Your location's Top Five Snowstorms?

[USCAPEWEATHERAF]

Top Five Snowstorms all time Harwich, MA Cape Cod, MA

1.) Blizzard of 2005 (January 22-23 2005) - 35"

2.) Blizzard of 2015 (January 26-28th 2015) - 30.4"

3.) February Snowstorm ( February 25-26th 1999) - 24"

4.) Boxing Day Snowstorm of 2004 (December 27-28th 2004) - 18"

5.) Nemo (February 7-9 2013) - 17"

[CT Valley Snowman]

Pretty sad that My top snowfall is equal to your 3rd at  24".  Just a sad reality. 20 miles west along the east slopes of the Berks/Litchfield Hills and 20 miles to my east near Union/Tolland NE CT Hills of CT have  had 30 + inch snowfalls,  even 40+ along the crest of the Berkshires during the infamous upslope 1993 disaster. 

[dendrite]

Ah yes. The annual brag about my 5 greatest snowstorms in Harwich, MA, USA, North America, Earth thread. 

[weathafella]

Out of hundreds, who can remember 5?

 

[Brian5671]

For my locale:

Feb 8, 2013-30 inches-15 of that coming in a 4-5 hour stretch  (one of the only times we were truly snowed in for a day)

Jan 6, 1996-24 inches of powder

Dec 26, 2010, 17 inches of wind whipped powder-this one gets the nod due to the high winds

Tie for 5th-the 2 January storms of 2011 which when finished left us with a ridiculous snowpack of 40-50 inches after the big 10-11 30 day snowfall seige.

Honorable Mention:  March 1993-"only" dropped a foot, but the winds were awesome-the change to rain sucked, but the resulting flash freeze on the back end was epic...

 

[eyewall]

I was in several different locations but my top 5:

Blizzard of "96 (Long Island): 25"

PD II 2003 (Long Island): 22"

Carolina Crusher 1/25/2000 (Southern Pines, NC): 21"

3/11-3/12 2014 snowstorm (Winooski, VT) 18.5"

12/27/2012 snowstorm (Williston, VT) 14" (followed by mesoscale snows of an additional 8.5" on 12/30 resulting in a 20.5" depth). 

[eekuasepinniW]

I only really remember the dates of two storms.  I'm not sharing them because nobody actually cares.

[tamarack]

2 hours ago, dendrite said:

Ah yes. The annual brag about my 5 greatest snowstorms in Harwich, MA, USA, North America, Earth thread. 

killjoy  

Rather than use just my 18 years in the foothills, or including memories back thru the 1950s in NNJ, I'll offer the top 5 in 123 winters in Farmington, with some thoughts where theirs and mine overlap:

1. Feb. 25-28, 1969:  43.0"   Snow depth reached 84", tallest I've found for any Maine location, though I'd guess the Rangeley-Jackman axis has gotten deeper, just not on record.

2. Dec. 6-7, 2003:    40.0"     I think this was measured in a snowdrift, as the depth I saw 1.5 miles away from the co-op site soon after accumulation ended looked just like the 24" (my #2 storm here) in my driveway.  Based on nearby similar locations, 24-30" seems more believable.

3. Nov. 22-23, 1943:   30.0"   Berlin, NH measured 56" - what a paste bomb.

4. Feb. 22-23, 2009:   26.6"   This dumped 24.5" at my place, including 9" in 2:45 and 18" in 7:30, for my #1 storm here.

5. March 14, 1939:  25.0"

Numbers 3-5 at my location are farther down Farmington's list:

#3:  Feb. 10-11, 2005  21.0"   Only 19.0" at Farmington, tied for 19th.  One of three thundersnow events I've seen.

#4: Jan. 27-28, 2015:  20.0"   Number 11 at 22.1".  I missed the best January snowstorm of my lifetime (with only Jan. 19-20, 1961 even close), but got to do all the snow removal.

#5:  March 30-31, 2001:  19.0"  Tied for 27th in Farmington, where the 18.0" brought snow depth to 48" (same as at my stake), latest they've ever had 4 ft pack.

 

[dmillz25]

Brooklyn,NY

1- Jan 2016 blizzard: 29"

2- Boxing Day blizzard:25"

3- Blizzard of 1996:24"

4- Jan 27, 2011:20"

5-Snowicane Feb 2010:20"

[USCAPEWEATHERAF]

Thank you to those who are participating.

[powderfreak]

8 hours ago, tamarack said:

killjoy  

Rather than use just my 18 years in the foothills, or including memories back thru the 1950s in NNJ, I'll offer the top 5 in 123 winters in Farmington, with some thoughts where theirs and mine overlap:

1. Feb. 25-28, 1969:  43.0"   Snow depth reached 84", tallest I've found for any Maine location, though I'd guess the Rangeley-Jackman axis has gotten deeper, just not on record.

That's insane for snow depth in a semi-populated area like Farmington with the college there.  I see those depths above 3,000 feet (expect last winter) but just cannot imagine a legit 84" depth at under 1,000ft.  Jay Peak Coop (1,800ft I think), at the base of the resort where the condos are had a 100" depth in December 2003, but I've always thought that was drifted.  It was a huge month, but not 100" of depth n December.

[tamarack]

10 hours ago, powderfreak said:

That's insane for snow depth in a semi-populated area like Farmington with the college there.  I see those depths above 3,000 feet (expect last winter) but just cannot imagine a legit 84" depth at under 1,000ft.  Jay Peak Coop (1,800ft I think), at the base of the resort where the condos are had a 100" depth in December 2003, but I've always thought that was drifted.  It was a huge month, but not 100" of depth n December.

That snow mountain looks a bit suspicious, for two reasons:  A 43" storm boosted depth from 41" to 84" (no settling/packing?), and Farmington's #2 snow depth is 56", in both 1971 and 1993, only 2/3 of that record peak. 

On the other side is the way the pack decreased thru early March.  A bogus depth would almost certainly drop precipitously, but in '69 the depth stayed above 75" thru March 8, finally losing significant depth mid-month as temps rose, retaining nearly 40" into April despite no large March snows.  Also, there was probably 11-12" LE in that pre-storm 41", so it was plenty solid.  Makes me wonder if the 43" was actually a low-ball, with daily accumulation determined by snowpack change during four days of continuous accumulating snowfall.

On a side note, Machias, 20 feet above sea level, peaked at 74" during February last year after getting bombed with 97" in 23 days.  EPO had a foot more snowfall for the season (186" to 174"), but I don't know how deep the pack got there.

[codfishsnowman]

On 8/7/2016 at 9:33 PM, CTValleySnowMan said:

Pretty sad that My top snowfall is equal to your 3rd at  24".  Just a sad reality. 20 miles west along the east slopes of the Berks/Litchfield Hills and 20 miles to my east near Union/Tolland NE CT Hills of CT have  had 30 + inch snowfalls,  even 40+ along the crest of the Berkshires during the infamous upslope 1993 disaster. 

 

I hear ya, I recorded 24 inches but it really may have been a touch less than that at my house...really was only 21 inches otg or so peak depth...we wasted hours on windblown sand before the good hit

[ORH_wxman]

Thread title is kind of misleading to the content in this thread...it seems everyone outside of tamarack is listing their personal top 5 whereas the thread title would imply the historic top 5 for one's location.

 

 

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

I still can't believe NYC got their biggest recorded snowfall in history in January and most of SNE was left with nothing more than light snows. 

Seems kind of hard to do 

[dmillz25]

6 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

I still can't believe NYC got their biggest recorded snowfall in history in January and most of SNE was left with nothing more than light snows. 

Seems kind of hard to do 

Sort of like the 2015 blizzard when you guys got rocked while NYC saw "only" about a foot. We missed the heavier snows by about 50 miles. But that is more likely to happen than what happened with this years blizzard. 

[tamarack]

8 hours ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

I still can't believe NYC got their biggest recorded snowfall in history in January and most of SNE was left with nothing more than light snows. 

Seems kind of hard to do 

You could be in NNE - we remained flakeless for both of NYC's biggest snowfalls.  Did get 4" in #3 (12/1947).  And (trivia alert) I am strongly of the opinion that the '47 storm was greater than 2006 or 2016 - more LE, greater depth - but was measured less intensively.

[ORH_wxman]

ORH top 5 (of which I experienced the top 4) are:

 

1. January 26-27, 2015......34.5"

2. Mar 31-Apr 1, 1997........33.0"

3. December 11-12, 1992...32.1"

4. February 8-9, 2013.........28.7"

5. Feb 14-15, 1962............24.7"

 

*Dec 6-8, 1996 dropped 26.3" but is officially considered two storms despite the extremely close proximity and brief lull...never understood how they determine this because the Feb 8-11, 1994 storms are considered one storm when that was also clearly two events and for the records in E NY, the Feb 23-28, 2010 "event" was actually two storms but counts as one. So the criteria to me is unclear. The space between events is definitely not the deciding factor or the Dec 1996 storms would have been considered one event.

*March 11-14, 1888 dropped 36" by all accounts, but missed the official start of record by 4 years, so this doesn't get into the books like it does for some other locations. If it had, it would be #1 on the list.

 

 

[Baroclinic Zone]

18 hours ago, ORH_wxman said:

Thread title is kind of misleading to the content in this thread...it seems everyone outside of tamarack is listing their personal top 5 whereas the thread title would imply the historic top 5 for one's location.

 

 

I wouldn't even know where to look for the Top 5 for TAN.  Pre/post ASOS location.  I'm guessing they are all in the 24-36" range though.

[ORH_wxman]

32 minutes ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

I wouldn't even know where to look for the Top 5 for TAN.  Pre/post ASOS location.  I'm guessing they are all in the 24-36" range though.

 

Yeah for a non-continuous coop site it would be harder. The original Taunton coop site was good as it had records back to around 1900, but it discontinued in 2007. Top snowstorm there is Feb 1978....37.5". Pretty impressive number.

The Jan 2005 is missing snow data for one day, but it looks like at least 26-27" based on the liquid equivalent. March 1960 storm looks like 22". They got over 2 inches of water equivalent in the Feb 1899 blizzard with temps in the teens, but no snowfall data. But that's probably a 2 footer anyway. 20"+ in Jan 1996 and Feb 1969 too.

 

Obviously storms like Jan 2015 and Feb 2013 are not in there with the cutoff date at 2007.

[Ginx snewx]

On 8/8/2016 at 2:05 PM, tamarack said:

killjoy  

Rather than use just my 18 years in the foothills, or including memories back thru the 1950s in NNJ, I'll offer the top 5 in 123 winters in Farmington, with some thoughts where theirs and mine overlap:

1. Feb. 25-28, 1969:  43.0"   Snow depth reached 84", tallest I've found for any Maine location, though I'd guess the Rangeley-Jackman axis has gotten deeper, just not on record.

2. Dec. 6-7, 2003:    40.0"     I think this was measured in a snowdrift, as the depth I saw 1.5 miles away from the co-op site soon after accumulation ended looked just like the 24" (my #2 storm here) in my driveway.  Based on nearby similar locations, 24-30" seems more believable.

3. Nov. 22-23, 1943:   30.0"   Berlin, NH measured 56" - what a paste bomb.

4. Feb. 22-23, 2009:   26.6"   This dumped 24.5" at my place, including 9" in 2:45 and 18" in 7:30, for my #1 storm here.

5. March 14, 1939:  25.0"

Numbers 3-5 at my location are farther down Farmington's list:

#3:  Feb. 10-11, 2005  21.0"   Only 19.0" at Farmington, tied for 19th.  One of three thundersnow events I've seen.

#4: Jan. 27-28, 2015:  20.0"   Number 11 at 22.1".  I missed the best January snowstorm of my lifetime (with only Jan. 19-20, 1961 even close), but got to do all the snow removal.

#5:  March 30-31, 2001:  19.0"  Tied for 27th in Farmington, where the 18.0" brought snow depth to 48" (same as at my stake), latest they've ever had 4 ft pack.

 

end thread

[USCAPEWEATHERAF]

Yeah for any one's location not their personal best, but that is fine I guess no matter what participation is what matters.

[uncle W]

On 8/8/2016 at 11:35 AM, weathafella said:

Out of hundreds, who can remember 5?

 

Feb. 61?...

[weathafella]

4 minutes ago, uncle W said:

Feb. 61?...

Definitely up there.   Snowing so hard that Friday night that you could hear the flakes hit the pack.

[Ginx snewx]

1978 3 footer 2015 29.5 inches 2013 28 inches  2009 21 inches  2003 20 inches

[weathafella]

My real top 5:

Not in any particular order.

 

3/19/56

3/3/60

12/11-12/60

2/4/61

1/30-31/66 in upstate New York.

 

 

 

In the modern era:

 

PD2

2/8/13

1/22/05

3/31-4/1/97

1/25-26/15

 

 

 

note:. I did not live in the area from November 1976 through July 1991.  I was out of town for superstorm 93 and the 12/5-7/03 storms- in Dallas on both occasions.

[tamarack]

17 hours ago, uncle W said:

Feb. 61?...

If I'd done personal top 5 rather than location, that would be vying with April 7-8, 1982 for #1.  Both came with deep snow already on the ground, and both had huge wind and massive drifting.  The snowpack after the 2/61 storm smashed all NNJ records, with some locations 50" or more.  In 1982 the depth at my stake actually went down an inch despite 17" snowfall, with 6-foot drifts a few yards either side of the stick, and a driveway drift that completely buried our Chevette.  The one difference was temp, near normal in 1961, 20F BN in 1982.

[uncle W]

28 minutes ago, tamarack said:

If I'd done personal top 5 rather than location, that would be vying with April 7-8, 1982 for #1.  Both came with deep snow already on the ground, and both had huge wind and massive drifting.  The snowpack after the 2/61 storm smashed all NNJ records, with some locations 50" or more.  In 1982 the depth at my stake actually went down an inch despite 17" snowfall, with 6-foot drifts a few yards either side of the stick, and a driveway drift that completely buried our Chevette.  The one difference was temp, near normal in 1961, 20F BN in 1982.

I was in the Poconos for the April 82 storm and measured 13.5"...an amazing storm for that time of the year...The next day temperatures stayed below freezing in NYC which was even more amazing...February 61 came after two weeks of below freezing daytime temperatures with a deep snow cover...for me the greatest wintry period in my lifetime...not counting the December storm...

[tamarack]

5 hours ago, uncle W said:

I was in the Poconos for the April 82 storm and measured 13.5"...an amazing storm for that time of the year...The next day temperatures stayed below freezing in NYC which was even more amazing...February 61 came after two weeks of below freezing daytime temperatures with a deep snow cover...for me the greatest wintry period in my lifetime...not counting the December storm...

My NYC records, which do not include 1871-75, show only 5 days with highs 32 or below, consecutive pairs in both 1879 and 1881, and that one in 1982, on which the high of 30 matches 4/5/1881 for coolest on record.  One has to go back to the WW2 years to find highs lower than 37.

[ORH_wxman]

13 minutes ago, tamarack said:

My NYC records, which do not include 1871-75, show only 5 days with highs 32 or below, consecutive pairs in both 1879 and 1881, and that one in 1982, on which the high of 30 matches 4/5/1881 for coolest on record.  One has to go back to the WW2 years to find highs lower than 37.

 

We nearly matched the 1982 low max of 21F in ORH this past April with a high of 22F on 4/4 (and 5.7" of powdery snow to go with it). The next closest April high temp is 26F in 1995.

 

Interestingly, nothing from the cold period in the 1960s and 1970s comes close to those...no sub-30F highs at all. You have to go back to 1923 to get the next sub-30F high of 28F.

 

Probably one of the more impressive stretches in April didn't even set any record low maxes at ORH...but nonetheless it is only the 2nd time where 3 consecutive days couldn't break freezing in April:

 

 From April 7-9, 2003, there were 3 consecutive highs of 32F. It would have been 5 consecutive 32F highs if 4/6/03 had pulled it off because 4/5/03 also had a 32F high...but 4/6/03 made it to 35F.

 

The other period was 1982...impressive highs of 28, 21, and 32 from April 6-8, 1982.