gymengineer Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Having two solid seasons in a row has been a rarity for us lately. I was going to do a poll, but there were just too many choices for people to pick from depending on their priorities and what happened in their back yard. We didn't have an area-wide 12"+ event these past two seasons, so there's no clear winner. The most widespread high total storm was of course 2/12-13/14: 15.5" total here from the two parts. But that storm had negatives for many, especially the melting during the day and the accelerated melting during the next day's temp spike. In terms of widespread moderate snows- 4-8" for many parts of the area- we've had a good number of events: 1/21/14, 3/3/14, 3/16-17/14, 2/16-17/15, 2/21/15, 3/5/15. Given the reach of the cold these two seasons, there were also more notable ice storms than in recent times: 12/8-9/13, 2/4-5/14, 3/1/15. And there were the more localized extreme events like the 2/14/15 snow-squall that paralyzed travel wherever it crossed the 2" threshold, as well as the various record low dates- including ones that immediately followed a moderate snowstorm. I may change my mind with some distance, but as of now, 3/5/15 (7" for me) is my top pick. I've mentioned in multiple threads how much more I enjoy a daytime storm that can coat all primary roads than a heavier storm that gets cleared by the time I wake up. This last storm was a big deal in terms of impact where I'm at, coating over the primary roads during the daytime while continuing to accumulate past the 6" mark. It was widespread shut-down, including the Fed Gov't, and lots of people were walking around enjoying the snow. The impact continued into the next day with many neighborhoods near me still not cleared. High impact/decent total/cold immediately following/time of year= #1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozz Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 My ranking (and yes, it's my final say):1) 2/13/20142) 2/21/20153) 12/8/20134) 12/10/20135) 3/5/2015 2/13 last year was clearly a major snowstorm where I was (17" at MU), and without doubt the biggest in the last two years for me. The melting the next day was a bummer, but after a very good winter I couldn't honestly complain... and we weren't done by a long shot anyways. 2/21/15 was the storm that really changed my attitude about this winter. Until then I felt that a good storm was lacking and was sick of the usual 1-3" events that often became patchy the next day. Not to mention 40N continually getting hammered while we were left on the outside looking in. Also was fascinating that of all things, it was an inland runner that brought 8.5" of snow with a lot of it coming down with temps in the teens, and ending with the more usual paste. 8"+ of snow is a big deal here, but also a huge relief when the previous storms have been either clippers or screwjobs. 12/8/13 was expected to be a small 1-2" snow changing to zr and then rain.... turns out a deathband formed that most models and forecasts didn't catch, and clobbered much of northern MD with 4-8" of snow (~6" IMBY), all within just a few hours. Picking up 3" in 40 minutes was especially a massive surprise, and afterwards I was convinced that we'd have a winter that resembled 1994. 2013-14 showed its hand with this storm. 12/10 came right on the heels of 12/8, and this time I was in Millersville. Picked up 5" there and for most of the storm the rates were very good... not as insane as the other day, but it turned out very picturesque and wintry, and was the first snowstorm I saw at MU. We had another 3"+ storm later that week. It was just amazing for December, and even better with all the Christmas lights in town. 3/5/15 was a nice 6.7" storm on top of a lot of snow we had earlier... very nice on the trees and very wintry after the storm. I didn't have the highest totals and didn't really have rates above 1.5"/hour, but I'm not complaining... still a fun storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterWxLuvr Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Mine are Dec 8, 2013 (good snow, first snow) and 2/21 this year (I probably came in last place but I love frigid snows) Feb of last year was too much work and most of it fell at night. That's another plus for those above...day snows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I think these are my top 5 though I may pull an unfozz and change them: 3/16-17/14 3/5/15 2/21/15 1/6/15 2/12-13/14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVclimo Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 1) 2/13-2014- 13.5" nice heavy snow, and melting wasn't terrible here the day of the storm 2) 3/5/2015- 7.5" as pretty a snow as you could ask for with several periods of great rates 3) 12/8/2013- 6.7" the first one of the season is always great, especially when it accumulates 6"+ 4) 1/21/2014- 7.0" followed by bitter cold 5) 2/21/2015- 6.0" after a winter of nickels and dimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StudentOfClimatology Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 These are the four that stand out to me..the others I've either forgotten or were simply run of the mill, from my standpoint. Though my favorite event was Feb '14, the rest took place in 2015. 1) 2/13-14/14: Incredible rates overnight, finished with ~14" before we flipped to sleet/zr/rain. Also got ~ 1" from the second round, which clung to trees/etc unlike the initial snows. Loved the fact that it started light, covered everything, then began unloading after I got home. Seeing those endless yellows on the Radar and watching the sleet-line get beaten back until daybreak was simply awesome to watch as giant dendrites just kept ripping. 2) 2/14-15/15: Some of the heaviest snow I've ever seen. Got 1" in 15 minutes followed by a legitimate ground blizzard. Clouds of snow were being blown up the east bank of the Potomac, then sky-high into the air off the hilltop(s). Made it feel like the snow never stopped. 3) 3/5/15: Watching the transition take place was fun..then the snow began to stick to everything despite temps in the low 30s and a blazing march sun. The late-morning super-band that thwacked Germantown was a fantastic winter-finale, as was the anomalous cold that followed during the next 36hrs..a day without melting following a snow in early-mid March sunshine is something to respect.. 2/21/15: Incredible storm from the standpoint that it was a snow-on-snow-on-snow event, and occurred under a cutter/WAA regime with surface temps in the teens to start..followed by a downpour of sleet/zr that glaciated the combined 8-9" of snow into 6" of white ice. Weird to see the snow blowing in the wrong direction, and it really puked for awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deck Pic Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Top 5 in order 3/16-17/14 3/5/15 3/3/14 1/21/14 t) 2/21/15, 1/6/15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WEATHER53 Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 The Saturday evening arctic blast thru is an event I have not exceeded before. It was like a spray of mashed potatoes for a while. Then crazy winds, ground blizzard with snow devils, temps near zero. Last year-the big snow event Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN Transplant Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 2/13/14 - the only true heavy snow I've seen since the superband of 2/10/10 (missed Jan 2011). Being outside in the pouring snow at 2am was fantastic and I'll remember that as much as the disappointment of the next day's melt. The rest of these were just snowstorms. They had their fun quirks, but a couple of years down the road I'll have to look them up to remember what went on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ji Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Top 5 in order 3/16-17/14 3/5/15 3/3/14 1/21/14 t) 2/21/15, 1/6/15 don't see how a storm that gave you 1O inches by daybreak Feb 12 2014 is not in your top 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrinceFrederickWx Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I have a pretty clear top five, in the order listed below: 3/16-17/14 2/16/15 (Can I call it PD3? lol) 3/5/15 3/3/14 1/21/14 Also I've noticed that many people keep referring to 2/12-13/14 as a region wide WSW event. I don't know if southern MD is included in "region wide" when people say this but that was not a WSW event down here (we weren't even under a WSW to begin with). That event pissed me off too, though not to the extent that 1/6/15, 1/21/15 and 2/21/15 did. </rant> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattie g Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 2/13/14 - the only true heavy snow I've seen since the superband of 2/10/10 (missed Jan 2011). Being outside in the pouring snow at 2am was fantastic and I'll remember that as much as the disappointment of the next day's melt. The rest of these were just snowstorms. They had their fun quirks, but a couple of years down the road I'll have to look them up to remember what went on. I'd probably agree with this. We got decent rates for about an hour or so on March 5 this year, but nothing at all like the February 12-13, 2014 storm. And I completely agree on the letdown of melting and the relative failure of the ULL here on the next day. Still...that was one I'll remember. If I'd been in town for the January 21, 2014 event, I'd probably have it up there with the St. Patrick's Night storm from last year in a fight for second place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIC_WX Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Had to be 2.21.2015. Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 don't see how a storm that gave you 1O inches by daybreak Feb 12 2014 is not in your top 5Storm was good but the end kind of ruined it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlaskaETC Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Last winter - 3/17 This winter - 2/21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxUSAF Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 1. 2/14/15: Don't think I will ever forget that arctic front. Had the whole extended family over for my son's birthday party and was telling them "maybe 1". Nearly 4" later in <3 hours...I was outside near the end of it in near-whiteout conditions brushing off all their cars. Took them all 1.5-2 hours to get home. Was snowing so hard you could almost visually watch it accumulate and pile up. Kicked off 3 weeks of unbroken snowcover IMBY. 2. 2/12-13/14: 18" storm. Enough said. 3. 12/8/13: Was at the Ravens game for this one. Field kept getting covered. Craziest last 5 minutes of a football game I can every remember. Kicked off a historic winter. Those are the ones I'll remember in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Chill Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 2/14 squall by a mile. I wish everyone got hit the same. I've never seen anything like it. I stood in my garage with the door open for 90 minutes. The howling winds all night and ground blizzards capped off an unusual and intense event. The rest of the good events are lumped pretty closely to me. I guess 2/12-13 for amounts and St. Paddy's for ice cold march powder are 2nd and 3rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymengineer Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Storm was good but the end kind of ruined it. Plus he didn't get anywhere close to 10". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 1. 2/12-13/14 - a HECS worthy storm on Parr's Ridge - 24.8" of snow dumped in my yard. A two parter, very heavy rates in the early morning hours then the ULL later in the evening was intense with strong winds added in. Great event. 2. 12/8/13 - Intense early season suprise snowfall that dumped nearly 9 inches....I was mentally preparing myself that it could be the biggest snowfall I would see all season. Turned out I eclipsed it two more times in that remarkable winter on 1/21/14 with 11 inches and No. 1 above. 3. 2/21/15 - relief snowfall of 9.3" after a winter of < 4 inch events. Loved the cold and odd setup and strong south winds, very different look to the storm while in action. 4. 3/5/15 - Fun storm, odd setup again, nice cold following the 9.3 inches of snow that put me over climo for the season...finally. 5. 1/21/14 - Kind of a sleeper storm that easily gets lost in the many events of that great winter....crispy cold....about 11 inches total that was pure powder and easy to shovel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterWxLuvr Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 The legend of 2/14 continues to grow. I can't wait to see what it is in 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deck Pic Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 don't see how a storm that gave you 1O inches by daybreak Feb 12 2014 is not in your top 5 I got 8.75", the heavy snow wasn't as impressive as I was hoping, it flipped to sleet by 4am, the next day's melt was awful, and "part 2" was a disaster....I am not a totals junkie like most in this forum....all qualitative for me...totals are only part of the equation....people are so obsessed with how much they get and beating other people, it makes me wonder if they actually like snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Chill Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 The legend of 2/14 continues to grow. I can't wait to see what it is in 5 years. It will always be this to me: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Plus he didn't get anywhere close to 10". Interesting we agreed on the top 2.. I may have to look back at last yr it's a bit foggy. I'll give reasons on mine later, forgot that part. I do agree with Matt it's not about amounts as much as the overall progression.. there's lots that goes into a good event in the city in particular. Maybe elsewhere it's just about amounts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowfan Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Location, location, location. The second half of 2/14 ducked for some and was great for others. It rocked imby with rain changing to window rattling sleet and then very heavy snow to add a few inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrinceFrederickWx Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I do agree with Matt it's not about amounts as much as the overall progression.. Having an event that starts as snow, sticks immediately, snows the entire way through, ends as snow, and gives me the amount forecasted is an important factor too (since all that rarely happens). The top two on my list did exactly that. Although they also both happened to be the ones with the highest totals too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowfan Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I haven't come up with a list yet, but I'm surprised the ice storm hasn't made the list (or maybe it has and I haven't paid attention). It certainly wasn't crippling by any means, but it was significant for the cities. Much more so than any other ice events we've had in recent years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ji Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I got 8.75", the heavy snow wasn't as impressive as I was hoping, it flipped to sleet by 4am, the next day's melt was awful, and "part 2" was a disaster....I am not a totals junkie like most in this forum....all qualitative for me...totals are only part of the equation....people are so obsessed with how much they get and beating other people, it makes me wonder if they actually like snow. it was your biggest snowfall in years. Not sure how that dosent make your top 5 in the past 2 years. You also got 9 inches in a short window. How was that not heavy? There are some entire winters where DC dosent even make it to 8.75 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastCoast NPZ Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Winner: Dec 8, 2013. Pre-Christmas snow on Christmas lights. The day we decorated our main tree, and snow NFL games on nearly every channel.. That's all it takes for me. Runner-up: 3-5-15. A day of snow, some heavy rates, and falling temps. That night of deep cold and full moon really sets that storm apart. 2nd runner up: 2-21-15. Cold powder and heavy rates, 9" total. Heaviest period of snow I think I've seen since 1983 (picked-up .75" in 10 minutes, 2.5 inches in one hour) Miss Congeneality: Feb ?, 2014. 14 or 15" total. Heavy overnight snow, 2"/hr rates for a time. Rising temps, slushy finish, and rapid melt the next day give this a big deduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter Wizard Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Favorites: 1. 12/8/13 - Was only expecting an inch or two and got 8.5" - definitely the biggest overperformer I can remember. This was the most satisfying storm, because it ended the snow drought of the two previous awful winters. Kicked off a fantastic winter. 2. 1/21/14 - This one falls under the radar because of the February KU. 10.5" of powder that fell primarily during the day with temperatures in the teens. Snowpack lasted for weeks. No worries about mixing or dry slots. 3. 2/12-14/14 - Biggest storm of the last two winters (12.5") with incredible rates overnight, but as others mentioned, there were numerous drawbacks that moved it down the list, such as the transition to sleet then drrzzle in the morning, the long dryslot which led to melting, and the underperforming ULL. 4. 3/5/15 - 6.7": A great end to an awesome three week period. Finally got a significant (6"+) storm that pushed me above average for the season. Warning criteria snowfall for everyone. Timing was ideal: rain changed to snow at daybreak, piled up quickly, and lasted all day. 5. 2/21/15 - 4.8": Snow on top of snow on top of snow. An even more anomalous set-up than 3/5 - not often do you see an inland runner with south winds deliver heavy snow with temperatures in the low 20s for several hours. Heaviest snow fell during the day and its peak gave me true white-out conditions. Falls behind 3/5 because it ended as rain. Honorable mention: 2/14/15 squall Least favorite: 1/27/15 by far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weatherCCB Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 2/14 squall by a mile. I wish everyone got hit the same. I've never seen anything like it. I stood in my garage with the door open for 90 minutes. The howling winds all night and ground blizzards capped off an unusual and intense event. The rest of the good events are lumped pretty closely to me. I guess 2/12-13 for amounts and St. Paddy's for ice cold march powder are 2nd and 3rd. No doubt . I got caught driving on the pike. Total white out. Lived here here 52 years and it was a top 5 weather event Short but very intense. Wish everyone on this forum could have experienced that squall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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