Best Mid-Atlantic winter storm of the last 40 years

[TJ3]

I've always read about PDI on these forums, but can you guys explain to me what made that storm so epic. I think I read that it was also a surprise storm, which obviously makes sense since it took plce in the late 70s

I know I am broken record but what made it so awesome were the rates early Monday morning. 3-4 per hour. It was a surprise in the totals but snow was definitely in the forecast.

[EastCoast NPZ]

I've always read about PDI on these forums, but can you guys explain to me what made that storm so epic. I think I read that it was also a surprise storm, which obviously makes sense since it took plce in the late 70s

 

The Oct. '79 storm was my first true, detailed weather memory, so I wonder if Feb '79 was anything special out here.  Does anyone have one of those summary maps for this storm?

[Fozz]

The Oct. '79 storm was my first true, detailed weather memory, so I wonder if Feb '79 was anything special out here.  Does anyone have one of those summary maps for this storm?

 

[MN Transplant]

The Oct. '79 storm was my first true, detailed weather memory, so I wonder if Feb '79 was anything special out here.  Does anyone have one of those summary maps for this storm?

 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/snow-and-ice/rsi/nesis

 

 

ninja'd by Fozz

[EastCoast NPZ]

 

 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/snow-and-ice/rsi/nesis

 

 

ninja'd by Fozz

 

Thanks, guys.  10 - 20 out here is a pretty nice event.  Shame I don't recall it.

[PrinceFrederickWx]

The other reason to like PDI was because, looking at that map, it appears to have completely shafted New England just like snowmageddon 1     

 

btw Eastcoast NPZ - great pics and story! I realized in my post earlier this morning I forgot to mention the awesomeness of Dec. 2009 too.

[RickinBaltimore]

I was only 2 during PD I, and there's a picture of me standing next to a snow drift in our back yard almost twice as big as me. Still I got to go with Snowmadgeon I. That was just impressive to watch the snow piling up

[MN Transplant]

1. February 18-19, 1979 - "PDI"  - DCA 18.7" (#3), BWI 20.0" (#8), IAD 16.3" (#6)

    

2. February 11, 1983 - DCA 16.6" (#6), BWI 22.8" (#5), IAD, 22.8" (#3)

    

3. March 13-14, 1993 - "Superstorm of '93" - not top-10 at DCA/BWI, 14.1" at IAD (#8)

    

4. February 10-11, 1994 ice storm 

    

5. January 7-9, 1996 - "Blizzard of '96" - DCA 17.3" (#5), BWI 26.6" (#2), IAD 24.6" (#2)

    

6. January 25, 2000 - not top-10 at airports

    

7. February 15-17, 2003 - "PDII" - DCA 16.4" (#7T), BWI 26.8" (#1), IAD 21.7" (#4)

    

8. December 18-19, 2009 - "Snowpocalypse" - DCA 16.4" (#7T), BWI 18.0" (#10), IAD 18.0" (#5)

    

9. February 5-6, 2010 - "Snowmageddon, part 1"  - DCA 17.8" (#4), BWI 25.0" (#4), IAD 32.4" (#1)

    

10. February 9-10, 2010 - "Snowmageddon, part 2" - not top-10 at DCA/IAD, BWI 19.5" (#9)

 

3-day snowfall totals from http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/winter/storm-pr.htm

[MN Transplant]

1. February 18-19, 1979 - "PDI"  - 17.4"

    

2. February 11, 1983 - 23.1"

    

3. March 13-14, 1993 - 10.7"

    

4. February 10-11, 1994 ice storm - 1.4" precip

    

5. January 7-9, 1996 - "Blizzard of '96" - 23.0"

    

6. January 25, 2000 - 9.0"

    

7. February 15-17, 2003 - "PDII" - 17.5"

    

8. December 18-19, 2009 - 20.0" (me 19.0")

    

9. February 5-6, 2010 - 22.0" (me 24.7")

    

10. February 9-10, 2010 - 14.0" (me 9.5")

 

This list is for the Vienna, VA coop station.  '83, '96, '09 and '10 in a tight range.  The last three I added my measurements.

[mattie g]

I know I am broken record but what made it so awesome were the rates early Monday morning. 3-4 per hour. It was a surprise in the totals but snow was definitely in the forecast.

 

There were rates easily that big in the '09-'10 storms.

 

It's all subjective, of course, but those storms were beasts.  December 18-19 was 20" of pretty heavy snow, too.  I definitely remember the blue tinge to it.

[Deck Pic]

Tale of the Tape, Blizzard 1996 vs 2/5/10, 

 

Location 

 

1996 - Silver Spring at DC Line - 300', 

2010 - Mt. Pleasant DC (4 miles due south of 1996 location) - 200'

 

Totals

 

1996 - 21"

2010 - 22"

 

Temperature at onset/min temp during storm

 

1996 - 20/15

2010 - 34/24

 

Duration

 

1996 - 36 hours

2010 - 30 hours

 

Max Sustained/Gust

 

1996 - 29/37

2010 - 25/35

 

Sleet?

 

1996 - Yes

2010 - No

 

Minimum Viz

 

1996 - 0.1 mi

2010 - 0.1 mi

 

For me, I give 1996 a slight edge.  Much colder storm.  Stuck to Beltway immediately (I was on it at 11pm).  Drier snow.  More Drifting. And in terms of intangibles, the 3-4" I got the next day made digging out futile.  

[clskinsfan]

Ill never forget this Feb 2010 satellite image because it shows the NYC north screw job so well. Probably a once in 20 year type event. But it doesnt make my top 2 storms:

 

Edit: I should say once in 20 year out here. You guys to east did much better with part 2.

 

 

Feb 4-7 Total:

 

 

 

Snowmaggedon totals:

 

[gymengineer]

I can't choose between 1/96 and 2/5-6/10. I experienced both in the same house in Potomac, MD. 

1/96: more road accumulation-- there was no way to drive out of the neighborhood until the plows came, whereas in 2/10, we were able to use the tire tracks from early in the storm to form a driving trail two days after the storm before the plows came; colder; higher drifts 

2/10: more snow (26.5" vs. 24"); higher overall impact because we lost power for 30 hours (and unlike after Isabel, we couldn't drive to some place with power during the outage); higher snowfall rates 

 

The winds were equal in both (gusts to around 40 mph during the fiercest part). 

[HighStakes]

Overall for the entire Mid-Atlantic I would go 1/96.

 

As for the area I live in now I would go 2/9-10/2010

 

I think 2/83 should be given more consideration. It wasn't a long duration event like most of the others which meant it was sustained 2 inch per hour rates for many consecutive hours. Lightning and thunder with some areas reporting 3-4 inch per hour rates. Most of the region received 2 feet of snow in roughly 14-16 hour period.

[arlwx]

If everyone taking this poll was alive and had a good memory of PD 1 there would be no need for a poll. It's not even close.

 

Agreed.

I was around in Fairfax VA for what I call GW 1979 and it was miserable with icicles as thick as my arm dangling from the roof.  What a surprise.  ((IIRC, the mets blew the forecast, but they didn't have all today's toys.))

 

Jan 96 in Woodbridge was less bad for me.

 

((If anyone looks, the mid-February Federal holiday is STILL officially Washington's birthday.  The term President's Day did not start coming into common usage until after MLK Day became a federal holiday in 1986 and some states gave up Lincoln's Birthday as a holiday in exchange.  I call the Feb 22-24 1987 KU storm (a surprise to me) GWII -a quick foot plus of snow that melted within a couple of days.))

[North Balti Zen]

Feb. 8 - 11, 2015. The models didn't really lock into the cold air being in place enough for the 3 feet we ended up getting area-wide until about Friday. Those Saturday runs were nuts, never been around a happier board.

[HighStakes]

Feb. 8 - 11, 2015. The models didn't really lock into the cold air being in place enough for the 3 feet we ended up getting area-wide until about Friday. Those Saturday runs were nuts, never been around a happier board.

Nice change of pace post. A mix of optimism and humor.

[PrinceFrederickWx]

Feb. 8 - 11, 2015. The models didn't really lock into the cold air being in place enough for the 3 feet we ended up getting area-wide until about Friday. Those Saturday runs were nuts, never been around a happier board.

 

LOL

 

If we somehow get a HECS this season I will add it to the poll as an option.

 

99 votes! Wow... lets go for 100+... so lurkers, new members, etc. - vote!

[Fozz]

Feb. 8 - 11, 2015. The models didn't really lock into the cold air being in place enough for the 3 feet we ended up getting area-wide until about Friday. Those Saturday runs were nuts, never been around a happier board.

 

I wonder how models would've handled the 1922 Knickerbocker storm.

[MN Transplant]

An interesting breakout would be the people that were actually around for 79/83 and forward.  I've only been here for the 09/10 storms so Feb 5/6 got my vote, but I would have loved to see how '96 compared.

[clskinsfan]

An interesting breakout would be the people that were actually around for 79/83 and forward.  I've only been here for the 09/10 storms so Feb 5/6 got my vote, but I would have loved to see how '96 compared.

 

I was here for all of them. It is amazing the differences that occur in accumulations in our subforum. 79 was not a huge event west. But east got slammed. 2003 I got absolutely mauled while east was a nice storm. 96. Just crushed all of us as well as 2010. But the second 2010 event was huge east and north of me. trix got like 10+ more inches than me just 10 miles to my north from the second event. It is a wild area that we live in when it comes to snow.

[griteater]

I'm out of your region, but PD 1 was the coldest winter storm on record here going back to the late 1800's.  It was a 10 inch snow in Charlotte with midday temperatures in the low teens...upper single digits north of here in Greensboro, NC.

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Ill never forget this Feb 2010 satellite image because it shows the NYC north screw job so well. Probably a once in 20 year type event. But it doesnt make my top 2 storms:

 

Edit: I should say once in 20 year out here. You guys to east did much better with part 2.

 

 

Feb 4-7 Total:

 

 

 

Snowmaggedon totals:

 

 

 

For Feb. 5-6, I love that little relative minimum dot right over DCA (same for the totals through the Feb. 4-10 period)!!!!

 

Anyhow, I've been here since 2001, so the biggest events for me since then would be (1)Feb. 5-6, 2010, (2)Dec. 18-19, 2009, (3)Feb. 16-17, 2003 (PD-II), (4)Feb. 9-10, 2010.  That's just a rough ordering off the top of my head, mostly based on snow amounts I measured.  Wish I could have been here for some of those others!

[wxdude64]

I'm out of your region, but PD 1 was the coldest winter storm on record here going back to the late 1800's.  It was a 10 inch snow in Charlotte with midday temperatures in the low teens...upper single digits north of here in Greensboro, NC.

 

Man that was such a good looking storm!

[wxdude64]

For Feb. 5-6, I love that little relative minimum dot right over DCA (same for the totals through the Feb. 4-10 period)!!!!

 

Anyhow, I've been here since 2001, so the biggest events for me since then would be (1)Feb. 5-6, 2010, (2)Dec. 18-19, 2009, (3)Feb. 16-17, 2003 (PD-II), (4)Feb. 9-10, 2010.  That's just a rough ordering off the top of my head, mostly based on snow amounts I measured.  Wish I could have been here for some of those others!

On your 'totals' map you see a small white dot in my county in western VA. This is Covington's CO-OP located at the filtration water plant, which keeps horrendous records and always has for past 40-50 years. It can snow and they report nothing, or half of what others get. I'll use your map as prove. Here are their numbers compared to other CO-OP's and CoCoRaHS reports in a 30 mile area. Theirs- 2/3-2/4 4.5", 2/6-2/7 4.5" total for month 11.2. Other sites with same dates 5.2/11.0/25.9, 4.7/11.2/30.2, 4.0/9.7/18.0, 6.0/11.1/22.8, 5.0/9.0/19.1. Now which of those are off? If you pull up ANY snow map for past 40-50 years there is a big hole in the middle of my county to accommodate this data. Some of the biggest snows in my area don't even get recorded into their records, Jan of 87 being a good example, snow total for the month a zero.

[EastCoast NPZ]

An interesting breakout would be the people that were actually around for 79/83 and forward.  I've only been here for the 09/10 storms so Feb 5/6 got my vote, but I would have loved to see how '96 compared.

 

Been here since birth in 1970.  I've seen 'em all... and I can tell you that for sheer snow amounts; it's '96 and '83 ... and the rest of the pack is far, far behind.   

[Harv_poor]

Since I moved to NoVa in October 79, I missed PDI. Been in my location since 1986 and would vote 1996 #1 followed by the two storms of 1987. Part of the reason for my vote is because of the ice damming in my gutters,,followed by water running thru the three levels of my house with major damages to walls, carpeting and ceiolings on three levels. Since the kitchen ceiling collapsed in 1996, I vote that over 1987, even though in 1987 the ice damming was a new "thrill" for me. There was no ice damming in 2003 and 09-10 because  the only reason the ice damming stopped in 1996, was I  learned my neighbor (who has since moved)  had a three story ladder and we would climb up and shovel the a lot of the roof.

 

I actually think the 1994 ice storm deserves more votes (counting the extreme cold that followed)  because of the way things got frozen in place like our garbage cans (best flash freeze /ice storm I ever experienced),and the fact that DC basically shut down because the boats could not deliver coal or whatever to the power plants. 

[Ltrain]

1994 was great too. I remember having off from school for like 2 straight weeks in February. The basketball court had an inch or so of ice and we were able to play ice hockey. I also remember watching my dad have to crawl on his hands and knees on the sidewalk and to get up the steps.

[Harv_poor]

Since I moved to NoVa in October 79, I missed PDI. Been in my location since 1986 and would vote 1996 #1 followed by the two storms of 1987. Part of the reason for my vote is because of the ice damming in my gutters,,followed by water running thru the three levels of my house with major damages to walls, carpeting and ceiolings on three levels. Since the kitchen ceiling collapsed in 1996, I vote that over 1987, even though in 1987 the ice damming was a new "thrill" for me. There was no ice damming in 2003 and 09-10 because  the only reason the ice damming stopped in 1996, was I  learned my neighbor (who has since moved)  had a three story ladder and we would climb up and shovel the a lot of the roof.

 

I actually think the 1994 ice storm deserves more votes (counting the extreme cold that followed)  because of the way things got frozen in place like our garbage cans (best flash freeze /ice storm I ever experienced),and the fact that DC basically shut down because the boats could not deliver coal or whatever to the power plants. 

 

Oops. Wrong ice storm. The poll had the sleet fest of February not the January one I was remebering.

[PrinceFrederickWx]

Oops. Wrong ice storm. The poll had the sleet fest of February not the January one I was remebering.

 

The February one was the most impressive/destructive for the amount of ice, particularly for southern MD and the eastern shore. MD was declared a disaster area. January 17-18 was the one followed by the extreme cold (1/19/94 may be the coldest average day in January for BWI I think). That was one of the "honorable mentions" in my first post that I almost put on here. If I remember this right, it was so cold the salt wouldn't work and I had off from school for a week.