Time to think cold. What is your favorite snow memory?

[Terpeast]

Also I haven’t seen anyone mention the Feb 2006 storm. We may not have gotten the sheer accumulations like 96, 10, and 16, but it was memorable in that I stayed up all night to watch the storm unfold. Rates were awesome. Near whiteout conditions at the height of the storm

[CAPE]

I really enjoyed this one. There was a month+ with pretty much nothing after the big Dec storm. The airmass was super cold and it snowed steadily all day from start to finish. No wind, just a peaceful snowy winter day. And the epic early Feb period was showing up on guidance at this point.

[WxUSAF]

^thats a great one. 6” of pure cold fluff

[LittleVillageWx]

Getting up early to go to work and taking my first peek out the window the morning PDI was ending will always be my favorite snow memory.  We'd simply never seen anything like it.  The melting began that day and we transitioned into spring very quickly thereafter.  Coming at the end of a period of bitter cold, PDI in retrospect seemed like the perfect storm at the perfect time.         

[GramaxRefugee]

Christmas 1969, our family drove from Syracuse NY (30") to home (MD) right through the teeth of it.  My memory is of the amazing whiteouts and near impossible visibility in the Poconos.  A few years later I read an article in I think Popular Mechanics about whiteouts, and I-81 in PA was one of the prime locations 

I was pretty young; my (Canadian)  Dad handled all the driving. Long hard trip.

At home it was just our usual rain/snow/ice crap

[MN Transplant]

8 hours ago, Terpeast said:

Also I haven’t seen anyone mention the Feb 2006 storm. We may not have gotten the sheer accumulations like 96, 10, and 16, but it was memorable in that I stayed up all night to watch the storm unfold. Rates were awesome. Near whiteout conditions at the height of the storm

This is where I again complain that we got 8” of snow near the Pentagon and it immediately started melting when the sun came up.  That one actually ends up on my dud list.

Now Feb 2014 had some rates in the overnight hours.  

[snowfan]

Nothing tops the ‘96 blizzard for me. We had just moved from Baltimore to southern york county, pa. Our housing development was very much in progress and our section was mostly open fields sans the few houses that had been built. The drifts that occurred with that storm were incredible. I distinctly remember it taking many days before a front end loader finally cleared our road and created a mountain of snow at the end of our street.

[ldub23]

11 hours ago, Terpeast said:

The 09-10 and 1996 storms aside, my favorite childhood memory was the 1987 double whammy. That marked the beginning of my weeniehood. 

My mom has pics of me in the 1983 storm where the snow was higher than me, but I was too young to remember. 

We  had  1 double whammy here  i can remember. Must  have  been 66 or 67.  First storm we got  12-14 inches with thundersnow. A week later we got  storm 2. Inbetween it was  bitter  cold. Storm 2 started with heavy snow, turned to heavy  sleet, then back to snow. School was  out  2 weeks.

[WEATHER53]

1. Mammoth drifts and ferocious winds of Blizzard of 66 Salisbury MD . 
 2.Epic low pressure and  40moh sustained winds snow sleet and rain of March 1993

3. Snowmaggedon

4.1979 even though 20” it was really windy and lot of cars stuck on I95 south at 495

5. 1996  waves of snow with   1-2”ph rates.

 

[osfan24]

Have to say Blizzard of 96. That's the first big storm I really remember. I was glued to The Weather Channel and couldn't believe we had a Blizzard Warning. And then to be out of school for a whole week and to see the drifts.

 

[mattie g]

19 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

^thats a great one. 6” of pure cold fluff

That we all willed north in the last 24 hours before first flakes...

[mattie g]

14 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

This is where I again complain that we got 8” of snow near the Pentagon and it immediately started melting when the sun came up.  That one actually ends up on my dud list.

Now Feb 2014 had some rates in the overnight hours.  

I was in Fairlington for that one. Can confirm that melting ensued quickly.

[Cobalt]

1/26/11 was the the first one I can remember "tracking", being glued to TWC coverage, cycling back from the TV to the window, waiting for a changeover. It must've happened in an instant, going from pouring rain to a near whiteout, by far the highest impact for a single-digit snowfall I have ever seen. 8 inches of heavy wet snow that caused a 3 day power outage (nearly as long as Feb 2010's snow blitz), and a prolonged snowpack after. Those high impact rain to snow events (1/3/22 is in the same realm as that one) have always been a favorite of mine. There's just something about a dreary environment transforming into a powder keg at a moment's notice. 

 

Most memorable stretch of winter has to be Feb-March 2015. Nearly every flavor of snow event, and some historic cold that we might never see again. 

[forkyfork]

march 2001

[RickinBaltimore]

Snowmageddon and Snowmageddon 2: Snowpocolypse Now in 2010. My then wife and I really thought we were going to have our first child trapped at home. 

[AdamHLG]

18 hours ago, Cobalt said:

1/26/11 was the the first one I can remember "tracking", being glued to TWC coverage, cycling back from the TV to the window, waiting for a changeover. It must've happened in an instant, going from pouring rain to a near whiteout, by far the highest impact for a single-digit snowfall I have ever seen. 8 inches of heavy wet snow that caused a 3 day power outage (nearly as long as Feb 2010's snow blitz), and a prolonged snowpack after. Those high impact rain to snow events (1/3/22 is in the same realm as that one) have always been a favorite of mine. There's just something about a dreary environment transforming into a powder keg at a moment's notice. 

 

Most memorable stretch of winter has to be Feb-March 2015. Nearly every flavor of snow event, and some historic cold that we might never see again. 

Yes - this was the infamous Commutageddon storm.  This is my #2 favorite storm of all time partly because I was driving home in this storm to try and beat the changeover - and failed.  Never saw so many stuck vehicles in any storm before or after that storm.  Crazy night that was.

My # 1 storm was the Blizzard of 1996, as this was my first storm I tracked on Internet Relay Chat.  I still remember posts scrolling by and specifically a post about an hour before the first flake fell that said " 3.15" QPF - I see it but I can't believe it".  That was an incredible blizzard.

 

 

[EastCoast NPZ]

I remember back when we used to get occasional cold and snow.  Heck, there was a time when it actually went below freezing at night!

[ldub23]

4 hours ago, EastCoast NPZ said:

I remember back when we used to get occasional cold and snow.  Heck, there was a time when it actually went below freezing at night!

That reminds  me  of the time back in the  nineties the  high temperature was  10 degrees here one day.

[aldie 22]

After the second February storm in 2010...my son next to a street sign

[WEATHER53]

7 hours ago, ldub23 said:

That reminds  me  of the time back in the  nineties the  high temperature was  10 degrees here one day.

Probably 1994

[ldub23]

4 hours ago, WEATHER53 said:

Probably 1994

Sounds about right

[MillvilleWx]

On 7/16/2023 at 12:19 PM, Terpeast said:

Also I haven’t seen anyone mention the Feb 2006 storm. We may not have gotten the sheer accumulations like 96, 10, and 16, but it was memorable in that I stayed up all night to watch the storm unfold. Rates were awesome. Near whiteout conditions at the height of the storm

This is the storm that solidified the fact I wanted to be a meteorologist. My dad woke me up at 1AM or so because it was thundersnow out. 20" in a short period of time later....Truly magical. Heaviest rates I've ever seen so far from a single storm. Hit over 4.5"/hr at one point. Just NW of I-95 where I lived over to Randallstown got absolutely smoked. Snow melted quick though as the air was moderated behind it. I remember seeing drips occurring at 10am while shoveling and having to remove my layers I was so hot lol. It was truly a one of a kind storm. I believe that gave Columbia, NY it's all-time snowfall record in 24 hrs too. 

[MillvilleWx]

Favorite Storm to Track: Jan 2016

Favorite Storm(s) to Watch Unfold: Feb 11, 2010 & Feb 2006

Favorite Winter: 2009-10 w/ 2013-14 not far behind (Insane wall-to-wall winter)

Honorable mentions: Jan 96 (First snow memory), Jan 00, PDII, Vikings/Ravens snow game in Dec, Feb 2014 Ice Storm at Millersville, Snowmagedon, 2011 Commutagedon but I had pneumonia so I couldn't thoroughly enjoy it  

I will not include my chase to Mass for the Feb 2013 blizzard since it wasn't in the Mid-Atlantic, but that was an absolute all-timer for me. Never seen anything like that before. 

[Its a Breeze]

On 7/19/2023 at 11:48 PM, WEATHER53 said:

Probably 1994

And speaking of '94, I know this is about snow, but can we add the ice storms of that year to the list?

Simply amazing. Especially when we had snow on top of the ice. Was still a kid so I had a blast with the countless slips and falls. I imagine for most, it'd be a different story now

[WEATHER53]

7 hours ago, MillvilleWx said:

This is the storm that solidified the fact I wanted to be a meteorologist. My dad woke me up at 1AM or so because it was thundersnow out. 20" in a short period of time later....Truly magical. Heaviest rates I've ever seen so far from a single storm. Hit over 4.5"/hr at one point. Just NW of I-95 where I lived over to Randallstown got absolutely smoked. Snow melted quick though as the air was moderated behind it. I remember seeing drips occurring at 10am while shoveling and having to remove my layers I was so hot lol. It was truly a one of a kind storm. I believe that gave Columbia, NY it's all-time snowfall record in 24 hrs too. 

That was a heavy one with thunder snow but I think quite mild the next day

[WEATHER53]

6 hours ago, MillvilleWx said:

Favorite Storm to Track: Jan 2016

Favorite Storm(s) to Watch Unfold: Feb 11, 2010 & Feb 2006

Favorite Winter: 2009-10 w/ 2013-14 not far behind (Insane wall-to-wall winter)

Honorable mentions: Jan 96 (First snow memory), Jan 00, PDII, Vikings/Ravens snow game in Dec, Feb 2014 Ice Storm at Millersville, Snowmagedon, 2011 Commutagedon but I had pneumonia so I couldn't thoroughly enjoy it  

I will not include my chase to Mass for the Feb 2013 blizzard since it wasn't in the Mid-Atlantic, but that was an absolute all-timer for me. Never seen anything like that before. 

Our 2007 Feb chase to  Tug Hill an all timer 

[WEATHER53]

2 hours ago, Its a Breeze said:

And speaking of '94, I know this is about snow, but can we add the ice storms of that year to the list?

Simply amazing. Especially when we had snow on top of the ice. Was still a kid so I had a blast with the countless slips and falls. I imagine for most, it'd be a different story now

One of those was 23F and not one flake 

[WEATHER53]

As far as cold day it was that one in 1994 where I had a high of 11 at 11am and at 5pm it was 1 above zero, overnight low of -6

as far as a length of time, probably the back to back Cold Sundays 1982

as far as wind chill, inauguration  eve 1985.

as far as a month, January 1977

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Boxing Day, 2010!  What an amaz....oh, wait a minute!  No, that storm sucked for us and is verboten to mention, like Lord Voldemort, the Storm which Shall Not Be Named!! 

But seriously, it's tough to pinpoint an absolute favorite so I'll list a few, or at least a few time periods.  Chronological order, not in order of preference:

--PD-II, 2003.  I was living in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and the lead up to that was very exciting!  I had only moved here in July 2001 and winter '01-02 completely sucked (my first winter here), so '02-03 was a nice change!  I remember the guidance kept trending colder and lots of precipitation.  I was expecting most of it to start on that Sunday morning (Feb. 16, 2003), but when I got up there was already 6" on the ground and pounding snow.  We did get sleet of course much later on but still got ~18" where I was.  Amazing storm, and cold throughout.

--February 2007.  I know a lot of people tend to blow off or overlook that winter, but that February was very cold and if we had gotten snow rather than sleet/ice for the Valentine's Day event, I think it would be one of the better winters.  And we got the somewhat unexpected 5-6" of wet snow later in February (I think the 25th).  That season actually was awful in December and early January...but mid-January through February was pretty cool and active.  I actually liked that winter overall.

--The entire 2 week period from Jan. 30-Feb. 10, 2010.  Even having grown up in northeast OH and having experienced many big winters, that 2 week period here in 2010 was about the snowiest and most incredible that I've seen.  Where I was in Silver Spring at the time, I received 6.3" on Jan. 30, 5.0" on Feb. 2, 23.5" on Feb. 5-6, and 12.0" on Feb. 9-10.  I recall going to bed on Feb. 9 after some snow and there was freezing rain falling by then, thinking we were in for a huge bust.  Woke up on the 10th to whiteout and blizzard conditions that continued through the day.  And of course, you cannot mention that winter 2009-10 without also mentioning the 1st HECS of that season on Dec. 18-19, 2009 (20.0" where I am)...oh, and of course, happy anniversary to @mappy every year on Dec. 19!!

--Winter 2013-14.  Damn near wall-to-wall with tracking events.  Not a single HECS, but loaded with several moderate events.  Hell, even @Bob Chill said he was exhausted by the end of March!  Plus it was the 2nd year in a row that snow fell on my birthday on March 25 (happened in 2013 as well).

--3 weeks from mid-February to early March 2015.  Holy cow what a ride!  Yeah, a late bloomer of a season but another extremely cold February (colder than 2007!) and this time we cashed in on some good snows.  March had an ice event the first weekend of the month and then a nifty moderate event on the 5th.  February 14 also had what is perhaps my favorite "minor" event, a couple of snow squalls with an Arctic front dropped 2" in less than an hour, followed by bitter cold and wind which ushered in that amazing 3 week period!

--January 22-23, 2016.  What can you say?  The blizzard of 2016 HECS!  That storm was so well forecast and just a classic setup.  I remember sitting in a coffee shop the Saturday a week before looking at AmWx, and after the 12Z models came in everyone KNEW a big event was all but guaranteed, it was just a matter of the details.  A few days prior to that was a small clipper that dropped an inch of dry snow that resulted in icy roads.  I know a lot of people love to hate on that winter saying it was a one and done season...but what a ONE!  And that was after ridiculously warm (+10 degree departure) December.  We also did get a small snow and ice event around mid-February that year, which tends to get overlooked.

--January 11-12, 2019.  I know this may have affected the DC area more, but it was a neat event that dropped 11"!!  I recall LWX going kind of big on the snow amounts which seemed risky at the time, but that turned out to be correct.

[But, my all-time favorite event from anywhere I lived was the great Ohio Blizzard of Jan. 26-27, 1978!!!  No, it was not a prolific snow producer in northeast OH (maybe 6-12" overall).  However, that storm was so damned severe it's hard to top.  It set low pressure records from the southeast US to Canada, including 28.28" (957 mb) as the center of the storm passed right over Cleveland.  Temperatures dropping 30 degrees in a 2 hour period (from mid-40s at 4AM to the teens by 6AM), then single digits most of the remainder of the day on the 26th with whiteout conditions.  Wind gusts to 80+ MPH and unreal low wind chills.  They were literally telling people to NOT go outside.  We still had about a foot of old, crusty snow on the ground and the drifts that resulted from the blizzard were quite incredible.  I remember Dick Goddard, the local meteorologist (and a very good forecaster) saying that for the only time in his long career, he told people on the 11PM news show to not expect to travel anywhere the next day, even though at that time it was still pretty mild and kind of drizzly out.  The Ohio Turnpike (I-80/90) was closed from gate to gate for the only time ever.  The National Guard had to be called in for relief efforts after the storm.  That winter, 1977-78, was the second incredible one after the brutal and record-setting cold winter the year before in 1976-77.]

 

[ldub23]

On 7/24/2023 at 6:13 PM, WEATHER53 said:

As far as cold day it was that one in 1994 where I had a high of 11 at 11am and at 5pm it was 1 above zero, overnight low of -6

as far as a length of time, probably the back to back Cold Sundays 1982

as far as wind chill, inauguration  eve 1985.

as far as a month, January 1977

 

Probably wont see a  month like that again soon with an avg  low  of  17 degrees here

 

Sum	1170	527	-	-	1160	0	3.29	12.1	-
Average	37.7	17.0	27.4	-12.4	-	-	-	-	0.4
Normal	49.1	30.6	39.8	-	780	0	3.77	1.7	-
1977-01-01	34	15	24.5	-16.1	40	0	0.00	0.0	0
1977-01-02	37	15	26.0	-14.5	39	0	0.00	0.0	0
1977-01-03	35	19	27.0	-13.4	38	0	0.00	0.0	0
1977-01-04	40	28	34.0	-6.3	31	0	0.01	0.0	0
1977-01-05	38	24	31.0	-9.2	34	0	0.18	2.8	3
1977-01-06	36	17	26.5	-13.6	38	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-07	40	28	34.0	-6.0	31	0	0.57	5.8	2
1977-01-08	45	14	29.5	-10.5	35	0	0.00	0.0	2
1977-01-09	39	17	28.0	-11.9	37	0	T	0.0	T
1977-01-10	48	19	33.5	-6.3	31	0	1.24	0.5	T
1977-01-11	38	17	27.5	-12.3	37	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-12	36	10	23.0	-16.7	42	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-13	31	12	21.5	-18.2	43	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-14	33	20	26.5	-13.1	38	0	0.46	0.0	T
1977-01-15	39	30	34.5	-5.1	30	0	0.49	0.0	T
1977-01-16	32	25	28.5	-11.1	36	0	0.11	1.5	2
1977-01-17	26	0	13.0	-26.6	52	0	0.00	0.0	1
1977-01-18	26	6	16.0	-23.5	49	0	0.00	0.0	1
1977-01-19	31	1	16.0	-23.5	49	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-20	37	11	24.0	-15.5	41	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-21	35	12	23.5	-16.1	41	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-22	32	14	23.0	-16.6	42	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-23	34	10	22.0	-17.6	43	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-24	38	20	29.0	-10.6	36	0	0.16	1.5	2
1977-01-25	40	24	32.0	-7.7	33	0	0.07	0.0	T
1977-01-26	41	20	30.5	-9.2	34	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-27	49	31	40.0	0.2	25	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-28	55	30	42.5	2.7	22	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-29	55	11	33.0	-6.9	32	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-30	35	6	20.5	-19.5	44	0	0.00	0.0	T
1977-01-31	35	21	28.0	-12.0	37	0	0.00	0.0	T

Reliable observation times are not available prior to 1982.