Favorite Weather Moment

[tamarack]

No longer live in this subforum region, but I grew up in NNJ and some of my faves happened while living there, plus I really enjoy reading these kinds of threads. 

 

Tops, and tied, are two ice storms, one in NNJ and one in Maine, which occurred exactly 45 years (to the day) apart.  The first, which hammered areas above 500' elev in the general NYC region, was in 1953, with the major snap-bang-crashes coming Jan 8-9, six inches cracked ice OG on the 10th, and six days w/o power.  It made a huge impression on a not-quite 7-yr-old, as all I wanted to draw for the next two years were trees bent/broken under ice.  Fortunately, that event triggered interest in two fields, so I had a fallback career option when I later gagged on advanced math. The 2nd, Jan. 8-9, 1998, produced up to 3" accretion and tore apart whole forests throughout NNE and adjacent Canada, and was the event causing the most destruction/disruption I've ever experienced.

 

After those storms, the April 1982 blizzard is next, the greatest positive bust I'll ever see.  CAR forecast at 11 PM on the 6th was for flurries and windy.  By 2 AM we had S+ and CAR's 26.3" total was their biggest up until that date.  Other contenders were the trifecta of 18-24" storms in 1960-61 that brought snowpack to 40-50" in NNJ, the storm of Feb 2009 that dumped 9" in 2:45 and 18" in 7:30 at my current home, and the frigid windstorm of 12/31/62.

 

Non-winter events include Doria in 1971 and Bob in 1991, both very wet storms with high-end TS-force winds.  As for severe TS, they have been very skilled at evading wherever I happen to be at the time.  In August 2007 a massive hailstorm 6-8 miles from my home ripped the leaves (and some of the bark) off trees covering about 7,000 acres, while at home it was just another TS.  While visiting family in Decatur, IL in 2011, an incredibly active lightning show passed about the same 6-8 miles south of our position, with well over 100 strikes per minute, and thunder coming as a continuous drumroll.  Even the svr-experienced locals were impressed by the light show.

[weathermedic]

Was always interested in weather as far back as I can remember. First significant weather event that I remember was the Feb 78 blizzard. Drifts up to the garage rooftop.

 

Listening to 1010 WINS at 35 past the hour hoping they would play an "updated" report from accuweather. In the 70's they went to accuweather forecasters at 35 and 13 past the hour. The report at 13 past the hour was basically the same forecast that the regular radio announcer would read, but it was read by an accuweather meteorologist (recorded) and the report at 35 past the hour was a more "technical" report by one of the accuweather meteorologists (recorded and usually played for about 3 consecutive hours until it was updated)

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

Can anyone give a detailed account of Gloria from Nassau? A pbp? All I remember is we went to my grandmas in queens and coming home to the the tree in the front yard missing its top

[Rjay]

My favorite weather moment was from when I was a child. I don't know the date although I'll guess it was in the late 80s/early 90s. There was a severe thunderstorm moving in and there were multiple areas of rotation. To me it looked like the whole sky was spinning and the world was about to come to an end. My father and I stayed outside until the rain started and then hail pounded my area. It's my favorite moment bc it has stayed cemented in my mind since that day and it helped make me into the weather enthusiast I am today.

[IsentropicLift]

Anytime that it's snowing at my house and pouring rain in NYC, especially over AG3's house j/k

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

My favorite weather moment was from when I was a child. I don't know the date although I'll guess it was in the late 80s/early 90s. There was a severe thunderstorm moving in and there were multiple areas of rotation. To me it looked like the whole sky was spinning and the world was about to come to an end. My father and I stayed outside until the rain started and then hail pounded my area. It's my favorite moment bc it has stayed cemented in my mind since that day and it helped make me into the weather enthusiast I am today.

Maybe the farmingdale tornado? I was in east meadow for that at a pool party also as a kid. I remember the hail and insane down burst. It was circa 90

[Rjay]

Maybe the farmingdale tornado? I was in east meadow for that at a pool party also as a kid. I remember the hail and insane down burst. It was circa 90

Could be. I honestly couldn't tell you.

[doncat]

Was always interested in weather as far back as I can remember. First significant weather event that I remember was the Feb 78 blizzard. Drifts up to the garage rooftop.

 

Listening to 1010 WINS at 35 past the hour hoping they would play an "updated" report from accuweather. In the 70's they went to accuweather forecasters at 35 and 13 past the hour. The report at 13 past the hour was basically the same forecast that the regular radio announcer would read, but it was read by an accuweather meteorologist (recorded) and the report at 35 past the hour was a more "technical" report by one of the accuweather meteorologists (recorded and usually played for about 3 consecutive hours until it was updated)

Yes I have those exact same memories of listening to accuwx on 1010 wins while growing up.

[VicV]

I have many moments to remember and the morning of March 3rd 1960 is right up there with the best...I woke up to light snow and took a walk around my block...I listened to the forecast on television and it said snow turning to rain with moderating temperatures...the temperature was 26 and the snow was starting to drift by the curb...I thought it was to cold to change to rain...A secondary low was forming off the coast and it wasn't forecast...I walked to school and at lunch time there was an all out blizzard raging...That moment thinking how in the world can this change to rain stands out in my mind...At the time I was wishing it wouldn't and had no clue what was happening...

As with Uncle, I have had many memories since I have been following the weather since I was 11 or 12 (1958). But the event that caused me to become a lifetime follower of the weather was the Dec 11, 12 1960 snow storm . That storm was forecast to drop 2 to 4 inches but ended up dumping about 20 inches in Brooklyn (Bushwick-Ridgewood) where I lived at the time. I can vividly recall waking up to go to school - it was a Monday - and seeing a wall of white outside my window with a strong and gusty wind. It became bitterly cold.  I saw my father trying to dig out his car for work but eventually giving up. It was the only time I can recall my father not making it to work. Many great storms to follow - Donna, snowstorms of 1978,1983,1993,2010, etc and the great 1996 blizzard but for me it all started in Dec 1960.

[Absolute Humidity]

Hurricane Bell 1976.

[tamarack]

As with Uncle, I have had many memories since I have been following the weather since I was 11 or 12 (1958). But the event that caused me to become a lifetime follower of the weather was the Dec 11, 12 1960 snow storm . That storm was forecast to drop 2 to 4 inches but ended up dumping about 20 inches in Brooklyn (Bushwick-Ridgewood) where I lived at the time. I can vividly recall waking up to go to school - it was a Monday - and seeing a wall of white outside my window with a strong and gusty wind. It became bitterly cold.  I saw my father trying to dig out his car for work but eventually giving up. It was the only time I can recall my father not making it to work. Many great storms to follow - Donna, snowstorms of 1978,1983,1993,2010, etc and the great 1996 blizzard but for me it all started in Dec 1960.

 

In addition to being the first of three monster snowstorms that winter (four, if one counts the elevational blue bomb on 3/23), the Dec. 1960 event is a key memory for another reason.  The Sun-Mon dump led into the opener of the NJ firearms season for deer, and while my friend and I trudged thru knee-deep powder seeing nothing but tracks, we pushed a nice little buck down to my dad, whose 00-buckshot dropped it immediately.  When we got to the scene, dad handed me a knife and talked me thru the field-dressing process.  As a snotty 14-yr old, I wondered (in silence, fortunately) why he couldn't gut his own deer; eight years later when I stood over my first deer with no one else around, I thanked him profusely. 

[uncle W]

the December 1960 storm is still one of my favorite moments when I awoke to a raging blizzard and closed schools...I was in the sixth grade at P.S. 176 in Brooklyn...schools were closed until Wednesday...That Thursday I heard a TV broadcaster saying tomorrow the mountains of snow will turn to Oceans of slush...There was rain and mild temperatures in the forecast...That literally happened when a Jet plane crashed on 7th ave in downtown Brooklyn...we did pick up some wet snow and rain on Friday...not enough to cause much melting but the plane crash ruined the Christmas feelings...132 people died...That Monday we got a little storm with 1" of snow but a another tragic accident marred that event when a ship caught fire in Brooklyn and over 50 died...