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The Blizzard of the Ides, 2017 ...observation time

Typhoon Tip

By Typhoon Tip,
in New England

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eekuasepinniW

eekuasepinniW

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Cold Miser said:

Some serious damage.
Do you know how widespread that was, confined to one small area or spread out around the region?

White Pines are awesome.  Love that sound in the summer.

I'd call it localized patches around routes 109, 107, and 106 inside a broader area of elevated wind.  Mostly contained in a box from Moultonborough to Franklin to Pittsfield to Farmington to Ossipee.  There was another area by the seacoast, but wind isn't quite as rare there.

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OceanStWx

OceanStWx

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, eekuasepinniW said:

I take it you don't have white pine there?  It's sometimes hard to believe they ever live long enough to reach the enormous sizes that they get to.

I bet NH could probably eliminate like 95% of their winter time outages by culling the white pine population entirely.

But they make epic roaring in the winter, and pleasant swooshing in the summer, so I love them.

I do like how you can tell just how windy it is by listening the pines. 

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ncforecaster89

ncforecaster89

Posted
Posted

CHASE RECOUNT:

Hi everyone!

Let me begin by congratulating EACH one of you who got to experience a very memorable storm; especially those in the areas that have suffered through a relative significant big storm drought. 

For me, this will be remembered as a "what could've been" event.  Unlike the previous chase I undertook (back on February 8-9), on a moments notice, I had prepared well in advance for a prospective HECS event.  I had cleared my work schedule for a full week, reserved a rental SUV, planned to arrive in the Stamford, CT area by Monday morning (24 hours ahead of the storm), etc.  Unfortunately, I got a text late on Thursday night informing me that my mother's mother had passed away, and the funeral would take place late on Monday afternoon (of which my mom requested I be a pallbearer).  As a result of these unexpected circumstances, I wasn't able to depart Wilmington, NC until after 830 pm Monday night.

With the exceptionally late departure, my wife felt strongly I should skip this particular chase (even moreso after the fact; fun times!).   Being that the models still suggested a HECS was still a legitimate possibility, I most certainly didn't want to take a chance to miss out on the most extreme probabilities!  Albeit, there were also definite signs pointing to what actually occurred.  Thus, I left Wilmington in torrential downpours that followed me up the coast to the Richmond, VA vicinity, where my trip was further plagued by heavy sleet up into the NYC area.  Instead of a typical 10 hour drive, I didn't arrive in this general locality until around 10 am on Tuesday morning (13.5 hour trip).  

At this time, I was experiencing an incredible sleet storm!  I faced a difficult choice, do I attempt a long drive to the SNE coastal areas for 60-80 mph winds and dramatic flooding somewhere between Hyannis, MA to Portland, ME, drive further N into the Binghamton, N.Y. area where the CCB appeared to be setting up, or maybe somewhere in between that could still verify blizzard conditions (like near Lawerence or Worcester, MA)?  Before I made this critical decision, I became very sick with a bad stomach virus.   So bad that I couldn't keep my head up...much less drive in that condition. 

A couple hours thereafter, I determinedly headed NE towards Lawerence when I was stopped abruptly by an @#%hole of a cop, who pulled me for driving 38 mph (as they had implemented a 35 mph speed limit on the Interstate).  Holding me up an additional thirty costly minutes, literally,  with a ticket of $95 and a summons to appear in court for "careless driving"...this, combined with the poor road conditions, ensured I wouldn't make it even to Worcester before the peak conditions had passed.   

Still miserably sick, extremely frustrated, and discouraged, I still wanted to salvage as much of the event as possible.   Ultimately, I made it up to Albany N.Y. before heading back a little S to Coxsackie, N.Y. where I concluded the documentation of this major storm.  

Due to all the aforementioned, I didn't film much or took any pics until I got towards Albany, as I was battling the illness that was so debilitating.  Nor did I post at all in the forum until now.  

The highlights of the event consisted of blizzard conditions observed in the general Waterbury, CT/Windsor Locks, CT area and points NW towards Albany, NY.  Although I observed impressive snowfall rates, the heaviest sleet I've ever seen, and strong winds, the conditions I personally experienced fell short of the February 9th and 13th blizzard events, respectively.    

In summary, all of the aforestated circumstances combined to produce a blizzard of disappointment, rather than the HECS event I had hoped to document.  That aside, I'm most thankful so many in this community got to experience a truly epic storm, themselves!  There will be other MECS' in the future, and I look forward to witnessing and documenting each one when they materialize!  

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't once again convey my deep appreciation to ALL of you who have offered advice, encouragement, and the like, as I undertook 5 different significant storm chase events (3 blizzards), from December 29, 2016 through March 16, 2017, in your region of the country! :)

P.S. It's exceedingly likely I won't attempt another extreme storm chase until this upcoming hurricane season.  If you like, live first-hand accounts and pics of past events I've covered, as well as all upcoming events...can be found on my Twitter account at tbrite89.   Between now and hurricane season, I will be working on editing all of the big winter storm events I've documented dating back to March 26, 2014 in Chatham, MA.  Time permitting, I hope to do the same for the 20+ hurricanes I've documented on film, as well, dating back to August 3, 2004.  

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ORH_wxman

ORH_wxman

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the account ncforecaster....tough luck on the life circumstances, sorry to hear. The unexpected can always throw a big wrench into a well-planned chase. At least you got to personally document the heaviest sleet you'd ever seen...silver linings!!!

Hopefully our recent abundance of blizzards continues and you will have several more chances in the next couple years.

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ncforecaster89

ncforecaster89

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, tamarack said:

Not the adventure you hoped for!  Looking forward to the reports, as your descriptions are excellent.  And despite all the unplanned hindrances during this last trip, your reaction is in admirable contrast to that of "The Man Who Couldn't Find Snowpack" (or read a map, apparently.)

Thanks for the very kind words, Tamarack!  Even though it wasn't the truly epic event I had hoped to document (for the areas I was able to get to) and didn't capture much video or take any pics, it was still worth it to enjoy one last significant storm event before the season concludes.   

It's one thing to be disappointed that one's initial hopes and expectations weren't necessarily realized, and quite another to fail to appreciate the positives derived from the experience.  In this case, I can take further solace in that both BDL (#1) and ALB (#6) each recorded one of their top 6 largest 24 hour March snowstorms; with it even registering as a tie for 8th largest one day snowstorm in ALB records.  

Looking back through the obs at the various stations in the areas I traversed at those particular time periods, they confirm my impression of the blizzard conditions I saw in parts of W CT and E NY...despite each station falling just short of the full 3 hours straight required to verify a blizzard.  Both OXC and BDL are prime examples, which by definition, constitute "near blizzard conditions."  Not to mention, all of these areas tallied more than 1' of snow; with some just S of Albany reporting 2'.

These are the things I need to focus on rather than the disappointment derived by my greater expectations for this particular event.  And, it's not all about me, as I'm genuinely excited for ALL of those in this subforum who did have their own expectations realized, and even greatly surpassed, in many cases!  For most others, they still saw snow totals exceeding a foot and/or very impressive winds!

Thanks again, Tamarack, for the very thoughtful post!

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ncforecaster89

ncforecaster89

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, ORH_wxman said:

Thanks for the account ncforecaster....tough luck on the life circumstances, sorry to hear. The unexpected can always throw a big wrench into a well-planned chase. At least you got to personally document the heaviest sleet you'd ever seen...silver linings!!!

Hopefully our recent abundance of blizzards continues and you will have several more chances in the next couple years.

Thanks ORH_wxman for this extremely thoughtful post!  

As shared in the previous post, there are many "silver linings" that I can take from this experience, and enjoyed it, nonetheless.  Another example being that I just found confirmation of the TSPL I thought I had witnessed between Newark, NJ and NYC (METAR lists it for both EWR & LGA), during the torrents of pounding sleet I described and you referenced.  Since I didn't see a flash and the rumble wasn't as distinguishable as all the occurrences of TSSN I observed during the February blizzard, I wasn't quite sure it had actually taken place.  I will attach a screen shot of the general time of its occurence.

Congrats on verifying blizzard conditions and experiencing one of ORH's largest March snowstorms!  I'm rooting hard for you and all others in this subforum (my personal favorite) to get an overachieving snowfall before this BN cold period comes to an end.

 

screenshot0.png

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snowgeek

snowgeek

Posted
Posted

Forgive me if this has been mentioned as I took a little computer break after the blizzard. Alb reported 17.2" from the blizzard! That's crazy. Pretty widespread 20-24" reports. I measured 22". Could be the difference from finishing below be above normal for the year. At 54" when we should be in the 60's. Oh well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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met_fan

met_fan

Posted
Posted
Forgive me if this has been mentioned as I took a little computer break after the blizzard. Alb reported 17.2" from the blizzard! That's crazy. Pretty widespread 20-24" reports. I measured 22". Could be the difference from finishing below be above normal for the year. At 54" when we should be in the 60's. Oh well.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I mentioned the same thing in the NY forum. They seem low sometimes. I think Albany is currently just over 58" though.

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tamarack

tamarack

Posted
Posted
On ‎3‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 10:29 PM, HIPPYVALLEY said:

As the best bands came into Greenfield, around 1pm.  The house across the street is about 140' away so you can see what visibility was. 

 

Good portrayal of a great storm - looks like about 100 yards vis, about what we had at our place from 4-9 PM on 3/14, except when the wind gusted, at which time we would not have seen much past that picnic table.  Blizzard criteria are not common at my place, as the woods temper wind speeds, but this event touched all the bases. 

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Weatherexpert

Weatherexpert

Posted
Posted
On 3/14/2017 at 9:20 PM, Powderboy413 said:

I can't imagine this storm if I had the rates I had at my peak for just 4 more hours even. The dry slot really killed it for me but I'm satisfied with 13inches in my hood! Im just glad we were able to have such a storm like this in mid march.

Hello powderBoy I agree the dry slot was discouraging but you are right the storm pulled through!!!! I went skiing and hopefully you were able to ride your snowboard. Good looks on this model and I think next winter will also be a big one!

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