Sparky

Jan 96 was just stunning out here from start to finish. I really have never seen anything like it in my entire life. During the final hours of 2/10/10 I was having a feeling of deja vu with Jan 96 only it was not as intense in the wind/drifiting dept. I got 27" from the second Feb. storm, one inch more than 2/5/10, so that was a unbeatable combination for total depth of snow and the one and only time I hired a contractor to remove snow from the driveway and front walkway.

I will say that Feb 79 had the heaviest snow rates I have ever witnessed for a period of time. That time being roughly a 3 hour window between 7-10 am Monday morning. I was in Baltimore for this one. That intense snowfall, about 10 inches in that 3 hour span was combined with very gusty raucous winds. But once that heavy band dissapated, the sun quickly came out and winds dropped to calm. Blizz of 83 - In Baltimore will always hold a special place in my heart. It had an intense period or two of snow too with CG lightning/thunder for about an hour in the early afternoon. Winds were stiff and gusty at times for most of the storm too. It was the single deepest snowfall I had ever witnessed up to that point in time, about 22 inches IMBY, only to be blown out of the water by Jan 96 (in Westminster).

I don't recall 2/5/10 being a very windy storm around here. The windy one here was 2/9-10 which made me think about Jan 96 but not quite as intense or long lived wind... Jan 96 wind out here was off the hook from Sunday evening into Monday noonish. Jan 96 was rather windy the whole time, 36 hours, but it was the Sunday overnight when the biggest drifts were built and exposed places were scoured down to bare ground like around the corners of my house. At least a foot of snow fell during that Sunday night/Mon. morning period alone. Total was around 30".

No question Jan 96.

If you missed this one you missed the best damned December storm EVER!

This was a great storm 21" IMBY. Great time of year too. I was watching the temps fall all day long Saturday. It was getting progressively colder the whole time. By evening Saturday close to 20F. Still, Jan 96 remains the biggest dumper with the strongest sustained winds and drifting since I moved to Westminster from Balto in Dec 93 (missed the Superstorm here). The most buried that I have ever been was after the second Feb 2010 blizzard, over 50" on the ground. I actually hired a contractor to clean my driveway and sidewalk after that for the first time.

I would describe it as a pitch and roll feeling. I was seated on a bench. I felt like it came from behind me and pushed me forward then a sensation of moving back, like I had my back to a wave in the ocean I guess. This happened several times in quick succession that got harder toward the end of the 25 seconds of quaking.

So glad those big mirrors at the gym didn't come off the wall. I was within striking range.

Baltimore City and Anne Arundel Co are reporting building damage.

I had a nice ride here. I was at the gym sitting on a weight bench next to giant mirrors and windows. Mirrors swaying, windows rattling loud, ceiling tiles swaying, felt the roll in my body for a good ten seconds while sitting on the bench. Cool.