured 7 inches.

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tamarack

tamarack

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Christmas 1989. Pretty solid area of 8" accums. The mid and outer cape kind of got shafted. It was the last white Christmas  until 1998 in Nantucket.

 

That same storm produced 66 inches at Houlton, Maine.

 

The data from UCC doesn't show anything close to 66" in Houlton records.  Their biggest snowstorm was March 17-19, 1981 with 29.2".  Christmas 1989 gave them a bit (recorded on 12/26) and they had 17.4" on 12/3/89.  I'd be interested in more info on that 5.5-footer, as my data sources aren't always correct.

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CoastalWx

CoastalWx

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I've said it 100 times and I will say it a million more.  My FAVORITE EVER Snowstorm was Feb. 7th, 2003.  I'm sure it Did have a "perfect" Something, because I have never seen 4" per hour for 2 hours straight.  It was the first memorable snowstorm in the very first year that I truly tracked winters, and it's still my favorite.  Not even Dec. 9th, 2005 had more than 15 minutes of 4" an hour that I could see.  3 Hours of 3" per hour and thunder and a lightning bolt behind my house yes.... but not 2 hours of 4" per hour in a storm that wasn't supposed to do much.  Got 14".  THis was the first of the now 4 Bombogenesis storms I've seen, and we all love those to death as much as we love our 2 Foot + storms.  

 

The storm after the Blizzard of 2005 I remember very well, because I skipped the Whole week of college to stay home and sled, and That storm kept the city of Boston in a rut so it didn't seem wrong to not go back at all.  

 

Got 8.25" I think.  

 

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