Hurricane Agnes

I made it to 30 for a high today and much of the snow in the south and west-facing areas, underwent some pretty strong sublimation. The north and east-facing snow pack remains. Currently 24 with dp 9.

Okay... am wondering if that was added before he turned it in (I noticed the rounding off of extra decimals for some of the numbers too with the cross-outs - I remember at work if we had to make a change to our worksheets, we would cross the original out, and then add the update but initial and date the modification so it wasn't considered "erased"... just updated ).

The distance between Coatesville and Kennett Square is 14 miles and between Coatesville and West Chester is 18 miles. Coatesville is also further away (west - ~44 miles) from the city of Philadelphia than either Kennett Square (~39 miles, where Kennett Square is also only 12 miles from Wilmington, DE) or West Chester (~36 miles). Coatesville is also NW of both Kennett Square and West Chester. So not sure what the relevance is? I am about 20 miles from KPHL and am about 13 miles from my old work site downtown Philly (before I retired) that is located near the Delaware River, and it can literally be like day and night (like the last storm). So none of these locations are "close enough" to each other to be that comparative other than West Chester and Kennett Square being closer to each other (about 12 miles apart). And even with those two, the data that you selected is distinctly showing the significant differences between the Kennett Square and West Chester measurements for the 1899 and 1905 storms as it is, so the argument is silly. As a side note - this is what dominated Coatesville in 1899 (big steel mill - Lukens Steel Company) - And the same complex about 30 years later - And believe it or not, based on they guy's reported latitude/longitude, he would have been reporting literally right across from that big steel plant which has the Brandywine Creek running alongside it (unless he was generically reporting the lat/long for the center of the town at that time for the records and he lived further out from there). The below is what the area looks like today with the remnants of that steel plant and that red marker showing the approx. location of that lat/long on his report.

The report image that was posted with that total of 69.8", appears to be the total snowfall for the whole month of February 1899. Based on that report, it was a recording of daily readings with snow having fallen on Feb. 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th and then nothing until the blizzard event, where there is a report for Feb. 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th. And then there was no more snow for the rest of February. So that 69.8" measurement was the total of a bunch of days of snow between Feb. 1st - Feb. 15th, where out of those first 15 days of February, 9 of them produced some kind of snow. There was 1 day in that period where it appears there was some rain (or a mix) and the other 5 days during those first 2 weeks, there was no measurable precipitation. The column for "depth on ground at time of observation" does not appear to be filled out so he apparently measured whatever snow fell each day and then cleared the board for daily individual readings that got totaled at the bottom of the column. I know there is an option to do whatever the depth is (without clearing) to establish what the snow coverage is as it changes from day to day, but he apparently didn't do that and just totaled the individual snowfall readings. With no further snow for the month after the 15th, and that figure got transferred to the far right "Monthly Summary" section for both the pre-printed "15th" (mid-month) total "on the ground" and final monthly "total". There is some "5.24" lightly-written annotation diagonally across the Feb. 12 - 13 entries in that depth column, but I don't know what that means or if it is something that was done by the archivist later in the history of the document because it doesn't appear to match the observer's handwriting. What is fascinating about that report though is that it almost mirrors some of the types of things that happened in 1996 (although 1996 didn't have the brutal cold of 1899).... I.e., there were several little snowfalls around the big one and a warm up in there too - in fact for the 1899 reported record on Feb. 19,20, 21, 22, & 23 the highs were 50, 58, 58, 59, and 50! It looks like it also started out cold on Feb. 16, then the warm air came in and there was 1.20" mix (sleet/rain - and he did list the 16th as being a day with sleet) and then the next couple days registering more light rain. Then more warmth and more sleet/mix (the 26th) and rain (27th).

From Mt Holly's records (for the Feb. entries listed on that calendar) - https://www.weather.gov/phi/hist_phi So from the Feb. 11 entry (which gave a summary and total for the 4-day event), they are indicating 44" for Philly, which if the Feb. 12/13 dates are showing each day's measurement, would mean Feb. 11 had the bulk of the snow and would have been 26.3". But from the PDF "Monthly" report from the Weather Bureau (linked in my earlier post) for February 1899, they list PHL having 31.2" for the month (unless that is just indicating what was still "left on the ground" at the end of the month, which would make sense if there were no warmups/rain after that storm).

Am watching the lows this morning but it appears that my low (with 35 minutes still to go before sunrise) has been 12. Currently 13 with dp 7 (and a Full Snow Moon soon to be in the offing for the next couple days).

I was scanning Accuweather this morning and saw this story that they had about that storm and extreme cold outbreak - https://www.accuweather.com/en/winter-weather/the-snow-king-blizzard-great-arctic-outbreak-of-1899/1140132 The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Weather Bureau Weather Map for Feb. 13, 1899, shows a large low-pressure system bringing snow from South Carolina to Maine, with temperatures in the Florida Panhandle dipping into the teens and the freezing line (32 F) two-thirds of the way through Florida. NOAA An animation from the 20th Century Reanalysis (V3) project shows estimated mean sea-level pressure in the U.S. between Feb. 12 and Feb. 14, 1899. The strong low-pressure system off the east coast, shown as purple, is the "Snow King" storm. NOAA There was a copy (PDF) of the Weather Bureau monthly summary for February 1899 linked as well, which is here - https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/Monthly-Weather-Review-February-1899.pdf (the Coatesville COOP report is on pg. 75 of the scanned Bureau monthly summary report in the PDF)

I'm down to 19. dp 8.

Made it up to 26 today as a high with the temps on the way back down now being a couple minutes after sunset. The snow on the south and west-facing house roofs is gone now (the north & east-facing still have some coating of snow). Currently 24 with some scattered clouds,. and dp 7.

I bottomed out at 15 this morning and it is now sunny, a bit breezy, and up to 18 here, with dp 5.

I stayed at or above freezing almost the entire duration of the event where I am (32/33) except for the very end. At onset here, it was drizzle that eventually changed to white rain and then a rain/snow mix for awhile before finally changing over to mostly light snow. The liquid component wasn't enough to tip the bucket here with the marginal temps. So I would expect further south in the city (I am about 20 miles north of KPHL) they may have had a much longer period of rain and "warmer" temps (e.g., 34 or higher) than I had where I am. In fact, the obs at the airport are here, although that page will be continually updating (Center City is about 5 - 6 miles from KPHL and I tried to format to mainly show the temps/dews and the 6hr min/max) - https://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KPHL.html D a t e Time(est) Wind(mph) Vis.(mi.) Weather Sky Cond. Temperature (ºF) 13 23:54 N 10 10.00 Partly Cloudy FEW027 SCT065 29 15 13 22:54 N 14 10.00 Overcast SCT027 OVC060 30 19 13 21:54 N 10 10.00 Overcast OVC045 31 19 13 20:54 N 15 G 22 10.00 Overcast OVC028 31 21 13 19:54 N 14 10.00 Overcast BKN027 OVC031 32 21 13 18:54 N 8 8.00 Overcast SCT015 OVC028 33 24 35 / 33 (6hr) 13 17:54 N 10 8.00 Overcast SCT015 OVC028 33 25 13 16:54 N 12 4.00 Light Snow Fog/Mist BKN015 OVC025 33 27 13 15:54 NW 16 1.25 Light Snow Fog/Mist BKN008 OVC012 33 29 13 14:54 NE 3 1.50 Light Snow Fog/Mist BKN008 BKN011 OVC015 34 31 13 13:54 NE 5 1.00 Light Snow Fog/Mist BKN006 BKN015 OVC034 35 32 13 12:54 Vrbl 6 2.00 Light Snow Fog/Mist BKN007 OVC015 35 31 36/35 (6hr) 13 11:54 NE 3 2.00 Light Snow Fog/Mist SCT008 BKN012 OVC034 35 32 13 10:54 NE 5 1.50 Light Snow Fog/Mist SCT007 BKN011 OVC029 35 31 13 09:54 Calm 1.75 Light Snow Fog/Mist BKN008 OVC014 35 31 13 08:54 NE 3 8.00 Light Snow BKN011 BKN018 OVC070 35 31 13 07:54 N 6 3.00 Light Snow Fog/Mist BKN006 BKN011 OVC070 35 31 13 06:54 NE 5 3.00 Light Snow Fog/Mist BKN014 OVC031 35 31 40/35 (6hr) 13 05:54 NE 5 5.00 Light Snow Fog/Mist FEW012 OVC060 35 31 13 04:54 N 8 7.00 Light Snow Snow Pellets FEW012 OVC055 35 30 13 03:54 Calm 7.00 Light Snow OVC055 36 30 13 02:54 Calm 8.00 Light Snow OVC049 36 31 13 01:54 Calm 7.00 Light Snow SCT028 OVC047 37 29 13 00:54 N 16 G 21 10.00 Light Rain OVC043 40 28 52/40 (6hr) So with the ground temps also warmer down there given the antecedent days of warmth (the high on 2/11 was 62 and on 2/12 was 60 where mine were 59 and 57 respectively), it would be difficult to accumulate until the ground cooled enough to reduce the melting.

Looks to be pretty much done here now and temp is now 30 with dp starting to drop, and at 26. Finished up with 2.01" (compacted).

Nice view! Northampton County for sure came out on top for this storm. I finally made it below 32 sometime before 3:30 pm. Still getting some SN- and one more measure and clear yielded another 1/8" to get to 2.01". Currently 31 with dp 29.

Still have some SN- with finer flakes again and temp bopping between 32/33 and with dp 30/31 (still have not gone below freezing for this event so far, so melting continues on warmer/treated surfaces). Did another measure and clear for an additional 1/4" for 1.88" total so far. The band in central PA (from KCCX radar) finally appears to be thinning, so the western edge of what is really a broader "firehose" than what KDIX is showing, is starting to break up.

Currently SN with bigger flakes but still above freezing at 33 with dp 31. I had partially cleared the board and with the slightly fluffier snow, have an additional 1/8" (even with the melting). So with the earlier 1.5", now have 1.63" (compacted).

Still at or above freezing here and currently 33 with dp 31 and light snow continuing, but also a lot of melting. Have been watching the accumulations on my car literally sloughing off.

There's a little enhanced band over Salem and Gloucester counties in Jersey... Hopefully someone from there has any reports. Just measured again and am up to 1.5" with melting/compaction and still getting some light snow but am at 33 with dp 31.

Latest PNS issued (8:19 am) -

There are now a bunch of 6 inch reports (spotter and "public") in Northampton County. You have to look at KCCX and the band back west. It has been pretty much sitting over that area so I don't know how far west it will go but I guess it depends on what the jet does... Am currently "up to" 33 with dp 31 and light snow (but also dripping).

If you look west to State College CWA, there is a whole band back that way and if any of it survives to move east intact, then there would be more. Currently still holding at 32 with dp 31, but have all fine-flaked snow at the moment (no mix that I can detect).

Went out to get a measurement off the board and have 1.25" (wet/compacted) at post time. ETA to add Mt. Holly's latest note (but still too low for further north based on current obs up there) - Not sure when it will eventually happen but the digging trough/jet apparently didn't "dig" as deep as progged (at least for this time frame) to bring the cold air in further south for the precip to accumulate in the I-95 corridor as much as it has north of I-78. ETA2 - I'm not sure of what the WSW criteria is upstate but I think ours down here is at least 6" and they are getting close to that north of I-78... and if the criteria is the same, then they might warrant a WSW in the LV.

Currently still holding at 32 with dp 30. Still getting an alternating drizzle/flurries mix or just SN- with not much accumulation on top of what is there, since melting is going on. Looks like the I-78 - I-80 corridor cashed in (so far). Various Berks Co reports of 4" - 5+" (ETA - just saw Newman's post above).

Just as an interesting side issue regarding the arctic cold, here is what is going on in Duluth, MN CWA (vs SoCal) -

Looks like that 0z NAM had the right idea last night but the bullseye zone was shifted well to the NW probably due to the temps. Current for where it thinks things are and progged snow (still low-balling LV stripe).

Trained spotter listing 4.2" up in Macungie.