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You get the chance to relive 3 winter storms


snowstormcanuck

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my senior year of high school, January 1979. lived nw suburbs of Chicago. had one storm dump 15 to 20 inches of snow and followed up by lesser storms. at one time we had 40 inches on the ground. spent the off days clearing the driveway and managing snow piles. good times.

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This is actually a hard one since there are so many great storms I loved and experienced!

 

January 1999 ... since I was already here for it I would l have like to have been in SW MI.

December 2000 ... again same as above I would l have like to have been in SW MI.

I would love to re-live the April 2005 storm exactly but have it come in January or Feb or heck even March.  It would have been truly EPIC.

1994 January LES event at MTU

1996 January storm at MTU

 

In regards to January 1978 ... I remember this storm in the northern burbs of Detroit but to relive it I would want to be up in Saginaw or SW MI for it.

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1) GHD- even having grown up in NYC and experienced many events there, the most ferocious winter storm I've ever experienced and an incredible amount of cloud to ground lightning for a winter storm. Unique perspective was working at NWS Chicago for over 14 hrs straight during the event, taking the 6z and 12z snowfall obs and then going to sleep at the office at 830 am because the roads were still so bad. My one regret is not going outside the office during the absolute most intense part of the blizzard at around 9pm.

 

2) Blizzard of January 1996, northeast and mid Atlantic - 2 feet of snow outside my childhood home in Queens in NYC and drifts up to 5' in the backyard. Snow somehow got into our garage and the doors were blocked by huge snowdrifts, so we had to open up the garage as much as we could and then dig a hole for my brother who was 8 at the time to get through and then dig out the front door of the house. This is the storm that really got me as interested as I am in the weather.

 

3) Boxing Day Blizzard northeast/Mid Atlantic 12/26/10- Based on accounts of impacts and wind reports and NYC basically being paralyzed for at least 3 days after the storm, this storm probably would've ranked up there with GHD for intensity had I been able to experience it. 

 

Multiple honorable mentions:

 

12/9/05 eastern New England: Incredibly rapid bombogenesis of low pressure off the coast resulted in 2 hours of hurricane force wind gusts, thundersnow and extremely intense snowfall rates with white-out conditions. Great write-up by NWS BOX here:

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/climate/pns/DEC9_2005.txt

 

12/2002 & 2/2007 LES events up on the Tug Hill or in western NY

 

March 1993 Superstorm: very poor track just inland from coastal plain, but still had 10" of snow and high winds in WAA portion of storm in Queens before changeover to rain. Extreme cold for March behind the storm and the most incredible thick ice sheet as the wet snow froze solid. Had to help chisel my parent's car out of the driveway. Just to be a part of the #1 storm on the Kocin-Uccellini scale is pretty cool. 

 

2/12/06: Largest single snowstorm on record for NYC and a few hours of 4-5" per hour rates under intense fgen/defo band. Was up skiing in northern NY during this and all we had from it was high clouds.

 

March 1888 East Coast Blizzard: by all accounts one of the worst blizzards on record for any part of the US and likely the worst for the East Coast. Pictures of 8-10' tall snowdrifts in NYC.

 

January 1967 and January 1999 snowstorms/blizzards in Chicago area: Having been here for GHD, being able to relive the #1 and #2 Chicago snowstorms would be pretty awesome.

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1. February 2013 New England Blizzard...40 inches of snow in Hamden, CT and drifts up to 6' on Long Island.

2. February 11-12th 2006 blizzard 

3. GHD

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

1. Halloween Nor'Easter of 2011. 18 inches of snow outside of Hartford (some lost power for over two weeks).

2. February 5-6 2010 in the Washington D.C. area would be something.

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These were in my lifetime:

1.  Either Jan '67 or '68 cant remember exactly, picked up 28" in 24hrs in my home town of Nelsonville, Ohio (NW Athens Co.), I remember at one point during the storm my dad catching single flakes that covered the palm of this hand!

2.  Either Feb 28th or 29th 1980 picked up an un predicted 15" in 5hrs again in Nelsonville, got snowed in at my buddies dorm, and of course had to walk through the mess the next morning for a 8am test!!!

3.  April '87 picked up 18" in 24hrs in Nelsonville, many hours of thunder snow!

 

Honorable mentions (now on the SE side of Dayton) Dec.23rd '04 & March '08 storms got a foot out of each of those. 

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Ones I have experienced (all in Geneva):

(1) GHD 2011 blizzard -- by a long shot, enough said.

(2) 26 December 2009 -- what I call the "Boxing Day Miracle" storm -- the mesoscale set-up for that storm over a portion of north-central and northeast Illinois, centered over the southern half of Kane County and western DuPage County, was very complex and hard to forecast and meant that this storm was a huge over-achiever for MBY.  The original NWS point-and-click forecast for Geneva, I believe, was 1-3"; I measured 14.2" from that, and most of that fell over six hours.  The snow was remarkably fluffy, with 50:1 ratios.  

(3) January 1999 -- I was a bit young (seven years old) to remember all the details, so it would be good to experience it again.  Upon experiencing it again, other storms from my lifetime might trump it.  

 

Honourable mentions and ones that I have not already experienced:

--25 January 2013 here in State College -- In many ways, this was a run-of-the-mill northwest-flow-type event.  However, the flake habits were such that the snow pack was extremely sparkly in the moon-light the following night, and I just have good memories of this night -- haha.  

--3 February 2008 -- The snowfall itself was not that impressive, but the winds that accompanied this event were remarkable.  

--December 1987 -- I have reviewed this one as a case study in undergrad, and it fascinates me.  

--a hard-core Tug Hill lake-effect event -- I'm thinking about perhaps the recent one or January 1994 or January 1985 -- something of that magnitude.  

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1. February 28th - March 5th, 1900. Detroit picked up 14" with the storm on 2/28/1900 and 16" with the storm on 3/5/1900.

 

2. January 14th, 1992. The below NARR maps explain it all.

 

http://www.meteo.psu.edu/~fxg1/NARR/1992/us0114.php

 

3. April 6th, 1886.

 

Honorable mentions:

 

*January 2nd-3rd, 1999

 

*December 11th-12th, 2000

 

*December 1st-2nd, 1974

 

*January 24th-26th, 1978

 

*November 6th-11th, 1913

 

There was an event in the 1950s where Detroit picked up a quick 4-6" of very heavy snow before transitioning to rain (can't remember the exact dates). I would like to experience that event given how rare front-end snow thumpings of that magnitude are around here. 

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1. Blizzard of 78 - no contest here. I was a high school sophomore living in Zanesville, Ohio. I remember listening to the rain pelting my window as it changed to ice pellets then snow almost instantaneously. The wind and snow was amazing. My mom was friends with the local sheriff and she volunteered to help out. I remember them sending a 4 wheel drive pickup to come get her. There were many life threatening situations in the aftermath of the storm. What I remember most were the drifts over your head. My grandmother managed an apartment complex and I helped shovel the walks after the storm. The drifts were so massive you had to shovel them out in big blocks of snow. Of course, no storm since has come close to this.

 

2. The early February storms of 2010. I could be wrong, but I believe they set the record for most snow on the ground in the Columbus area, at least in my lifetime. I shoveled paths in the yard for our Dachshunds and you couldn't see them when they went out.

 

3. April 1987 - Not sure of the exact date. I just know my wife was past her due date for my first son. It snowed at least 12 inches in Columbus overnight and I thought sure she would go into labor then. It melted away the next day and when he was born on the 20th it was sunny and near 70!

 

Honorable mention - November 1950, the famous Ohio State-Michigan snow bowl. Not in my lifetime, but my dad always claimed to have been there. Unfortunately Michigan won 9-3.

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1. February 28th - March 5th, 1900. Detroit picked up 14" with the storm on 2/28/1900 and 16" with the storm on 3/5/1900.

 

2. January 14th, 1992. The below NARR maps explain it all.

 

http://www.meteo.psu.edu/~fxg1/NARR/1992/us0114.php

 

3. April 6th, 1886.

 

Honorable mentions:

 

*January 2nd-3rd, 1999

 

*December 11th-12th, 2000

 

*December 1st-2nd, 1974

 

*January 24th-26th, 1978

 

*November 6th-11th, 1913

 

There was an event in the 1950s where Detroit picked up a quick 4-6" of very heavy snow before transitioning to rain (can't remember the exact dates). I would like to experience that event given how rare front-end snow thumpings of that magnitude are around here. 

You are probably thinking of the Nov 6/7, 1951 storm. Heavy snow snarled the evening rush hour, and after a quick 5.7" it turned to heavy rain. Flint had 13" from this storm.

 

I will stick with local events, because it goes without saying most of us would like to relive an event that gave the most snow possible.

 

#1) - BY FAR - April 6, 1886

#2) - Feb 28-Mar 5, 1900

#3) - Dec 1, 1974

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i have told you before that Im near certain from a pic my mom took this area DEFINITELY had over a foot, and area totals were reported as 13" in Dearborn and Monroe but 11.1" at DTW.

 

Well...final piece to the puzzle.

19920115_072_total.png

 

That is the strangest snow map I have ever seen. 18 inches in a circle in northern pa/NY border. ^_^

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i have told you before that Im near certain from a pic my mom took this area DEFINITELY had over a foot, and area totals were reported as 13" in Dearborn and Monroe but 11.1" at DTW.

 

Well...final piece to the puzzle.

19920115_072_total.png

 

Most memorable event as a kid growing up. Missed two days of school because of this storm. The morning of the snow local news called for 2-4" and Winter storm watch was posted. By dinner time it was bumped up to 4-8" then by the 11pm news it was raised to 8-12". I also remember and I'm 99% sure there was a 14" report in Downriver. It started around 11pm and lasted thru mid morning. Rates were impressive. 

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Locally:

 

1. April 1886

 

2. Feb 28- March 5th 1900 

 

3. Dec 1974 

I don't know how the Northern Burbs did with April 1886 ... does anyone have that data?  It would have been incredible though.

 

The Dec 1974 storm does not even rank in Flints top 25 ... I was too young to remember it being a toddler at that time but I don't think it was an EPIC in the northern burbs (major storm yes).

 

That Feb/March 1900 period would have been pretty darn awesome with over 30"... honestly this past Dec 2013/Jan 2014 period was not too far off for us in the northern burbs!

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I don't know how the Northern Burbs did with April 1886 ... does anyone have that data? It would have been incredible though.

The Dec 1974 storm does not even rank in Flints top 25 ... I was too young to remember it being a toddler at that time but I don't think it was an EPIC in the northern burbs (major storm yes).

That Feb/March 1900 period would have been pretty darn awesome with over 30"... honestly this past Dec 2013/Jan 2014 period was not too far off for us in the northern burbs!

I will have to look it up what happened unofficially northern burbs april 1886.

And actually the southern burbs did just as good this recent stretch. I saw over 3 feet of snow from December 14 - January 6. And in fact this was just the 2nd time on record Detroit saw two 10"+ storms in the same week behind that 1900 week. But a 16" & 14" storm the SAME WEEK....HERE? that is crazy.

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i have told you before that Im near certain from a pic my mom took this area DEFINITELY had over a foot, and area totals were reported as 13" in Dearborn and Monroe but 11.1" at DTW.

 

Well...final piece to the puzzle.

 

How did you get that map, by the way?

 

My answer:

March 17, 2003. Rocky Mountain National Park. Small buildings were buried. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Edit:

 

I did live the blizzard of '78 in southern Michigan. It's very hard to remember things when you're so young, so I rely on my dad's stories.  And by the way, I did live that storm in '92. (see map posted: 19920115) It was a great rain-snow changeover at Toledo. It was a pretty good one. I probably should have taken some video from 2006 in Colorado.

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The great Appalachian storm. This thing just sounds intriguing especially regarding the track of the storm and how it actually retrograded west and came back east. This of course was Pittsburghs biggest snowfall at 30 inches so that would of been something to see.

1993 super storm- No explanation needed, blizzard conditions down in Alabama is insane.

1996 blizzard- except not in Pittsburgh we were on the outskirts and only got around a foot.

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