Memory Lane

[famartin]

19 minutes ago, uncle W said:

the first month I looked at was Feb 1894...it has 37.9" of snow but the snow depth doesn't add up and amounts are much higher than Central Park...Feb 1893 reported a storm of 17.8" on the 17th-18th and 32.0" for the month...snow depth was 10"...Central Park had 17.8" for the month...

Yeah the snowfall looks funky that month, like they made some estimates based on precip.

[LibertyBell]

2 hours ago, famartin said:

Not exactly "memory" lane for most here, but some may find it interesting that all data from the old NYC Weather Bureau station (the Battery) is now available at NCEI:

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datasets/GHCND/stations/GHCND:USC00305816/detail

can we somehow go back before 1870 Ray?  I've heard there were a few years where both NYC and PHL had 100" of snow and snowcover from November thru March

 

[NorthShoreWx]

5 hours ago, EpicHECS said:

The crazy thing is that when I was living only about 50 miles NW of NYC (Monroe/Chester line), I got well over 100" in 1993-1994. 

95" here in 95-96 is a craziness contender.

[LibertyBell]

17 hours ago, NorthShoreWx said:

95" here in 95-96 is a craziness contender.

I bet somewhere on the Island hit 100" that season.  I know the Cape has.

 

[forkyfork]

memories 

[LibertyBell]

Wait what storm is this?

 

[CPcantmeasuresnow]

On 2/18/2021 at 3:44 PM, EpicHECS said:

The crazy thing is that when I was living only about 50 miles NW of NYC (Monroe/Chester line), I got well over 100" in 1993-1994. 

I actually enjoyed that winter more than the winter of 95-96. It was colder, my all time low of -23°, and in Orange County both years were 100+ inches of snow.

[forkyfork]

3 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

Wait what storm is this?

 

this year's ku

[Nibor]

https://i.imgur.com/9Ovz6aO.gifv

Almost full radar loop of Feb 1st storm

[LibertyBell]

23 hours ago, forkyfork said:

this year's ku

radar timestamp says 2/21 lol...lmao I didn't see the 1 in front!

we write dates differently here in America

 

 

[Juliancolton]

1 hour ago, EpicHECS said:

Is this thread restricted to winter weather? 

Just like the rest of the forum, yeah. 

[LibertyBell]

14 minutes ago, Juliancolton said:

Just like the rest of the forum, yeah. 

I'm going to be talking about 100 degree heat come summer, you can book it!

I hope we repeat the 11 yr cycle this summer and roast!

 

[LibertyBell]

15 hours ago, EpicHECS said:

1993-1994 was a notch above 1995-1996. No question about it. 

1993-94 was in no way shape or form better than 1995-96.  To be considered an A+ winter, in addition to having more than twice the average snowfall in a given location, it also has to have at least 1 20"+ snowstorm, so that puts 1995-96 and 2002-03 as the only A+ winters. 1996 and 2003 also both had big snowstorms in April which made those exceptionally long snowfall seasons.  (2009-10 and 2010-11 are too for New York City in terms of getting the 20+ inch event but neither had a long snowfall season.)  1993-94 gets an A rating but not A+

[CPcantmeasuresnow]

Just now, LibertyBell said:

I'm going to be talking about 100 degree heat come summer, you can book it!

I hope we repeat the 11 yr cycle this summer and roast!

 

I don’t quite get that. My favorite summers are the ones where we barely have any 90 degree days or some I remember where we never hit 90, but 100 degrees? Why? What does that do for anybody ? I can’t think of anything more miserable. As always to each his own but 100 degree days, I’ll pass on that one. 

[LibertyBell]

9 minutes ago, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

I don’t quite get that. My favorite summers are the ones where we barely have any 90 degree days or some I remember where we never hit 90, but 100 degrees? Why? What does that do for anybody ? I can’t think of anything more miserable. As always to each his own but 100 degree days, I’ll pass on that one. 

lol I grew up when torch summers is all we had so I grew to love the records being set in hall of fame summers like 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2002 and 2010.  My favorite combo is to get a lot of snow in the winter and spring and then go directly to a hot summer.  I keep the a/c on 24/7 in the summer at 60 degrees and the heat at 80 degrees in the winter so either way I have something on to control the temps and humidity levels indoors.  If there was an ideal era for me it would be probably be going from winter 2009-10 through summer 2010-11.....we had two historic winters and two historic summers with a hurricane thrown into the mix.  You could extend it further out since we also had Sandy and a couple more torch summers that hit 100 here as well as Snowtober 2011 and November 2012 and the 2013-14 and 2014-15 winters.  Jan 2016 was the only time I've seen over 30" of snow in a single storm (and in 24 hours!)  and that put a rubber stamp on that period.  I guess you could just say that the first half of the 2010s was my ideal period for weather overall.

Also,  if you dont track historic heat in the summer, it gets rather boring around here lol.

 

 

[forkyfork]

i've slept through 80 degree nights without a/c 

[LibertyBell]

1 hour ago, forkyfork said:

i've slept through 80 degree nights without a/c 

I've done that too- in places where the humidity is low.

 

[coastalplainsnowman]

3 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

lol I grew up when torch summers is all we had so I grew to love the records being set in hall of fame summers like 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2002 and 2010.  My favorite combo is to get a lot of snow in the winter and spring and then go directly to a hot summer.  I keep the a/c on 24/7 in the summer at 60 degrees and the heat at 80 degrees in the winter so either way I have something on to control the temps and humidity levels indoors.  If there was an ideal era for me it would be probably be going from winter 2009-10 through summer 2010-11.....we had two historic winters and two historic summers with a hurricane thrown into the mix.  You could extend it further out since we also had Sandy and a couple more torch summers that hit 100 here as well as Snowtober 2011 and November 2012 and the 2013-14 and 2014-15 winters.  Jan 2016 was the only time I've seen over 30" of snow in a single storm (and in 24 hours!)  and that put a rubber stamp on that period.  I guess you could just say that the first half of the 2010s was my ideal period for weather overall.

Also,  if you dont track historic heat in the summer, it gets rather boring around here lol.

 

 

The other interesting event in the 2010-2011 timeframe - not meteorological but still Mother Nature related - was the August 2011 earthquake.  So in that crazy timespan we had huge snow including snow in October, historic heat, hurricane(s), and an earthquake.

[LibertyBell]

3 hours ago, coastalplainsnowman said:

The other interesting event in the 2010-2011 timeframe - not meteorological but still Mother Nature related - was the August 2011 earthquake.  So in that crazy timespan we had huge snow including snow in October, historic heat, hurricane(s), and an earthquake.

Yesss the only earthquake I ever experienced and it was right in the middle of the afternoon.  That was an awesome experience, never felt anything like that before!

We also had a 10" rainstorm in that same month August 2011, so we had a 104 in NYC, 109 in EWR in July, and then a 10" rainstorm (I think that was on a Saturday) in August and then that earthquake and then Irene towards the end of the month.

I also forgot to mention a few notable severe weather outbreaks and tornadoes thrown into the mix in 2009 and 2010.

Funny thing is back in 1944 we also had a 5.8 earthquake (same magnitude as the one in 2011, but the 2011 was centered in Virginia and the one in 1944 was centered in upstate NY) followed by the famous 1944 hurricane.  Back in 1944 when the quake happened, air raid sirens went off and people thought we were being attacked!

 

 

[Stormlover74]

13 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

1993-94 was in no way shape or form better than 1995-96.  To be considered an A+ winter, in addition to having more than twice the average snowfall in a given location, it also has to have at least 1 20"+ snowstorm, so that puts 1995-96 and 2002-03 as the only A+ winters. 1996 and 2003 also both had big snowstorms in April which made those exceptionally long snowfall seasons.  (2009-10 and 2010-11 are too for New York City in terms of getting the 20+ inch event but neither had a long snowfall season.)  1993-94 gets an A rating but not A+

93-94 was overall better than 95-96 for the interior. State College had a 32" snowstorm in March and 110" for the winter. I think places further east did better that winter as well as February 96 shifted the heaviest snow to the coast

[famartin]

Some 93-94 vs 95-96 totals for various cities:

ERI - 131.3 / 127.4

PIT - 76.8 / 74.5

IPT - 81.2 / 85.9

MDT - 75.9 / 77.6

AVP - 90.4 / 92.8

ABE - 75.2 / 71.4

PHL - 23.1 / 65.5

CRW - 58.6 / 106.0

EKN 125.1 / 136.6

DCA 13.2 / 46.0

IAD 19.4 / 61.9

ILG  17.7 / 55.9

ACY 7.8 / 46.4

TTN 39.1 / 76.4

EWR 64.5 / 78.4

NYC 53.4 / 75.6

JFK 45.2 / 69.0

LGA 58.5 / 77.9

ISP 37.0 / 73.5

BDR 55.0 / 75.7

BDL 84.9 / 107.1

ALB 88.1 / 86.5

BGM 131.3 / 131.2

BOS 96.3 / 107.6

 

[LibertyBell]

7 hours ago, famartin said:

Some 93-94 vs 95-96 totals for various cities:

ERI - 131.3 / 127.4

PIT - 76.8 / 74.5

IPT - 81.2 / 85.9

MDT - 75.9 / 77.6

AVP - 90.4 / 92.8

ABE - 75.2 / 71.4

PHL - 23.1 / 65.5

CRW - 58.6 / 106.0

EKN 125.1 / 136.6

DCA 13.2 / 46.0

IAD 19.4 / 61.9

ILG  17.7 / 55.9

ACY 7.8 / 46.4

TTN 39.1 / 76.4

EWR 64.5 / 78.4

NYC 53.4 / 75.6

JFK 45.2 / 69.0

LGA 58.5 / 77.9

ISP 37.0 / 73.5

BDR 55.0 / 75.7

BDL 84.9 / 107.1

ALB 88.1 / 86.5

BGM 131.3 / 131.2

BOS 96.3 / 107.6

 

93-94 was the winter of record at ABE - it still is, I think?  But it was close between 93-94 and 95-96

I dont know how the hell JFK only recorded 69 inches in 1995-96 looks like some mismeasuring going on there, and that includes the 4-5 they got in the April storm too.  I was measuring snowfall that year on Long Island and recorded 83 inches.

LOL@BGM's totals.....thats about as close as you can get!

 

 

[LibertyBell]

Labor Day 1998 we had an F2 tornado about a mile from my house- the closest I've ever been to a tornado!

April 1997 was a bust here for snow, it snowed more to our south and to our north, April 1996 was the much more impressive snowfall here.

 

[LibertyBell]

2 minutes ago, EpicHECS said:

If a tornado has never rocked your place of cover: You're a noob. 

we dont get severe weather here.

and I dont want it lol.

the costs of repair/replacement far outweigh any benefit I might get from experiencing it.

Same reason why I dont like months on end of snowcover, thats why I'm on Long Island instead of at my other house where there's like 3 ft of snow cover on the ground at 2200 ft.  I pay someone else to shovel it before I go there.

 

[LibertyBell]

2 minutes ago, EpicHECS said:

I've been in a confirmed F0 in the Lower Hudson Valley, A confirmed F3 upstate, and a confirmed F3 in Mass. I'd like to ride out a 4+ somewhere in the Plains one day. 

Shit...I drove though an F-1 + microburst this past summer that I totally forgot about. You guys need to get out more. 

wow I would be scared shitless

I dont even like a lot of lightning although I want to photograph it one day

I do like hail and I've seen it a few times.

Last year in May when I was at my other house in the Poconos, I saw two days of snow and then a day of severe weather with hail all in the same weekend.

I heard that it snowed in NYC that weekend too, but only like flurries (even that is a big accomplishment in May.)

 

FWIW there's a big solar storm going on and we're going to get a direct hit so if it clears out you might be able to see a good northern lights display up there:

 

 

[LibertyBell]

4 minutes ago, EpicHECS said:

I believe that. 

I have been.  It's not fun to almost get hit by lightning.

 

[BucksCO_PA]

1 hour ago, EpicHECS said:

I mentioned severe weather back on May 31st, 1998. I'm sure almost all of you know the event. 

There are two others I'm really interested in inquiring about on here. One from each season: 

1) Spring of 1990/1991? Overcast, warm and humid day in the northeast. I can't recall any really impressive language for the day from the NWS regarding a severe outbreak (I was 8/9 years old) but I was already heavily involved in sports and I wound up out on a local baseball field with my old man, working on pitching. Within a matter of minutes we started hearing some of the loudest thunder imaginable and the clouds were racing by at a ridiculous pace. The wind began to pick up and it was obvious there was going to be a storm. We got to the car just as it began and what followed was rain that was something you'd more likely see in the tropics. For a good 30-45 minutes, it absolutely poured to the extent that we could see literally nothing outside of the vehicle, while we sat parked...winds rocking the car all over. Long story short: As the event began to slow down, we embarked on our way back to the middle of town and I saw flooding that I've never seen in this area since. It had just come down so hard and fast that all the drainage was overwhelmed and parking lots were filled with 18"+ of rushing water, like you would see down in the deep south. Anyone remember this event?

2) April of 1997 (?): A pretty historic snowfall around here that resulted from an occluded front and dumped inland locales with as much as 12"+ of heavy snows. Was at the tail end of an extremely unimpressive winter. The snowfall was much like today's (2/22/21) in that it was wet, heavy, and stuck like glue. There were lollipops of 15"+ in places, and power outages were widespread for days locally. Anyone remember this event? 

Thanks!  

1997 SE PA: most of the snow actually fell on 3/31 with some lingering into the 4/1 early am, rain changed to snow the morning of 3/31 & fell heavily during the afternoon & early evening.

Locally in Lower Bucks County very elevation dependent, less than 4" at 25' along the river in Levittown to 10" at my place 250' in Feasterville with upwards of 12" in neighboring Southampton. Backside / wrap around snows rarely produce locally, this one did.

here's the narrative from the storm events database:

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5599915

A late season snowstorm dropped some of the heaviest snow of all winter across Eastern Pennsylvania from the morning of March 31st into the morning of April 1st. The low pressure system responsible for this looked rather innocuous on March 30th as it moved with its associated cold front through the Midwest. Temperatures that day (Easter Sunday) warmed into the 50s and 60s across the area. But as the low intensified off the New Jersey Coast on the 31st, it pulled down colder air. The heavy precipitation it created also cooled the atmosphere and changed the rain over to snow. The rain changed to snow close to dawn across the Poconos. The changeover progressed southeast reaching the Lehigh Valley around 9 a.m. EST and Philadelphia close to noon EST. Bands of heavier snow moved through the Middle Atlantic States and caused wide variations in accumulations that were both location (underneath these bands) and elevation dependent.

The Poconos and Western Chester County were hit the hardest. The combination of the heavy wet snow and strong gusty winds pulled down trees and power lines and caused blowing and drifting of the snow. It also caused major traffic accidents. The State of Pennsylvania declared a disaster emergency in Carbon, Chester and Monroe Counties. Interstates 80 and 380 were closed for up to 20 hours on March 31st and April 1st. The National Guard sent humvees into the area to rescue stranded motorists. In Monroe County, about 1,300 motorists spent the night of March 31st in shelters after traffic accidents and heavy snow forced the closure of Interstates 80 and 380. While the rain changed to snow early in the day, the problems started with the heavier snow during the afternoon. Over 250 accidents occurred. Near white-out conditions were reported between 8 p.m. EST on the 31st and 230 a.m. EST on the 1st. It was estimated nearly 3,000 vehicles were stuck on roadways. The heavy wet snow and strong winds also knocked down trees and power lines cutting off power to about 5,000 homes in the Poconos. Accumulations included 23 inches in Mount Pocono, 18 inches in Blakeslee, 17 inches in Long Pond and 9 inches in Lehighton. No serious injuries were reported.

In Chester County, over 300 persons took shelter overnight in a firehouse under construction in the western part of the county. The heavy snow contributed to two traffic fatalities within the county. At 1230 p.m. EST an 18-year-old woman passenger was killed in East Nottingham when the vehicle she was in skidded and struck a pole. At 6 p.m. EST a 45-year-old male was killed in West Whiteland Township when his vehicle was struck by a delivery truck. In all, the county reported about 300 traffic accidents and nearly the same number of downed trees, wires, traffic lights and abandoned cars. Dozens of vehicles were abandoned between East Nottingham and Avondale. Fifteen tractor trailers were disabled on Pennsylvania State Route 41 alone. All or parts of Pennsylvania State Routes 10 and 41 and U.S. Routes 30 and 202 were closed in the county. The Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) estimated 15,000 homes lost power in the county. Accumulations included 11 inches in Coatesville, 9 inches in Downingtown and 4 inches in Honey Brook.

This storm featured bands of heavier snow. No place was this more apparent than in Berks County where accumulations ranged from a trace in western parts of the county to 10 inches in eastern parts of the county in Greenwich, Ruscombmanor and Union Townships. Interstate 78 was closed overnight between exits 12 (Greenwich Township) and 13 (New Smithville in Lehigh County) because of accidents and blowing snow. The eastbound lanes were backed up for 10 miles. The Pennsylvania Office of Emergency Management dispatched the Red Cross to help stranded motorists with food and drinks between exits 8 and 14 on Interstate 78. The Berks County Communication Center responded to over 50 serious accidents throughout the county between 3 and 9 p.m. EST. The most serious one (4 injuries) was a jackknifed tractor trailer that was rammed by a car and then a moving van on Interstate 78 in Windsor Township. GPU reported 2,500 homes lost power in the county, nearly all in Muhlenberg Township after a large tree came crashing down. In addition to Interstate 78, numerous accidents and road closures occurred on Pennsylvania State Routes 401, 422, 568 and 625.

In the Lehigh Valley, northern parts of Northampton County were hit the hardest. The most problems were reported in Bushkill and Moore Townships. Accidents and/or downed trees shut down sections of Pennsylvania State Routes 33, 191, 248, 512 and 611. Forty motorists were stranded on Airport Road, their vehicles were unable to get up the hill just south of Pennsylvania State Route 329. At the Lehigh Valley International Airport, 4.4 inches of snow accumulated.

Elsewhere around the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, rush hour was called a nightmare in Bucks County. The southbound side of Interstate 95 was shut down for an hour because of a multi-vehicle accident. Pennsylvania State Route 412 was also closed because of accidents. In Montgomery County, numerous accidents were reported in Upper Pottsgrove, Worcester, Lower Pottsgrove and Lower Providence Townships. In addition, 11,000 PECO homes lost power. About 65,000 homes and businesses throughout the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area lost power because of the combination of the heavy wet snow and strong winds. Within Philadelphia, there were over 200 trees that were damaged because of this combination. Accumulations included 12 inches in Furlong, 11 inches in Sellersville and Palm, 10 inches in Green Lane, 9 inches in Neshaminy Falls, 8 inches in Pottstown and Perkasie, 5 inches in Levittown, 3.9 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport and 3 inches at Valley Forge.

While the snow was over by daybreak on April 1st, strong gusty winds persisted throughout the daylight hours hampering utility and road crew work. The strongest wind gusts averaged around 45 mph throughout the region.

pics from Churchville, PA

[uncle W]

it was 69 on this date in 1997...6" of snow fell in 2008 for the daily record...it was 8 degrees in 1963 as that cold wimter kept going...Philadelphia had 7" of snow on this date in 2001...

[LibertyBell]

2 minutes ago, uncle W said:

it was 69 on this date in 1997...6" of snow fell in 2008 for the daily record...it was 8 degrees in 1963 as that cold wimter kept going...Philadelphia had 7" of snow on this date in 2001...

wow no one remembers that because of the March 2001 bust.  Did NYC and LI get a nice snowfall from that event too?

 

[LibertyBell]

wow.....sounds like my Poconos home got about 2 ft of snow in that one....it was declared a disaster area?