78Blizzard

In a storm without much wind, the clearing method should be quite accurate. But what happens in a storm with 30-40 MPH winds? How accurate is it then? Especially with powder.

Yeah, getting a week off from work back then because of the Rt 128 fiasco is a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Temps during most of the storm varied only a couple of degrees. Randolph temps would have been more like Brockton than Hingham, which is only a few miles away. The storm didn't end until very late on the 7th.

I put in a request from NOAA's National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) for maximum temps at Randolph for 2/6/78 and 2/7/78. They emailed a list of cities in E MA, of which the closest to Randolph was Brockton. The max there was 34F on the 6th and 35F on the 7th. Hingham had a max of 34F on the 6th and 32F on the 7th. By comparison, Boston was 34F on the 6th and 33F on the 7th. My main point being there was no fluff factor with that snow, limiting the drifting in many areas, despite the strong winds.

15F here...just tied the low from this morning. Deep,deep cold. Snow cover probably helps now.

For sure we won't have to deal with the lack of antecedent cold if that Fri storm does pan out, what with temps in E Quebec -35F to -40F, and below 0 in NNE. That's according to the GFS. But according to the Ukie, it shows much warmer surface temps in NNE and much warmer surface and upper levels here.

The sounding for my hood has h8 @ 0C, and many other areas don't get to 0C, so I still don't agree with that surface map. Not that it matters at this point.

How is this even possible at the surface given the upper levels? Or is there a sneaky layer above 0C somewhere?

True, but with over 40" falling in many parts of RI, it is quite conceivable those N RI Hills had some enhancement.

Here's what they said: "A small area of 50 or more in. of snowfall was reported in northern Rhode Island (not depicted in Fig. 11.17.1-1)."

Not surprised you would say that. Even Kocin and Uccellini noted it in their Vol II.

2015 redux?

Temps would have been colder there than where I was, contributing to more blowing and drifting with a lighter consistency. From what I remember, temps were freezing or above in Randolph for most of the storm. The wetness was apparent when you could hear it hitting the windows and sides of the house.

As I said earlier, despite the winds, the drifting was kept to a minimum because of the wet snow. If you look at the many pictures of the day, you don't see large drifts, at least in those areas S of Boston. This was not a fluffy snow. Where I was, open areas were definitely over 40" with maybe up to 5' drifts near buildings on the windward side.

Here's a quote from the New England Historical Society: "Parts of Boston’s South Shore and Woonsocket, R.I., got hit with the most: 54 inches." Not official, but just saying... People who were there at the time and dealing with it would have first-hand knowledge.

I'd love to see a surface depiction of that.

Actually, N RI was the area that had some 50"+ reports. Also, it was a very wet snow so drifting was minimal. I know, because we had to shovel it from the driveway without a snowblower. Luckily it was a small driveway.

I lived in Randolph at the time, moving to Westwood about 1 1/2 years after the blizzard. We had the Army clear close to 4 feet of snow from the street because no plows could handle it.

From where I lived in Feb 1978, there would be no event that even comes close to that.

Good times ahead. Cutters are a thing of the past, lol.

Clown range on the GFS for day 14 has a potential phaser. Not showing one, but ingredients look to be there.

Just finished snowblowing. Didn't seem all that fluffy as I thought, but that's probably because I waited too long to clear the driveway, so the bottom layer was melting onto the pavement making for a not so clean pass in some areas.

I thought he did better than that.

Didn't the NAM last night show the snows hanging on in E areas through the afternoon?

Just measured for first time. 12". But there may have been some compaction since I made no interim measurements. Still very light snow but just about over.