EastCoast NPZ

I think perception of heat depends on whether you're focusing on average maximum or average minimum temperatures.  This year at DCA, the average May minimum was 63.8 vs. 62.8 in 1991, and even at IAD the relative numbers for those two Mays are 57.5 vs 57.1.  On the other hand, IAD has yet to record its first 90+ degree day of 2015, whereas in 1991 maximums for the last seven days of May ranged between 90 and 95.  By the way, the warmest May at IAD was actually 2004 at 69.8, followed by 69.3 in 1991 and 68.9 in 2015.

Hard to believe that IAD didn't record a 90F this month, OKV had 3.  

Warmest average DC May temperature (73.2 at DCA, vs 73.0 in 1991).  However, average maximum temp. of 82.4 was exceeded by 83.1 in 1991.  Also, current precipitation (assuming none this evening) of 1.92 inches ranks as only the 28th driest in DC history -- 1991 was only 1.57 inches.  1991 also finished with these three maximum temperatures:  97 on May 29th, 98 on May 30th, and 99 on May 31st.  

That 3-day stretch sounds brutal; glad I don't remember it.  But it does illustrate how bad this May was by comparison  Remove those 3 ridiculous days that occurred at the end of May and this May blows 1991 out of the water.  This May didn't reach that extreme, but it's been hot nearly door-to-door, and that is far worse to me than a few days of extreme heat.

Great stats look-up, btw.  Thanks.

Easily the worst May in my memory.

Worst for heat.  Worst for rain.  Worst for pollen.

Trying to stay positive. I'm hoping this month isn't another inflection point like March 2010, if you know what I mean...

yep.

 

It's probably time to abandon the idea of top 10 coldest calendar year for BWI and focus on top 10 hottest May, so...

 

68.4 is the magic number that gives BWI a tie for top 10. Right now they are at 68.6. The next few days will knock that average down, but if we blowtorcher next week as currently forecast it will be back in play again.

 

IF???  Now, that's funny.

i have a feeling some of the people voting for 2/10 weren't here for 96. 

And I bet they think Michael Jordan was better than Wilt Chamberlain.

Yes it was, and I actually did ok over here that winter. Had 19" or so which is about climo avg here. I got some decent scraps on the western edge of the Boxing Day storm, 5" or a bit better.

I didn't get anywhere close to 19".  We had 2" in mid Dec. and 7" on Jan. 26.  Other than that I don't remember a single significant event.  Got some light snow either Christmas Eve or early Christmas morning and some flurries from the boxing day fiasco.  Got lots of cold wind that winter, though.  I'd like to have punted that winter clear into orbit.... much like this one.

-NAO became extinct after Feb 2010.

Actually, we had a pretty -NAO in '10-11 and the winter still sucked.  

Only index that matters for us is TPCS.  In its semi-decadal relaxation period we have a chance to score.

An interesting breakout would be the people that were actually around for 79/83 and forward.  I've only been here for the 09/10 storms so Feb 5/6 got my vote, but I would have loved to see how '96 compared.

Been here since birth in 1970.  I've seen 'em all... and I can tell you that for sheer snow amounts; it's '96 and '83 ... and the rest of the pack is far, far behind.   

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/snow-and-ice/rsi/nesis

 

 

ninja'd by Fozz

Thanks, guys.  10 - 20 out here is a pretty nice event.  Shame I don't recall it.

I've always read about PDI on these forums, but can you guys explain to me what made that storm so epic. I think I read that it was also a surprise storm, which obviously makes sense since it took plce in the late 70s

The Oct. '79 storm was my first true, detailed weather memory, so I wonder if Feb '79 was anything special out here.  Does anyone have one of those summary maps for this storm?

Coming from Richmond I was blown away by PDII - Biggest snow I had ever seen and I thought would ever see! Then we had Snowpacalypse and I was shocked to see almost the same amounts.. I was blown away. BUT NOTHING compared to the S+ hours of snow that I saw in Snowmaggeden I  - I saw lightning on and off all night long and just was in AWE! I shoveled every hour until 2am and was just blown away by what I was witnessing... I remember being outside and it was quiet out except the snow as it bounced off my jacket and thinking it was the most surreal thing I had ever seen... like another planet! I will unlikely see anything like that! I measured 33 inches of snow.. and I was in awe! Shoveled for another 8 hours to get all the snow away from stuff even though I had tried to make it less of a burden the night before. EPIC - Unbelievable.. makes me want a time machine to experience that again!

 

OH ya - THE PIVOT ON RADAR! That was unmatched in radar beauty! 

It's funny the things you remember.  I have that nearly exact memory from the Dec. 2009 storm.  My GF (wife now) and I went downtown to Main St. in Front Royal that Saturday evening - just as the sun was setting and the storm was about to taper off - and walked around, admiring the Christmas decorations in a blanket of sparkling white.  Very few people out, and almost all were pedestrians.  It was so quiet and peaceful, with - as you said - only the sound of the snow hitting my jacket and hood.  It's one of the most vivid memories I have.  We got to the gazeebo area and there was Christmas music playing.  We were the only people there.  We ran, played, and wrestled like children in undisturbed knee-deep snow.  It was the storm I had waited my entire life to see, a true Christmas storm.  The only way that storm could ever be topped is had it happened 5 days later; aside from my kids and Super Bowl XXVII, it was as close to perfect as anything I have ever known.

Here is a view of Main St. that night:

Warren County Courthouse.  I've watched that same manger display on the front lawn every year for at least 30 years; it never looked so good as it did that night.

Here is the gazeebo. I still remember looking at this and the only sounds were the snow falling on my jacket and the Christmas music in the background.

 It was like I stepped into a Norman Rockwell painting.  With the complete absence of car traffic and the typical hustle and bustle of everyday life, it was like I stepped out of a time machine.  It felt like I was 12 years old again.  I've walked that street a million times in my life, seen it nearly everyday of my life; I've never seen it more beautiful than that night.  For me, it was truly magical.  That storm will always be very dear to me.

You're putting December 2009 over February 2010?

2010 blizzards 1995-96 out of the water here..I'm not sure if that's the case out west, though.

Yep, even though we got less snow than on Feb 6 2010 (26" vs. 21").  It was a much colder storm, gave us a White Christmas, and had much better longevity due to the sun-angle.  That's why I rated it higher.  I still am a bit salty that so much of that Feb storm was wasted.  We had about 7 hours of light and moderate snow completely melt on contact during the day that Friday, not to mention the sucky ratios for the first half of that storm; it could have been so much more.

Remember, that the 2nd part of snowmageddon was a complete dud out here, so I don't hold quite the same affection for the Feb 2010 period as a lot of you guys to the east.

I voted for Feb 1983 because it was truly epic for me. I grew up on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley, and it was my junior year of high school. We got somewhere in the range of 30" to 36" of snow. We had a tractor with a snowplow, and had walls of snow over 5 feet high after we plowed our gravel road. Don't think we went to school the rest of that month. The drawback was going to school on Saturdays in April and May to make up for all the snow days.

I was 16 for the Feb '79 storm, but living in western Md. where we had around a foot. No insane winds since we didn't get into the wraparound like DC and east. Just another run of the mill storm after the three 18"+ storms of the previous winter. Think I was Boston strong by that point, lol.

1996 was a great storm regionally, with over 30" here, but I was in College Park at <300' elev and sleet cut accumulations in my yard to 19". PD2 was 20"+ for me in Bethesda, but never got crazy rates and when the meat of the storm came at dusk on Sunday it was heavy sleet. The first Feb storm in 2010 was the heaviest I have personally measured at 28.5" and a great storm here.

But the one that will always stand out for me was the 2/83 storm. Living in the Jessup area I measured 26" of pure powder; true whiteout conditions in thundersnow and 3-4" an hour. I worked night shift then, and the storm started with wind whipped snow as I was beginning my shift. Temperatures were frigid leading in. By the time I left work in the a.m. there were several inches banked up against the wheels and doors of the car, but the top of the car was dry. Then the daylight hours raged. True Zero visibility at times. Deep drifts on my northeast facing yard. Another 30+ storm in this area that I hope to get to experience again here in WV.

Nothing will ever compare to the depth, duration, and temps afterward of Jan. '96.  But #3 on my list is certainly Feb '83.  Temp was in the low teens during the entirety of the storm and the rates of that storm will probably never be seen again.  We got 32" in Warren County, just outside Front Royal, in around 15 hours.  It was only the second time in my life (to that point) that I'd experienced thunder snow.  Remember being outside playing and the snow pouring from the sky and then, BOOM.  I swear, you could see the snow piling up.  I remember Bob Ryan talking about snow rates of 4 -5 inches per hour, and I believe it.  The intensity of that storm is unmatched.  Had it been a slower mover; it would  surely have been the storm of the ages.  Unfortunately, there was little cold air behind the storm... and it was mid-Feb at that point, so the sun quickly did its damage too.   Another reason why Jan '96 and Dec '09 are #1 and #2 on my list.

Jan '96.

/ drops the mic and walks off stage

ohh to have lived in 1880.

I'll just leave this here

Pretty sure that is the best wedding pic I've ever seen. 

I think this sums it up nicely.

Wow, that is beautiful.

It was at this time friday evening snow had started to overspread much of the area.

Was just thinking the exact same thing. What great memories. It was the storm I'd waited my entire life for.

Because there was more snow...with more to follow.

meh, 1" Christmas snow = 3" regular snow. If it had snowed 63 inches then maybe I'd agree.

On second thought, no way. Snowpocalypse >> Snowmageddon.

I liked this storm much more than the snowmageddon. It was light snow, so easy to shovel, and it was the first big snow since '03, so it was just special.

Snowmageddon was a nightmare in every regard. Lost the power at 3am and since my Security System's backup battery was low, the alarm started Screaming and I couldn't turn it off because there was no way to punch in the code

I had friends over, and after 2 hours of listening to the siren I lost my temper and pulled the battery backup system out of the wall and cut the cable. Not to mention there were large tree limbs and even whole trees down all over the place on our street, so we couldn't even drive the SUV to somewhere with power. I never realized how heavy the snow was until I started shoveling Sunday, It took me 2 hours to clear out the Driveway and Steps, and I had already promised by elderly nieghbor that I'd shovel her driveway, so I was stuck with that as well.

Most importantly, it was (near) Christmas snow, and would ensure the first white Christmas in many years.

My experience:

I was actually standing at the urinal (not something i really want to share) in the bathroom at work when suddenly I felt myself go off-balance, and felt dizzy I recall thinking that I was about to pass out, and don't recall feeling shaking or hearing rumbling - that started a few seconds afterwards. When the rumbling started and at first I thought maybe a tow-motor in our manufacturing facility was causing vibrations, but the duration seemed too long and the intensity increased. In all the shaking/rumbling lasted for about 10 or 12 seconds I guess, and I'll never forget the sound. The best way to describe it would be like being beside a train track. It was unnerving actually. I finished up quickly and made my way out of the bathroom and towards the next office building to see if it was felt over there. At that point most people were headed out the doors. I never felt an earthquake before, but was pretty sure thats what it was. I called my fiance in Front Royal to see if she felt it there, and they had already evacuated her office building. Earthquake confirmed. No damage out this way, as apparently the soil of the coastal plain amplifes the shaking, so it was not as intense here as it was points east.

It seems like that my intial dizzeness was caused by a side to side motion, maybe, or just the p-wave. It felt like the shaking that occurred a few moments later was a up-down motion, but low-amplitude and high-frequency. I assume that was the S wave.

I didn't feel the aftershock.

Lot of shaking in the valley. 10 seconds worth.