Remembering Snowpocalypse -- 12/18-12/19, 2009

[Yeoman]

People b**ch about lack of snow in the DC area, but geographically this is one of the few places in the US outside of the oragraphically enhanced mountain regions that has the potential of dumping 20"+ inches every 6-7 years. Nowhere in the midwest will you see a 32" storm like what happened in Feb 2010 at IAD

[wxdude64]

Just a good 'ol fashioned snowstorm

 

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/rnk/events/2009/Dec_18_19th_Snowstorm/summary.php

[das]

People b**ch about lack of snow in the DC area, but geographically this is one of the few places in the US outside of the oragraphically enhanced mountain regions that has the potential of dumping 20"+ inches every 6-7 years. Nowhere in the midwest will you see a 32" storm like what happened in Feb 2010 at IAD

 

I may have told this story back in the EasternUSWX days but just in case I didn't, here goes.  I was hosting the Winnipeg Police Service for a 3 day conference over the holiday weekend here in the DC area right before PDII.  They thought it was funny how excited the locals were as the storm approached and how the town seemed to be preparing for a disaster.  Once the snow started to fall, they could not believe what they were seeing.  They will have a long duration snow like PDII was every once in a while but never with the intensity they saw here.  The conference degraded into a discussion on the synoptic setups that create major east coast storms and why places like Winnipeg never receive that much snow.  Their largest single snowfall is 18".  I have to admit that I was impressed with the general meteorological knowledge that the vast majority of the officers had.  I wonder if their education system puts a greater emphasis on their weather education modules in school than here in the States. 

 

The CoP called me on 11 Feb 2010 incredulous that we had just had our third storm of the year that exceeded their greatest snowfall.  He was a big snow weenie.

[clskinsfan]

Was a great storm. But it was not even in my top 5 of all time. It was the start of the most incredible winter ever for the Mid Atlantic though. The February bombs blew this storm away.

[Bob Chill]

I think what made this storm so memorable and intense for me is that one of my best friends was getting married that day. I had to load him and a pile of stuff into my suburban and drive from rockville to columbia @ 2pm. It took 2 hours but was one of the most wild rides of my life. My truck plowed through the snow no problem but 495 and 95N were an obstacle course of stuck cars. Total free for all. One of the best beers I've ever had was at the hotel bar 2 seconds after I got there. Nerves were tweaking but I honestly enjoy driving in big snows. It's pretty fun. 

[87storms]

I think what made this storm so memorable and intense for me is that one of my best friends was getting married that day. I had to load him and a pile of stuff into my suburban and drive from rockville to columbia @ 2pm. It took 2 hours but was one of the most wild rides of my life. My truck plowed through the snow no problem but 495 and 95N were an obstacle course of stuck cars. Total free for all. One of the best beers I've ever had was at the hotel bar 2 seconds after I got there. Nerves were tweaking but I honestly enjoy driving in big snows. It's pretty fun. 

 

i just started leasing a jeep which will only fuel this hobby.  i had never really driven in snow until i got one of these...they really are made for this stuff.

 

what i remember about this storm was that the pattern from fall up to that point and most of that season was just a perfect combination of southern stream waves and blocking.  if the pattern stayed it was clear it was just a matter of time that once it got colder we wouldn't be getting nickel and dime'd like we are now.

[87storms]

Was a great storm. But it was not even in my top 5 of all time. It was the start of the most incredible winter ever for the Mid Atlantic though. The February bombs blew this storm away.

 

dec 09 and feb 10 were bigtime, but i still think 96 and 03 were the cream of the crop here and of course 93 was the godfather of east coast storms.  personal opinion.

[mattie g]

dec 09 and feb 10 were bigtime, but i still think 96 and 03 were the cream of the crop here and of course 93 was the godfather of east coast storms.  personal opinion.

 

I hardly even remember PD2.  I'd suspect it's because I was working (bartender) and drunk pretty much the whole time because barely any other restaurants were open for a few days afterwards.

 

I got stuck in Wilkes-Barre, PA during '96.  We got about 20" up there, while my hometown in Jersey got 33".

 

December 18-19 was an awesome storm, but its 22" was almost dwarfed by the 27" from Feb 5-6.  I only got 8-9" from Feb 10, but the morning blizzard band was pretty sick.

 

No doubt, though, that Dec 18-19 was in my top 5 all time. Easy.

[yoda]

I hardly even remember PD2.  I'd suspect it's because I was working (bartender) and drunk pretty much the whole time because barely any other restaurants were open for a few days afterwards.

 

I got stuck in Wilkes-Barre, PA during '96.  We got about 20" up there, while my hometown in Jersey got 33".

 

December 18-19 was an awesome storm, but its 22" was almost dwarfed by the 27" from Feb 5-6.  I only got 8-9" from Feb 10, but the morning blizzard band was pretty sick.

 

No doubt, though, that Dec 18-19 was in my top 5 all time. Easy.

96 we were stuck in FL (JAX) for a family vacation and it was tough getting back in... we got one of the last flights back from RDU to DCA.  09-10 was awesome for both storms, both the Dec and Feb ones.

[mitchnick]

I think what made this storm so memorable and intense for me is that one of my best friends was getting married that day. I had to load him and a pile of stuff into my suburban and drive from rockville to columbia @ 2pm. It took 2 hours but was one of the most wild rides of my life. My truck plowed through the snow no problem but 495 and 95N were an obstacle course of stuck cars. Total free for all. One of the best beers I've ever had was at the hotel bar 2 seconds after I got there. Nerves were tweaking but I honestly enjoy driving in big snows. It's pretty fun. 

so you're the SOB that ran over my grandmother on 495 that day   

 

great story!

[WEATHER53]

I hardly even remember PD2.  I'd suspect it's because I was working (bartender) and drunk pretty much the whole time because barely any other restaurants were open for a few days afterwards.

 

I got stuck in Wilkes-Barre, PA during '96.  We got about 20" up there, while my hometown in Jersey got 33".

 

December 18-19 was an awesome storm, but its 22" was almost dwarfed by the 27" from Feb 5-6.  I only got 8-9" from Feb 10, but the morning blizzard band was pretty sick.

 

No doubt, though, that Dec 18-19 was in my top 5 all time. Easy.

I think the 3 hour period on the 6th was the greatest combo of heavy snow and strong winds that I can remember.

[Rjay]

On Long Island this storm produced the heaviest snowfall rates I have ever seen. NWS put out a special weather statement that to expect 3-5" an hr rates for 3 to 6 hours during the night. I picked up 21 inches in 7 hrs. Finished with 24. From what I remember it was a less than 12 hr event here.

[clskinsfan]

dec 09 and feb 10 were bigtime, but i still think 96 and 03 were the cream of the crop here and of course 93 was the godfather of east coast storms.  personal opinion.

 

Agree on your three biggest. 96, 03, 93, 79 and 10 are the best in that order for me. 96 and 03 both dropped 3 feet in my area.

[WinterWxLuvr]

Agree on your three biggest. 96, 03, 93, 79 and 10 are the best in that order for me. 96 and 03 both dropped 3 feet in my area.

What did the Superstorm drop in Winchester?

 

In SWVA it put down anywhere from 25-42 inches.  That storm is the most incredible weather event I've ever witnessed.  If you go back and read about it, the stats, the records, you just can't get over how powerful it was (2 degrees in Birmingham!!, 4 inches of snow in the Fla panhandle!!  On March 13!!)

[clskinsfan]

I "only" got 26 inches with the superstorm. We got dry slotted for a bit of the storm. It is still in my top 3 because of the wind and drifting. It definitely deserves to be in my top three weather events of all time. I was tempted to swap the 10 and 79 storms. The third highest snow total I have ever recorded was with the 2010 storm. But I was 10 in 1979. That is the storm that has forever hooked me on Noreasters. Good picture of the dry slot from the superstorm.

[87storms]

Agree on your three biggest. 96, 03, 93, 79 and 10 are the best in that order for me. 96 and 03 both dropped 3 feet in my area.

 

i was too young for 79 and 83...so i'd probably go 03 (lived in upper moco), 96, 93, 10, 09, the 87 storms, 00...and that might round it out.  lived in lower moco for the rest of the storms which is probably why 03 was tops for me...felt like there was at least 2 feet of powder with that one.

[Sparky]

This was a great storm 21" IMBY.  Great time of year too.  I was watching the temps fall all day long Saturday.  It was getting progressively colder the whole time. By evening Saturday close to 20F.  Still, Jan 96 remains the biggest dumper with the strongest sustained winds and drifting since I moved to Westminster from Balto in Dec 93 (missed the Superstorm here).  The most buried that I have ever been was after the second Feb 2010 blizzard, over 50" on the ground.  I actually hired a contractor to clean my driveway and sidewalk after that for the first time.

[CAPE]

What I remember is that heavy snow band that developed on the front end here. Was supposed to be 1-2 inches by morning(I was planning to travel based on that) but the first 3 hours of the storm produced 6 inches of snow by 7 am...so I stayed home.

[PhineasC]

They don't make 'em like that anymore.

[CAPE]

They don't make 'em like that anymore.

Nope. Once in a lifetime. Amazing and surreal winter. Near starvation since has produced rampant weenie-ism.

[WEATHER53]

20" from that one and never, ever, never,never,never thought I was still yet to get almost twice that.

[Fozz]

Time to bump this up

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2014/12/17/looking-back-on-winter-2009-10-snowpocalypse-strikes-smashes-december-snow-records/

[mappy]

5-years 

[snowfan]

Was able to get home from Portland, OR just in time for the storm. Awesome storm. 

[Fozz]

I actually rank this above 2/6/2010.... for years I wasn't sure which storm I liked more, but now that I think about it, I choose December 2009, even though my area got more in the February storm.

 

The anticipation before the storm was so much more thrilling, mainly because it was the first HECS in almost 7 years, while 2/6/2010 was the first HECS in 7 weeks and felt a lot like deja vu.

 

The other reason is the shock and rarity of it happening in mid-December. Like I said in another thread, I didn't think a storm of this magnitude was possible in December. It was just unbelievable.

[Sparky]

If you missed this one you missed the best damned December storm EVER!

[usedtobe]

I remember having a long running thread on the pattern.  I know i had one for the Feb storm but think I also had one prior to this one as the pattern was a great one with the superens D+8 really pitting out a number of good storm analogs.   However,  the models kept the low suppressed until around day 3 when the ens mean had a 500 pattern almost identical to the DC 8" or greater composite.  Shortly after that I think Don Sutherland started comparing it to the knickerbocker storm. I tried finding the thread from eastern but could only find my thread on the feb 5/6 storm not the Deec one.

[Fozz]

If you missed this one you missed the best damned December storm EVER!

I almost missed it... I was out of town from the 20th till around New Years. Had this storm happened just a few days later, I would have missed out on it completely.

 

I remember having a long running thread on the pattern. I know i had one for the Feb storm but think I also had one prior to this one as the pattern was a great one with the superens D+8 really pitting out a number of good storm analogs. However, the models kept the low suppressed until around day 3 when the ens mean had a 500 pattern almost identical to the DC 8" or greater composite. Shortly after that I think Don Sutherland started comparing it to the knickerbocker storm. I tried finding the thread from eastern but could only find my thread on the feb 5/6 storm not the Deec one.

 

Is it this thread?

http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index.php?/topic/214818-thundersnow-18z-gfs-sounding-says-maybe/

[PrinceFrederickWx]

I actually rank this above 2/6/2010.... for years I wasn't sure which storm I liked more, but now that I think about it, I choose December 2009, even though my area got more in the February storm.

 

The anticipation before the storm was so much more thrilling, mainly because it was the first HECS in almost 7 years, while 2/6/2010 was the first HECS in 7 weeks and felt a lot like deja vu.

 

The other reason is the shock and rarity of it happening in mid-December. Like I said in another thread, I didn't think a storm of this magnitude was possible in December. It was just unbelievable.

 

Nah 2/5-6/10 was way better- more snow and watching everyone get shafted in NYC and SNE was hilarious. The one time (and probably the only time) where the mid-atlantic were the snow kings.

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

I actually rank this above 2/6/2010.... for years I wasn't sure which storm I liked more, but now that I think about it, I choose December 2009, even though my area got more in the February storm.

 

The anticipation before the storm was so much more thrilling, mainly because it was the first HECS in almost 7 years, while 2/6/2010 was the first HECS in 7 weeks and felt a lot like deja vu.

 

The other reason is the shock and rarity of it happening in mid-December. Like I said in another thread, I didn't think a storm of this magnitude was possible in December. It was just unbelievable.

 

I generally feel the same.  I've tossed that around, which one was "better" or would rank ahead, either the Dec. 18-19 storm or Feb. 5-6.  Probably really doesn't matter in the end, all the storms that year were remarkable and they were all great!  In my particular location, the amount of snow was similar for each...20.0" from the December storm and 23.5" from February.  Heck, both also occurred on a Friday night through Saturday, too.  The February event was obviously bigger overall for the area when you look at the actual snow amounts that a lot of people got.  But I kind of lean toward the December storm for a few reasons:  it was still early in the season and that put an exclamation point on the start of that amazing winter, it was the first really major event here in many years (as you stated), and it was quite cold throughout the event.  Cold powder from start to finish.  I remember the excitement as it started to snow in the late evening (want to say around 9 or 10 PM that Friday), and it stuck immediately.  Woke up to around 9" on the ground and got another 11" through the day and into the evening Saturday.  After that winter in some of the ensuing discussions, I almost felt like the two big events in February sort of overshadowed the December storm.  A lot of the talk was on whether the Feb. 5-6 event was bigger or the blizzard a few days later, almost as if the December one was a distant memory.