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Memory Lane


Rjay
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I was 11 also

I remember several things about that Tuesday, February 8th: We got to school (I was in sixth grade), and watched the snow start in English class, then moved on to Gym class, where I remember opening the door to the outside of the locker room and it being just a wall of white.

 

Later that evening, when I got home, I remember my dad (who had told me many previous times that any snow in the preceding years was “not a real storm” and would regale me with stories of the 1960-1961 and proceeding winters) mentioning how coming home on Route 3 was an absolute nightmare (he had a briefcase cellphone at the time), and that he hadn’t seen something like this in years. He then told me, “Now this is a real winter.”

 

Again, my all-time favorite. It had everything; snow, ice, record cold, long duration, plus I was 11.

 

 

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I wish I had a camera back then  that first storm caused such high snowfall rates along with lightning and thunder that you could literally see the snow piling up!  It went from nothing during the morning rush hour to a wall of white by 10 AM!
 

Me too! IMAGINE if social media were around that winter. People would have lost their minds.


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39 minutes ago, North and West said:


Me too! IMAGINE if social media were around that winter. People would have lost their minds.


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People would have been going crazy when they heard the crackle of thunder and saw the bright lightning.  I actually want to see some radar images of that day, I remember turning on the TV and there was red everywhere!  They did an emergency break in of whatever was on (likely a daytime talk show) because their prediction of 4-6 inches of snow and then a change over was going to be wrong lol.  It did finally change over, but that was in the early evening when the snow had almost ended, and it went to drizzle.  The second storm wasn't even supposed to make it up here but it kept trending more and more north. I had both the TV AND the radio on at the same time lol listening to updates from the noon news shows and Craig Allen on WCBS at the same time and Joe Cioffi on WOR.

Weird thing about the second storm- it actually changed to sleet at its peak at JFK but JFK ended up with more snow than what NYC had where it stayed all snow.

I think the totals here were something like 8 inches from the first storm and 13 inches from the second storm.  The prediction for the first one was 4-6, so the 8 inches was a positive bust, and the prediction for the second one was 12-18 when it was done trending north, so that was right about on target.  I think Newark jackpotted with the second storm, they had 17 inches.  31 inches on the ground at the end from both storms.

 

 

 

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February 3rd-4th, 1961 is still my greatest storm...17.4" in Central Park and 21" in Bensonhurst Brooklyn...there was 8-9" on the ground from previous storms going back to Jan. 15th on the ground...The temperature failed to reach 30 for 16 days...it briefly hit 34 when the snow ended on the 4th late in the day...thawing after that but 25-28" was on the ground the morning of the 5th...

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5 hours ago, uncle W said:

February 3rd-4th, 1961 is still my greatest storm...17.4" in Central Park and 21" in Bensonhurst Brooklyn...there was 8-9" on the ground from previous storms going back to Jan. 15th on the ground...The temperature failed to reach 30 for 16 days...it briefly hit 34 when the snow ended on the 4th late in the day...thawing after that but 25-28" was on the ground the morning of the 5th...

Following one of the great cold waves of all time in January 1961. Poughkeepsie set their all time record low of -30 during the stretch your referring to. I believe the closest they've come since was -23.

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5 minutes ago, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

Following one of the great cold waves of all time in January 1961. Poughkeepsie set their all time record low of -30 during the stretch your referring to. I believe the closest they've come since was -23.

I can't check the local climate because of Nancy Lugosi...  I bet Poughkeepsie had a 30" snow depth on Feb. 5th...

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45 minutes ago, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

Following one of the great cold waves of all time in January 1961. Poughkeepsie set their all time record low of -30 during the stretch your referring to. I believe the closest they've come since was -23.

One of the great 20th century winters that I wish I was alive for. NJ's record peak snow depth of 52" was actually set at the Canistear Reservoir coop after the February storm. They also picked up 56" in just three weeks during that brutal stretch from mid January to early February, and nearly 105" for the season overall according to xmacis2. Pretty remarkable even by 2010s standards.

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1 hour ago, CPcantmeasuresnow said:

Following one of the great cold waves of all time in January 1961. Poughkeepsie set their all time record low of -30 during the stretch your referring to. I believe the closest they've come since was -23.

Upton on LI set their record low of -23 in January 1961.  That's some crazy pipe cracking cold for these parts.

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December 7, 2003

Regrettably this was a week before I got my first digital camera.  It may have been the reason I got my first digital camera.  Good memories and stories from that, including being on the Kings Park Bluffs in blizzard conditions on the 6th and picking up a friend at ISP during strong winds and relatively light snow late in the evening on the 5th.  He had moved from CT to FL a few years earlier and was blown away by the conditions walking across the parking lot to my car.  That also gave me respect for small airports; air travel was severely messed up and that flight landed at ISP right on schedule despite strong winds and and snow and about 8" on the ground at that point.  There wasn't much more snowfall overnight, but we ended up with 16" on the ground after part deux.

 

20031207-7ce2.jpg

20031207-1C2E3.jpg

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17 hours ago, North and West said:

I remember several things about that Tuesday, February 8th:

 

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I remember walking home from school twice in one week in knee deep snow.   Not being able to left my legs out of the snow so I dragged my feet through it  

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On 1/14/2019 at 4:19 PM, uncle W said:

February 3rd-4th, 1961 is still my greatest storm...17.4" in Central Park and 21" in Bensonhurst Brooklyn...there was 8-9" on the ground from previous storms going back to Jan. 15th on the ground...The temperature failed to reach 30 for 16 days...it briefly hit 34 when the snow ended on the 4th late in the day...thawing after that but 25-28" was on the ground the morning of the 5th...

really undermeasured at Central Park, no surprise there, that was a 25" snowstorm at JFK

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9 hours ago, LibertyBell said:

we didnt have any colder temperatures anywhere on Long Island than that during February 1934 did we, Ed?

 

Old local newspapers refer to a number of spots around -19 , -20 in 1934.  Don't know how accurate, but there were multiple such reports.

1934 might have been the colder outbreak though.  Deep snow cover and radiational cooling contributed in 1961.   Presumably there was some wind and more mixing (i.e., colder aloft) in 1934 for it to have gotten as cold as it did in NYC.

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56 minutes ago, NorthShoreWx said:

Old local newspapers refer to a number of spots around -19 , -20 in 1934.  Don't know how accurate, but there were multiple such reports.

1934 might have been the colder outbreak though.  Deep snow cover and radiational cooling contributed in 1961.   Presumably there was some wind and more mixing (i.e., colder aloft) in 1934 for it to have gotten as cold as it did in NYC.

https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/59982057

this article said Fire Island hit -26...

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13 hours ago, NorthShoreWx said:

Not the first place I'd think of for the LI cold spot, although they were probably already iced in prior to that outbreak.  I'll dig up what I had found if I get a chance later.

It makes me think somewhere on Long Island might have gotten to -30 or even a bit colder than that!  Maybe Westhampton Beach?

 

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