With a few years of distance now, which 'main event' wins? '96 or '10?

[87storms]

The car pics from '96 easily match and sometimes exceed the '10 ones... mostly from the higher drifting in that storm.

For some examples, go here: http://wintercenter.homestead.com/photo1996b.html

 

agreed.  i was in silver spring for '96 and bethesda in '10.  '96 takes this one in a close one.  i just remember the drifts like everyone said.  it was just epic.  that said, the back to back storms of '10 put together was a once in a lifetime experience here.

[snow.]

1996 Old Town

 

[Ji]

I came extremely close to missing the blizzard of 96. It was the closest i ever came to missing a big snow. I was suppose to fly out Sunday morning for Atlanta for the entire week for training when I worked at Sprint. It would of been my first work trip. Deep down...i wasnt worried because i knew the trip would get cancelled and sure enough when sunday morning came around, there was a blizzard and IAD was closed. Never made it to my trip....would of been devestated. had the storm came 24 hours later, i would of been in atlanta

[grhqofb5]

Gaithersburg in 1996, had about 28" or snow, high winds, colder than 2010.  In 2010, in Crofton/Odenton we seemed to get the bullseye, about 32", high winds, not a cold but the snow was just heavier.  Plenty of drifting in both storms.  I give slight edge to 2010, probably because it was my own house and I had to deal with the problems (instead of my dad), and the County refused to plow our subdivision street (all the guys in the neighborhood literally banded together and dug out the street so that cars could get out on about the 3rd day, when we realized help wasn't coming).  Even then, we just joined up with another street in the subdivision that had a single plow come through halfway through the first storm. 

[Huffwx]

1996 for Richmond.

 

2010 was a pretty big bust for Richmond. We got next to nothing while DC piled up crazy totals with the back to back blizzards.

 

Isn't wasn't forecasted for a big event in RIC, was it?? 

 

96 is LYH, not even close. Biggest snow ever 2010 was 8.2 inches at my house witha  ton of sleet and dry slot from hell. 

[MidlothianWX]

Isn't wasn't forecasted for a big event in RIC, was it?? 

 

96 is LYH, not even close. Biggest snow ever 2010 was 8.2 inches at my house witha  ton of sleet and dry slot from hell. 

 

The models for the first 2010 event actually had very large precip totals in Central VA just a few days out. I wouldn't call it a bust though - 12/2009 was definitely a much bigger bust down this way.

 

2010 beats 96 for me because I lived in the Midwest during the latter.

[mappy]

I was 11 when 1/96 happened, I remember walking around the backyard in waist high snow. No idea how much actually fell.

[Ian]

I wasn't here or on the EC in 1996 but 2010 was about as good as I ever expect to see outside the mtns and rivaled anything I saw in CT. Still not quite as good as 12 hours of a big cement thump in the Sierra but about all you can ask for unless you're one of those weirdos who wants their wind to be colder.

[jnis]

I think 96 was better than 10 #2, but it is hard to ignore the fact that I had close to 30" on the ground when the 10 blizzard began. I think 96 compares better to the first of the two 10 storms. The entire winter of 09 -10 was incredible.

[snow.]

I wasn't here or on the EC in 1996 but 2010 was about as good as I ever expect to see outside the mtns and rivaled anything I saw in CT. Still not quite as good as 12 hours of a big cement thump in the Sierra but about all you can ask for unless you're one of those weirdos who wants their wind to be colder.

 

I think that is the one knock against feb 5-6....We are lucky it was so wet....because it was way warmer than PD1, PD2, 1983, 1996....It was unique in that sense...We wasted some liquid....More than anything I want it as cold as possible so stickage and totals can be maximized...esp in a Feb storm...Feb 5-6 would have been dicey 2 weeks later..I actually would have substituted 2010 wind for 2003 cold and less wind....give me 2010 with PD2's sfc temps and we would have gotten like 28"

[Ian]

I think that is the one knock against feb 5-6....We are lucky it was so wet....because it was way warmer than PD1, PD2, 1983, 1996....It was unique in that sense...We wasted some liquid....More than anything I want it as cold as possible so stickage and totals can be maximized...esp in a Feb storm...Feb 5-6 would have been dicey 2 weeks later..I actually would have substituted 2010 wind for 2003 cold and less wind....give me 2010 with PD2's sfc temps and we would have gotten like 28"

 

Good pts. I like a heavy wet snow (Jan 2011 was a bit too far the warm direction IMO). They are usually the most photogenic plus there's something to that thick blanket that even wind has trouble shifting a lot. I think it's probably just how I grew up with snow. We were at the base of a small mtn chain with about 3k feet elevation IMBY. The best snows were always paste jobs.. then the Sierra that just sops up the moisture. 

 

But DCA in particular lost a lot with the temps.  That's a storm that's a little concerning in the overall trends over time locally.  I mean, maybe that's just how it had to be and we didn't even really mix I don't think but sitting on those margins is tricky if things continue to warm over time. 

 

This is overcontrasted but the blue snow near the Capitol feb 6:

 

[Chris L]

For the entire Northeast area, 1996 wins by a country mile. Even up here in NYC area, where December 2010 blizzard had far more intense rates; as well as February 2006 and 2013, they all fall short of the great blizzard of '96. It is a NESIS 5 for a reason.

[Chris L]

Even if Philly got 28.5" from February 6, 2010.... the impact from that wasn't even on the same scale as the 30.7" from January 7, 1996.

[psuhoffman]

I think maybe I enjoyed 96 more because I was in high school at the time. I think we got 24" then another 3 and 6 from the clipper and coastal that week. But nothing will beat the amazing amounts I saw in 2010. I was in Herndon visiting my brother for the feb 5 storm and saw 30" then was home in Manchester md where they had about 20" still otg when we got about 25" from the feb 10 storm. The drifts were crazy. Also saw about 100" otg later that month when I went skiing at timberline wv.

[snow.]

Good pts. I like a heavy wet snow (Jan 2011 was a bit too far the warm direction IMO). They are usually the most photogenic plus there's something to that thick blanket that even wind has trouble shifting a lot. I think it's probably just how I grew up with snow. We were at the base of a small mtn chain with about 3k feet elevation IMBY. The best snows were always paste jobs.. then the Sierra that just sops up the moisture. 

 

But DCA in particular lost a lot with the temps.  That's a storm that's a little concerning in the overall trends over time locally.  I mean, maybe that's just how it had to be and we didn't even really mix I don't think but sitting on those margins is tricky if things continue to warm over time. 

 

This is overcontrasted but the blue snow near the Capitol feb 6:

 

 

 

maybe...People were saying the same thing about 96 and PD2...that we couldnt get an all snow event anymore...16 and heavy sleet during PD2 was brutal....I lost at least 5" to sleet....But I would like to see a cold event again just so I know we can get one....though 2/9 and 3/1/09 were pretty damn cold

[mitchnick]

1/30/10-2/10/10 were the best 12 days of my life....I wish someone would have told me beforehand though, so I could have enjoyed it more vs. stressing over model runs       lol

screw 1/96 and the sleet that fell with it imby

[EastCoast NPZ]

The warm temps ruined the Feb 5-6 storm.  We had 6+ hours of steady snow melt on contact during the day, and the first foot of that storm that did accumulate was concrete.  Had it been 5 degrees colder, that storm would have rivaled '96 totals. 

[needbiggerboat]

Feb 10 easily. Centreville was ravaged.

[EastCoast NPZ]

Dec 19 was way better than Feb 5-6.  Lower total, but way better storm.

[JMU2004]

The models for the first 2010 event actually had very large precip totals in Central VA just a few days out. I wouldn't call it a bust though - 12/2009 was definitely a much bigger bust down this way.

 

2010 beats 96 for me because I lived in the Midwest during the latter.

 

yea, 2010 was actually modeled as huge snows for CVa up until a few days out.

[Huffwx]

yea, 2010 was actually modeled as huge snows for CVa up until a few days out.

 

I think all along I expect a mix of change to sleet and freezing rain. I went 6-10 on my blog in my region and the NWS went 10-18 and I was a bit shocked. The wrap around didn't quite make it back down to LYH for anything meaningful, so we had 6 inches of snow, inch of sleet and another 1.2 of snow on the back side. 

[Cold Miser]

I was asked to post some photos from '96 in here so here they are.  This is Arlington, Key Bridge, and G'Town areas from when I was living down in D.C.

[DDweatherman]

I think for those in Baltimore, 2010 does beat 96. The reason is Baltimore and its burbs, especially the western/just NW burbs got absolutely crushed in all 3 blizzards that winter, and both in the 2/5-2/10 frame. 96 was an insane storm, but 30-35" totals around Baltimore are hard to touch. In that area, had there been 96 temps, totals could have been unimaginable. 

[gymengineer]

I was asked to post some photos from '96 in here so here they are.  This is Arlington, Key Bridge, and G'Town areas from when I was living down in D.C.

Thanks for posting these. These pics are what I remembered about 1/96-- in the aftermath, the main roads were still snow covered. After 2/5-6/10, there was definitely more pavement showing soon after. 

[gymengineer]

I think for those in Baltimore, 2010 does beat 96. The reason is Baltimore and its burbs, especially the western/just NW burbs got absolutely crushed in all 3 blizzards that winter, and both in the 2/5-2/10 frame. 96 was an insane storm, but 30-35" totals around Baltimore are hard to touch. In that area, had there been 96 temps, totals could have been unimaginable. 

Are you answering the 1-storm to 1-storm comparison? 

[hosj III]

As a snow weenie, I would rather a redux of 96 than snowmaggedon, because with snowmaggedon everyone north and south of us got screwed.

 

I like to share the snow