trying to find detailed snowfall records for the springfield and northampton areas

[codfishsnowman]

I am trying hard to find more about the snow climo here in the springfield to northampton area, only the valley floor, i know what goes on in the hilltowns.

 

i am really starting to question a 50 inch annual snowfall average

i am also starting to wonder if outside of the blizzard of 1888 has there really not been a storm to put down a solid two foot on the level accum here in the valley floor.

 

would like to know the snowfalls for kcef for the 78 storm, blizz 96, feb 03 and so on.

 

i am only coming up with data from 1943 to 1964 on ncdc and it doesn't look all that reliable.

 

if anyone has lived in this area for more than 20 consecutive years and has anything to share that would be helpful or if they have measurements for any of these storms previously mentioned that would be great.

 

i have been here for seven winters and biggest storm i measured was 18-19 inches for the jan 12 2011 event.

 

this is a true minimum area in sne and i am trying to get more data to just find out how bad it really is..for the seven years i have been here the average snowfall is only around 40 inches and my thinking is that the real average here is alot closer to 40 inches rather than 50. BDL is not representative as there is often too much of a difference (usually higher even without the slant sticking over there).

 

things seem to get better greenfield north and bdl south but what happens in between is at times really frightening. I live here in the winter and cannot move but i like having good factual information.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

[HIPPYVALLEY]

It's rare to get 2' anywhere in NE outside of the mountains. Wasn't 2011 like 70"+ for Springfield?

Can't really compare Greenfield to Spfld and N'hamp because lat. and topography make us a better snow area than areas S despite relatively low elevation.

[ORH_wxman]

I know that area had around 2 feet in the Feb 5, 2001 storm. The data in the valley there is pretty bad. The old Springfield coop used to be decent, but it had a lot of snowfall data missing in the beginning and end of their records which ended in 1984. During their pretty consistent snowfall record though before/after all the missing data, they averaged around 50".

Holyoke is another coop but the snow data there is pretty poor. Most of the numbers are rounded and seem to be measured only at convinience.

[codfishsnowman]

It's rare to get 2' anywhere in NE outside of the mountains. Wasn't 2011 like 70"+ for Springfield?

Can't really compare Greenfield to Spfld and N'hamp because lat. and topography make us a better snow area than areas S despite relatively low elevation.

2010-2011 was epic with exactly 70 inches and a peak depth of 30 inches after the feb 1st event.

 

The low elevation corridor from Boston down to se mass and the cape has had quite a few events 2 foot on the level with a few even better, if you went down to 18 inches as a parameter the number of events goes up dramatically still really leaving this area in the pixie dust so to speak.

 

the only thing is that the eastern/se coastal plain may go several years without a monster but when they get hit they really get crushed so i would have to differ with the comment about big snow events being all that rare outside of the mountains.

 

imy point with greenfield being that its low elevation its safely away from the downsloping effects.

[radarman]

It's rare to get 2' anywhere in NE outside of the mountains. Wasn't 2011 like 70"+ for Springfield?

Can't really compare Greenfield to Spfld and N'hamp because lat. and topography make us a better snow area than areas S despite relatively low elevation.

 

I measured 66" IMBY that year very close to downtown Noho.  Springfield definitely got a little more on Boxing Day, but not sure about 1/12.

[radarman]

my point with greenfield being that its low elevation its safely away from the downsloping effects.

 

I'm not so sure about that. The valley is narrow up there, so although they downslope pretty bad they might be able to squeeze out qpe from dying streamers.   The temp gradient is probably the biggest difference.  Sometimes they get fringed, but the nickel and dime stuff, combined with the boost in snowgrowth accounts for it in the long term.  

[codfishsnowman]

I measured 66" IMBY that year very close to downtown Noho.  Springfield definitely got a little more on Boxing Day, but not sure about 1/12.

1-12 was 18-19 inches where i live and boxing day i went with five inches but it was very hard to measure.

 

there were some reports of up to 21 inches in spfd and up to 25 inches in agawam for the 1-12 event but those were not the numbers in my neighborhood. the agawam i am more inclined to buy than those higher spfd amounts

[radarman]

1-12 was 18-19 inches where i live and boxing day i went with five inches but it was very hard to measure.

 

there were some reports of up to 21 inches in spfd and up to 25 inches in agawam for the 1-12 event but those were not the numbers in my neighborhood. the agawam i am more inclined to buy than those higher spfd amounts

 

I measured 16" in 1-12 in Noho, and 23" near Quabbin in Btown.   I called Boxing day like 3.5" but yeah it was so windblown there were many bare spots and also decent drifts.  But the radar hole ripping open directly overhead was not something I'll forget soon.

[codfishsnowman]

I measured 16" in 1-12 in Noho, and 23" near Quabbin in Btown.   I called Boxing day like 3.5" but yeah it was so windblown there were many bare spots and also decent drifts.  But the radar hole ripping open directly overhead was not something I'll forget soon.

do you remember the box snowfall map before the snow started of  14 to 16 inches through the entire valley lol ?

 

tthe only really unique event down here was being on the fringe mega band of the feb 06 event, however the differences in spfd alone were incredible. where i was there was at least 16 inches, just to the east in East Longmeadow there was at least 18 or 19 inches and by the time one got to Hampden there was about two feet or just under. I will never forget driving to work two miles away to downtown spfd and seeing half the amount and then of course we all know what happened just a bit farther nw with that one lol

 

had thundersnow and brief three inch hr rates with that event

[radarman]

do you remember the box snowfall map before the snow started of  14 to 16 inches through the entire valley lol ?

I fell for the hype... at least was expecting sold warning criteria.    Was at a funeral/burial the next morning in a ground blizzard, winds howling.  

 

Now I'm extra cautious with wrapped up lows and E winds, probably an exaggerated amount in fact.

[ineedsnow]

the 06 event was painful I think I ended up with 9 or 10 drove threw longmeadow and the difference was amazing! usually we do better here then there but they had us by alot on that one!  If you want more snow but dont want to move far away from Springfield try westfield southwick or even feeding hills we usually do better then there even though we are so close the extra little bit of elevation does wonders..

do you remember the box snowfall map before the snow started of  14 to 16 inches through the entire valley lol ?

 

tthe only really unique event down here was being on the fringe mega band of the feb 06 event, however the differences in spfd alone were incredible. where i was there was at least 16 inches, just to the east in East Longmeadow there was at least 18 or 19 inches and by the time one got to Hampden there was about two feet or just under. I will never forget driving to work two miles away to downtown spfd and seeing half the amount and then of course we all know what happened just a bit farther nw with that one lol

 

had thundersnow and brief three inch hr rates with that event

[wxmanmitch]

I'd put the Springfield-Holyoke area around 45-50" a winter. It's nearly impossible to come up with an exact total due to the inconsistency and inaccuracy of datasets, so I usually like to give a range.

 

The good: Interior location means no coastal taint like BOS.

 

The bad: Downsloping from Berkshires to the west and the Worcester Hills to the east reduces the amount of precipitation that falls a bit.

 

The Pioneer Valley is definitely a bit of a QPF minimum compared to the hills on either side of it due to shadowing effects. The downslope effects also makes the greater Springfield one of the hottest places in SNE during the summer. That said, that area seems to do better in the severe weather department than we do because of heat and moisture pooling in the valley leading to increased instability. The valley can also result in greater wind shear, leading to an enhanced threat for tornadoes. This process likely played a role in the 6/1/11 event.

[Brewbeer]

I know that area had around 2 feet in the Feb 5, 2001 storm.

I was living in Hatfield at the time and although I didn't measure it, it took several hours to shovel out my rather short and narrow driveway.