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Blizzard Observation Thread Feb 8-9th 2013


dryslot

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Portland officially had about 32" and there were numerous others around or just over 30", so it's not a completely ridiculous outlier. This was obviously a tricky one for measuring.

It's interesting to look back on how we got to our big totals. Although it snowed pretty much continuously for close to 36 hours, most of the accumulation came during two relatively concentrated bursts: the CF early yesterday morning and the crazy banding late last night.

Another Gotham report was 26" so the 35.5" seems suspect
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I must say I am thankful for my small driveway...just big enough to fit 3 cars. Spent 3 hours out there (keeping in mind I had shoveled about 1/3 of the drive and the sidewalk at 10pm last night) to get it clear enough my wife would have a spot to park in when she gets home tonight. Still needs a bit more work, haven't even touched the mini-van...I'll head back out late tonight. As it turns out my wife will likely be stuck at the hospital for another night.

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Again, just to reiterate -- this was the Blizzard of my entire life.  I think we ended with about 2 feet.  But it was the experience that mattered more in Southeast Mass! 

 

Having a hard time deciding whether this will top PDII on my list of all-time faves. I was in Hershey PA for that one. Snowfall was simliar, just above 2'...duration was similar. Winds were less where I was for PDII, but drifts were greater. Top intensity was probably better for this one. I'd probably give it to this storm, but PDII was better for personal reasons. It's virtually a tie all things considered. 

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No...just the convective hail/sleet. That pelted down for nearly 3 hours, hard enough that we managed 4" of it. Final total was 27.5". Easily would've eclipsed 30" had we not mixed. 

 

It was weird since Deep River/Essex changed over to driving rain for a period of time. Latent heat release in the BL from the shallow convection??? I dunno. I have no idea why they flipped to an hour or 2 of heavy rain with +SNPL all around.

 

Guilford had 2.5 hours of +SNPL (though really was a lot of like hail/Graupel) but it was still piling up fast. 

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This has to be either a high 3 or low 4 on the NESIS scale. For NESIS the closest analog is Feb '78. except with the 30" numbers in CT instead of RI/SE Mass. 20" coverage is similar, except '78 had that into E NJ while '13 had them into Main. Both had 10-20" in NYC property generally. '78 did have the 10-20" totals farther down into the Mid Atlantic though. Guess it depends whether they count the Northern stream stuff in the Midwest as part of this storm or not. 

 

Started a specific thread for this.

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It was weird since Deep River/Essex changed over to driving rain for a period of time. Latent heat release in the BL from the shallow convection??? I dunno. I have no idea why they flipped to an hour or 2 of heavy rain with +SNPL all around.

 

Guilford had 2.5 hours of +SNPL (though really was a lot of like hail/Graupel) but it was still piling up fast. 

 

I still can't believe the rain...did those people really look closely? I actually though water was dripping off our roof like the gutters on the house were failing...until I opened the door and realized it was pouring sleet. But you're right...it piled up surprisingly fast for sleet. But I still imagine we lost at least 4-5" of snowfall to that mix. Storm will certainly make for some fun case studies. Perhaps first on the list...what the hell was the GFS thinking?

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I still can't believe the rain...did those people really look closely? I actually though water was dripping off our roof like the gutters on the house were failing...until I opened the door and realized it was pouring sleet. But you're right...it piled up surprisingly fast for sleet. But I still imagine we lost at least 4-5" of snowfall to that mix. Storm will certainly make for some fun case studies. Perhaps first on the list...what the hell was the GFS thinking?

 

It's possible it wasn't raining but I dunno I got like 3 reports of "pouring rain" from Deep River and Essex. 

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This storm had everything I could ever dream of. Thank you for letting me become an SNE'er, even if it was just for one storm.

 

When the winds started to gust up toward 60 or 70 last night I thought I was in a movie. Boston looked like a war-zone. Absolutely unreal. Glad I jumped on a plane at the last minute...not sure I'll ever get this opportunity again.

 

Around 28" here near Copley Square but that probably isn't the most accurate due to the drifts.

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'78? What's that? This baby crushed I mean crushed us.....the new benchmark I think in ct....if this had happened on a weekday it would have been so much worse....my driveway banks are 7' tall.....I just have nowhere to put it all....

Just an amazing night.....

 

I know, right? The winds in 78 were worse... this is more snow. 

 

People were more ready for this one and it started slowly. 78 was a wall of white. 

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31.4

but dont you guys think some of these reports are from people who are doing six hr measurements allowing a few more inches for compaction and settling ??

 

i know most of these huge totals are otg averages but they really could all be a few inches higher. i do not always agree with allowing for compaction and settling but the wind in this storm really did a number on accums when it was not ripping, especially before the storm was captured.

 

the waa light to mod snows were very inefficient accumulators for many of us until we got close to or into the mega band and then as things pivoted the ratios became better allowing the lighter snows to continue to pile up as well.

 

i am not sure how bdl only had 23 inches and they went right through a better part of that thing than i did lol

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Was able to get out and about a bit today and made my way to the fairfield/bridgeport area. Most, if not all of Bridgeport is buried, literally. 95 through the area is sketchy at best. Lots of power crews from down south are getting stuck for hours trying to get through the area. Looked like the day after tommorow out there!!

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I know, right? The winds in 78 were worse... this is more snow.

People were more ready for this one and it started slowly. 78 was a wall of white.

What was the max gust here last night compared to those in '78? I wasn't here then nor would I have rembered - only 5 at the time....

At 12:30 last night it was rippin so hard outside I was in total awe.....the wind, sideways snow, the smow rate, the drifting.....I couldn't take my eyes off it....mesmerizing the raw power of what was happening....never ever witnessed that....true blizzard......I cant believe you walked home in that....good thing that plow driver picked you up...

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I can not wait until the reanalysis of that death band comes in. I and others were hit with an initial gust that was stronger than anything. since I have lived here. The entire house shook, branches flew and pounded off the house. I would estimate visibility was below 25 feet for about 5 mins. The radar showed an incredible 56dbz at the time with gravity wave sigs along a 70 plus mile line.

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