LibertyBell

my first encounter with thundersnow that I remember was Feb 1994, it happened during the day and the snowfall rates were crazy and I actually saw the bolts of lightning and heard the thunder!

1993-94 though is the all time snowiest winter at Allentown.

Feb 1961 was one of the greatest storms of all time, 25" of snow even though rain and sleet mixed in. Central Park undermeasured back then, and JFK kept better numbers.

also please check 2002-03 and 2010-11 and 2014-15

for snow pack 10-11 eventually topped 93-94. If the winter had continued beyond the end of January it would have topped 95-96 too. I would have loved a combo of 10-11 and 14-15 what a winter that would have been! Combine the December and January of 2010 with the February and March of 2015 lol.

March 1993 was earth's equivalent of the Great Red Spot, except it was the Great White Spot :-P It would be fun if Earth ever got a perpetual storm that never dissipates like that!

being a snowfall purist I preferred 95-96 to 93-94.... sleet and freezing rain annoys me (unless it's an all ice storm, which looks pretty on the trees.)

only 13 inches here in Feb 2006

there were like 25 storms of 1" or more or a sleet/freezing rain mix... its why the city ran out of salt in the middle of winter lol

Definitely..... 89-90 had the two worst possible winter outcomes here- dry and cold followed by warm and wet. When it was in the mid 80s in Mid March we were happy and hoping for a warm spring and then we got hit with an inconsequential little snow event in early April lol. I like April snow but it should at least be a few inches.

it was like being in two completely opposite seasons within the same season!

was school closed for 2 days

all I remember about that winter is changing over to rain while it snowed a few miles away lol

thanks I saved that graphic, it actually verified! I hope JM sees it too lol. It actually snowed right to 7 am too, it ended at the perfect time for the official measurement!

lol I thought they were prank or crank calling you after the predictions massively busted.

it did here, a year later.....on the same date?

oh lovely, I wonder if the March 2001 predictions were similar.

prank calls or crank calls ?!

same 4-5" we got here lol

we got freezing rain on the first day of the storm and 4" on the back end. Patchogue got a foot of snow on the back end. NYC public schools closing in advance was absolutely comical.

What kept the storm from being closer to the coast and/or developing sooner?

I dont think the NWS ever lived down those monster totals they predicted for the Jan 2015 storm. Good thing Jan 2016 happened to make up for it (sorry it didn't hit you also.)

Yes I was really disappointed on the 2nd day of the Dec 2003 storm because I expected a HECS on the level of Jan 1996 and it never got quite that good. It snowed lightly throughout the day and was nothing like the first day of the storm, even though it was much colder. That's when I learned that colder temps dont necessarily mean more snowfall lol. How much did EWR get in total? Anything like the 20 inches across Central Long Island? Does that sort of remind you of the last March 2018 storm that also jackpotted Central Long Island with 20 inches of snow? That Jan 2011 storm was hall of fame worthy because all the snow that fell in the first part of the storm had melted already and we somehow still got to nearly 20" in about 5 hours of snowfall! I remember thundersleet and even a tornado reported just south of Long Island (waterspout) just before the second part got underway, at the tail end of the rush hour. FWIW that might have been actual hail and not thundersleet at the start of the second part of that storm!

I always forget that late Jan 2011 storm and should have added that to my list. I remember that one also came in two parts, with around 4-5 inches in the first part and another 15 inches in the second part.

I was thinking something like what we had in December 2003 (which was also in early December) might do it, Farmingdale picked up 20" in that two day storm. Even that storm was touch and go because it was supposed to change to rain on the first day but stayed all snow with the mix line just 5 miles south of us the entire day! It made for some awesome snowfall amounts because being just north of the mix line is ideal. It dropped into the teens the next day with the storm still ongoing but the highest rates shifted east of us to central Long Island. The city ended up with 13-14 inches total with 8 inches on the first day. That was the earliest Blizzard Warning I've ever experienced and we all had a foot plus of snow between the two days.