famartin Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Someone was aghast that PHL might get their biggest snowfall in March. So, I put together these stats to show, its not *that* uncommon. 1884-1885 6.9 on Feb 24-25 1885-1886 9.3 on Feb 3-4 1886-1887 5.0 on Jan 5-6 1887-1888 10.5 on Mar 12 1888-1889 2.0 on Feb 25 1889-1890 3.0 on Mar 31-Apr 1 1890-1891 3.5 on Mar 3 1891-1892 6.0 on Mar 16-17 1892-1893 10.4 on Jan 5-6 1893-1894 4.3 on Feb 25-26 1894-1895 7.3 on Feb 7-8 1895-1896 3.3 on Mar 23-24 1896-1897 7.1 on Dec 16 1897-1898 4.5 on Jan 10 1898-1899 17.7 on Feb 12-131899-1900 11.2 on Feb 17-18 1900-1901 3.2 on Jan 25 1901-1902 11.0 on Feb 17 1902-1903 6.8 on Feb 16-17 1903-1904 6.8 on Jan 29-30 1904-1905 9.1 on Jan 24-25 1905-1906 6.0 on Feb 8-9 1906-1907 12.5 on Feb 4-5 1907-1908 6.8 on Jan 23-24 1908-1909 6.0 on Dec 22-23 1909-1910 21.0 on Dec 25-26 1910-1911 9.2 on Dec 5-6 1911-1912 4.7 on Jan 12 1912-1913 7.5 on Dec 24 1913-1914 8.0 on Feb 13-14 1914-1915 19.4 on Apr 3-4 1915-1916 6.6 on Feb 2-3 1916-1917 7.6 on Mar 3-4 1917-1918 10.2 on Jan 27-28 1918-1919 3.0 on Mar 14 1919-1920 6.0 on Feb 4-5 1920-1921 7.0 on Feb 20 1921-1922 12.3 on Jan 27-28 1922-1923 5.8 on Feb 6-7 1923-1924 6.8 on Apr 1-2 1924-1925 6.7 on Jan 2-3 1925-1926 9.3 on Feb 9-10 1926-1927 5.3 on Jan 15-16 1927-1928 10.4 on Jan 28-29 1928-1929 8.3 on Feb 20-21 1929-1930 2.6 on Dec 23 1930-1931 2.1 on Dec 23 1931-1932 4.7 on Mar 21 1932-1933 8.4 on Feb 11 1933-1934 7.8 on Feb 25-26 1934-1935 14.8 on Jan 22-23 1935-1936 6.2 on Dec 29-30 1936-1937 3.5 on Mar 11 1937-1938 3.6 on Feb 20 1938-1939 7.2 on Nov 26-27 1939-1940 7.8 on Feb 14-15 1940-1941 15.1 on Feb 28-Mar 1 1941-1942 4.5 on Jan 4 1942-1943 2.9 on Dec 9 1943-1944 4.8 on Mar 4-5 1944-1945 7.7 on Jan 15-16 1945-1946 9.2 on Dec 19 1946-1947 10.6 on Feb 20-21 1947-1948 8.1 on Feb 4-5 1948-1949 7.4 on Dec 19 1949-1950 0.9 on Feb 1 1950-1951 1.8 on Jan 30-31 1951-1952 6.0 on Mar 1 1952-1953 7.1 on Mar 8 1953-1954 10.0 on Jan 10-11 1954-1955 3.9 on Feb 1-2 1955-1956 8.7 on Mar 18-19 1956-1957 2.0 on Jan 14-15 1957-1958 13.0 on Feb 15-16 1958-1959 2.9 on Jan 26-27 1959-1960 8.2 on Mar 3-4 1960-1961 14.6 on Dec 11-12 1961-1962 6.8 on Mar 6 1962-1963 4.4 on Jan 26 1963-1964 7.2 on Jan 12-13 1964-1965 6.6 on Jan 10 1965-1966 8.3 on Jan 29-30 1966-1967 12.7 on Dec 24-25 1967-1968 4.9 on Nov 30 1968-1969 4.6 on Feb 19-20 1969-1970 5.1 on Dec 25-26 1970-1971 5.5 on Dec 31-Jan 1 1971-1972 3.7 on Feb 19-20 1972-1973 Trace on many dates 1973-1974 6.0 on Feb 8 1974-1975 4.6 on Feb 4-5 1975-1976 6.9 on Mar 9 1976-1977 4.4 on Jan 14 1977-1978 13.6 on Feb 6-7 1978-1979 14.3 on Feb 18-19 1979-1980 5.2 on Jan 4-5 1980-1981 8.8 on Mar 5 (my birthday!) 1981-1982 9.1 on Jan 13-14 1982-1983 21.3 on Feb 11-12 1983-1984 7.3 on Mar 8-9 1984-1985 3.5 on Jan 17 1985-1986 4.0 on Feb 11 1986-1987 8.8 on Jan 22 1987-1988 3.9 on Jan 25-26 1988-1989 5.1 on Jan 6 1989-1990 4.6 on Nov 22-23 1990-1991 6.4 on Dec 27-28 1991-1992 2.1 on Mar 22 1992-1993 12.0 on Mar 13-14 1993-1994 5.6 on Feb 8-9 1994-1995 8.8 on Feb 3-4 1995-1996 30.7 on Jan 7-8 1996-1997 3.9 on Mar 31-Apr 1 1997-1998 0.5 on Jan 23-24 1998-1999 4.8 on Mar 14-15 1999-2000 8.5 on Jan 25 2000-2001 9.0 on Dec 30 2001-2002 4.0 on Jan 19-20 2002-2003 18.7 on Feb 16-17 2003-2004 4.8 on Dec 5-6 2004-2005 12.6 on Jan 22-23 2005-2006 12.0 on Feb 11-12 2006-2007 4.3 on Feb 13-14 2007-2008 3.2 on Feb 22 2008-2009 9.0 on Mar 1-2 2009-2010 28.5 on Feb 5-6 2010-2011 15.1 on Jan 26-27 2011-2012 2.3 on Jan 21 2012-2013 1.5 on Jan 25 2013-2014 13.5 on Jan 21 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheManWithNoFace Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I think I'd go crazy if my biggest snowfall was in November. "We are off to an incredible start!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morch Madness Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I didn't realize that the Blizzard of 93 was PHL's first double digit snowfall in 10 years. I can't imagine living through a stretch like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSky Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I think I'd go crazy if my biggest snowfall was in November. "We are off to an incredible start!" I was just 10 miles or so on the good side of the rain/snow line on Jan 24th or i would be saying Nov 26th was my biggest storm at 5" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famartin Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 I didn't realize that the Blizzard of 93 was PHL's first double digit snowfall in 10 years. I can't imagine living through a stretch like that. 1967-1977 was even worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morch Madness Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 1967-1977 was even worse. Yeah - ouch. We have been spoiled rotten these last 2 decades, far more hits than duds. It would be interesting to see a comparison of the 20- or 25-year means to the historical means for DCA, PHL, NYC and BOS, I'd bet at least one of those sites has seen a ridiculously high anomaly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jb1979 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Thanks for reminding me how terrible my childhood was for snow. Lol Seriously though this is great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famartin Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 BTW, this calculates to an 18% chance that the biggest snow of the winter will be in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazwoper Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 I didn't realize that the Blizzard of 93 was PHL's first double digit snowfall in 10 years. I can't imagine living through a stretch like that. It was a nightmare...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Agnes Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 1967-1977 was even worse. I had an old pic of me and my sister after the blizzard of '66 (we had on Yogi Bear boots ), which I think was a 12"er. After that, '67 - '77 (1st grade --> sophmore in HS) was essentially a snow drought. Decent sleddng conditions were few and far between. First decent snowman was crafted in '78. But then senior class trip to the Poconos in January '79 resulted in 40s and rain that weekend. I think in comparison, the past 5 years have been pretty phenomenal for snow lovers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famartin Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Here are the odds for all months: November - 2% December - 14% January - 32% February - 33% March - 18% April - 3% That adds up to a bit over 100 because I counted the cross-over storms between months once for each month (double count). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCT777 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 It was a nightmare...... Winter of 86-87 was great, IMO - especially for the northern suburbs of Philly. Other winters between '83 and '93 (not including '83 and '93)? Naso much. Anywho, March is still a winter month and decent snows can happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbourton Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Two words superstorm 93. Using storm surge and barometric pressure data, meteorologists say the Storm of the Century was the equivalent of a category three hurricane; it ranked a 13.2 on the NESIS scale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Wiggum Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 1967-1977 was even worse.Was just going to post this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenmsav6810 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Here are the odds for all months: November - 2% December - 14% January - 32% February - 33% March - 18% April - 3% That adds up to a bit over 100 because I counted the cross-over storms between months once for each month (double count). Looks almost normally distributed but phase shift towards Feb. 1, that surprises me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famartin Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Looks almost normally distributed but phase shift towards Feb. 1, that surprises me Ocean water temps probably have something to do with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenmsav6810 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Ocean water temps probably have something to do with that. Thats what I thought too. In my system dynamics our class talked about weather modeling and ocean temps in particular as a non-linear example, although it wasn't my profs expertise so he couldn't answer all of my questions. The shifting makes sense to me, the distribution less so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SvensKenR Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Thanks for this information. I was actually looking for the first snowfall of 1979, which I remembered as being in February because it happened right after my mother died of cancer. We were having oxygen tanks brought in and I remember being concerned about deliveries being blocked by snow, but we had a long snowless period until very soon after she passed, and then we got clobbered. (Another family member has all the family records in another state so I couldn't look it up there.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donsutherland1 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 1 hour ago, SvensKenR said: Thanks for this information. I was actually looking for the first snowfall of 1979, which I remembered as being in February because it happened right after my mother died of cancer. We were having oxygen tanks brought in and I remember being concerned about deliveries being blocked by snow, but we had a long snowless period until very soon after she passed, and then we got clobbered. (Another family member has all the family records in another state so I couldn't look it up there.) Philadelphia had measurable snowfall in January 1979 (first was 1/5 when 1.2" fell). The February days with measurable snowfall were as follows: 2/7 7.6" 2/12 4.8" 2/14 0.4" 2/15 0.3" 2/16 0.2" 2/18 0.4" 2/19 13.9" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KamuSnow Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 49 minutes ago, donsutherland1 said: Philadelphia had measurable snowfall in January 1979 (first was 1/5 when 1.2" fell). The February days with measurable snowfall were as follows: 2/7 7.6" 2/12 4.8" 2/14 0.4" 2/15 0.3" 2/16 0.2" 2/18 0.4" 2/19 13.9" Thanks Don... I remember that winter around here as 2 weeks of cold and snow culminating in PD1 on the 19th. Not much of a winter before and after. Only 2 weeks of winter, but quality if you like snow. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donsutherland1 Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 24 minutes ago, KamuSnow said: Thanks Don... I remember that winter around here as 2 weeks of cold and snow culminating in PD1 on the 19th. Not much of a winter before and after. Only 2 weeks of winter, but quality if you like snow. The President's Day snowstorm was the highlight of a remarkably cold winter. Almost the entire CONUS was colder to much colder than normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurricane Agnes Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 15 hours ago, donsutherland1 said: The President's Day snowstorm was the highlight of a remarkably cold winter. Almost the entire CONUS was colder to much colder than normal. True story but that 1979 storm (my senior year in HS) was the first time (at least since the 1966 storm) that my sisters and I had enough snow to finally MAKE a decent snowman. We made it on the front lawn and we were amazed when cars would drive slowly by and take pics of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Wiggum Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 On 3/3/2015 at 12:25 AM, Morch Madness said: I didn't realize that the Blizzard of 93 was PHL's first double digit snowfall in 10 years. I can't imagine living through a stretch like that. Look at that stretch from 1961-78!!! Only 1 double digit event in that time. Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSky Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 3 minutes ago, Ralph Wiggum said: Look at that stretch from 1961-78!!! Only 1 double digit event in that time. Wow. Mystifying because the 60's was a very good decade for snow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KamuSnow Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 6 minutes ago, RedSky said: Mystifying because the 60's was a very good decade for snow There were more double digit snowfalls in the suburbs. Many of the Nor'easters gave an additional 50% or more snow to the northwest suburbs than where they measured in PHL. For example, Dec. 24 1966 has PHL at 12.7", in NW Delco we had 20", and Chesco had 24" I believe. Pretty sure there were one or more coastals with snow every winter from 1960-61 through 1966-67. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSky Posted February 16, 2020 Share Posted February 16, 2020 5 minutes ago, KamuSnow said: There were more double digit snowfalls in the suburbs. Many of the Nor'easters gave an additional 50% or more snow to the northwest suburbs than where they measured in PHL. For example, Dec. 24 1966 has PHL at 12.7", in NW Delco we had 20", and Chesco had 24" I believe. Pretty sure there were one or more coastals with snow every winter from 1960-61 through 1966-67. My parents first winter in their new Horsham home and I was often told tales of that storm growing up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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