LibertyBell

Why did clippers back then bring 2-4 or 3-6 inches of snow and now it's like an inch or two at most and usually not even that?

Look at all those winters in the 80s with single digit temperatures in December. Those were some very windy very cold days I remember we had wind chills between -45 and -60 in December and January (I wonder what they would be with the new wind chill calculations) and wind chill warnings (not advisories--- actual WARNINGS!) Granted it did not snow much at all, so I don't miss that kind of awful cold, because the ground was mostly bare. It's interesting the highs in 1980 and 1988 and 1989 don't make this list, even though the -1 low on Christmas Day in 1980 (accompanied by a coating of snow) was the last time it got below zero in December and December 1989 was the coldest on record. The only December from the 80s that makes both the lowest highs and lowest lows list is December 1983. Interestingly enough that came right after the hottest summer on record (to that point).....summer 1983 didn't just have the most number of 90 degree days, it also had the most 70+ dew point days and the most 90 degree days in September (5). The change between September and December that year must have been truly jarring!

The coldest we have gotten since the early 40s was -2 at NYC and -3 at LGA. That may be the coldest it can now get around here. The lowest highs temps were 7 degrees which happened in 1977 and 1985. That may still yet be possible, as 1984-1985 was a mild winter overall with a historic arctic shot in the middle of it. To me not getting that cold anymore isn't such a big deal because when it did get that cold we didn't get much snow. I would much rather have temps in the teens or 20s with a lot of snow rather than single digits with no or very little snow. Below zero is another matter, as that is historic, the same way 100 or above is historic, so both of those kinds of records are very interesting to see.

This reminds me of February 2016 which was one of the warmest to have a below zero low, wasn't it?

I'm still optimistic for around 25-28 inches this season, since the lion's share of our snow comes in January and February and winter really begins here around January 20th. Okay probably the lower range of that scale, maybe more like 20-25 lol. Still near average.

If it's timed right (like during the rush hour) it can happen again. I remember when that happened and it was in the late 90s and something like 4-5 inches fell in like 2 hours right during the rush hour. It happened on two occasions and both times it was a disaster in terms of being able to get anywhere.

Yep, I believe this is the dreaded worst case scenario. Actually in some ways it reminds me of the Blizzard of 1888. I wonder how well NYC would handle that if it happened in modern times? Maybe better because of buried power lines? I wonder if Buffalo's power lines are buried or are they overhead? The more I think about it, the heavy rain to heavy snow scenario, the sharp drop in temps to near 0, hurricane force winds and very heavy long duration snow scenario does remind me of the Blizzard of 1888 too.

Isn't Jan 20th now the usual start to our winters? It seems to be that way for the last decade or so.

lol the average temperature in the second half of the month (21.1) was exactly half of what it was in the first half of the month (42.2).....funny thing is I don't remember any of that warmth, all I remember from that month is the big snowstorm.

I think the most visual way to explain it is the extreme warmth (fire) that has been afflicting the Arctic for so many years has now finally reached the extreme northeastern part of the US.

I wonder what the record is to maintain the exact same temperature (record number of consecutive hours.) I have to assume it happened when it was warm, humid and (perhaps) foggy? Near a stationary front?

Yes I edited my post to give the total number of samples of each as I feel that is a better way to express it than percentages when the sample size is so small. 13 total cases 1 case of 30"+ 6 cases of 20"+ 4 cases of under 10" (this also infers 3 cases between 10-20") Looks like our best realistic hope now is to somehow get near average snowfall (which I consider between 20-29")

wow Don, so of the 8 cases that saw 30" or more of snowfall the most was 32.8"? That means there were 8 cases packed into the narrow margin of 30-32.8? That's pretty amazing. I wonder how many were el nino vs la nina vs neutral? edit-- you said 8% out of 13 so that would be only 1 case haha..... Better to use number of total cases rather than percentages when the sample size is so small. I just did this in my head for a rough idea....so it's just 1 case of 30"+ 6 total cases of 20"+ and 4 cases of under 10"?

I remember there were people trapped in cars, buses and trains in NYC during the Boxing Day 2010 blizzard but not this kind of death toll (I don't remember what the death toll was but it was very low from what I recall?)

There's also a lot of corruption going on in Buffalo in terms of infrastructure contracts they've been handing out....but that doesn't explain this tragedy, this was an extreme weather event for them. The latest numbers I read were 40 dead from this storm and 17 of them in NY.

wow January 2019 had an underrated cold spell, 14 for the high on the 21st and then 16 on the 31st? That's the only twofer on the list and right behind January 1994 which had a threefer (10 for the high on the 19th, and 15 on the 16th and the 20th.) There was another arctic shot closer to the end of the month when we hit 0, but there was a cutter right behind that so the high was 32 at midnight (first time I can recall a low of 0F and a high of 0C lol) and 55 the next day with strong SE gales that matched the temperature in gusts with a high of 55!

Nice to see the usual suspects on this list-- 1980, 1983, 1989 and now this year. Going back to 1980, what were our coldest December highs and lows, Chris? I think 1980 had the only low below 0.....did any of them have highs in the single digits or low teens? Thanks!

I thought it was the 05-06 winter that started this new pattern, looks like it started a bit earlier than that! The mild/snowy pattern is a new one, as our winters used to be either cold/snowy, cold/dry, cold/rainy, mild/rainy or mild/dry

Latest report was 40 dead from this storm, 17 of them in New York

Same high, but much lower low, thanks Don!

2015-16 being the big outlier when we had over 40" at JFK (over 30" in one storm.)

Wow that's amazing-- what was the date that happened? Thanks!

Thanks Don, Mt Pocono isn't in this list, but I assume they too set a new record? Looks like 1978 and 1990 both appear a lot in this list lol.

I'm actually surprised it got that cold in 2013-14, I thought that winter was all about borderline temperatures and had lots of snow but most of them switched over to rain. 2014-15 had more pure snow and was much colder. I see April 2000 in this list and going from 75 to 32 on the 9th, was that when we had 1-2 inches of snow in April 2000?

I'm wondering where he might be too.