New England snowstorm memories.

[vortex95]

On 3/1/2026 at 4:17 PM, codfishsnowman said:

I vividly remember reading the posts in here from Northeast mass as that was starting, at least until most lost power out that way 

That was some crazy weather and I remember a kid I worked with in the summer show me what over 30 inches of snow looked like in SE New York.

Thanks, will email WFO GYX for the complete top 20 list of PWM storm surges.

[The 4 Seasons]

March 4-6th, 2001 incoming

[vortex95]

7 hours ago, The 4 Seasons said:

March 4-6th, 2001 incoming

The big bust PHL-BOS storm!  One of the first big mega hype media storm starting 5+ days out I think.  I had 22" of wet snow in N Woburn MA w/ crazy vertical accumulations on power lines.  Also, first time I noticed when you dig into wet snow that deep, esp. when cloudy, you see a blue tinge from the high moisture content.

[The 4 Seasons]

8 years ago today. This was an incredible short duration storm here that was one of the 5 or so that i've experienced thundersnow. This one (and Feb 2001) was some of the most intense close proximity thunder i've ever seen. The other few like Feb 2017 and Feb 2003 were more distant rumbles of thunder. Not this one. I happened to be outside when it was snowing hard around 7-8pm or so. I was looking down and all of sudden a bright white flash engulfed my surroundings. For a split second i couldn't compute what was happening, i thought it was maybe a flood light or something. Then very quickly BOOM a super loud convective clap hit like it was summer. I looked up and saw multiple CG strikes after that in the distance. Had to be very close by because the delta was <1 second and i could see the lightning strikes. Only time i was ever outside and saw thundersnow. We picked up about 13.5" in just a few hours. 

I'll be remapping and touching up this storm at some point soon. Radar and other maps: https://www.jdjweatherconsulting.com/mar-7-8-2018

[CoastalWx]

Can’t forget the Cory storm 13 years ago. 

[ORH_wxman]

4 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Can’t forget the Cory storm 13 years ago. 

Epic. 
 

[CoastalWx]

3 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Epic. 
 

One of my favorite events. 

[ORH_wxman]

1 minute ago, CoastalWx said:

One of my favorite events. 

So many skeptics on that event leading into it. Models didn’t handle it well at all but the underlying theme was dumping a lot of QPF. A lot of tv stations had like 2-4” or 3-6” for interior elevated areas and I couldn’t understand it. I was going like 8-14” and I was wau too light. 

[CoastalWx]

11 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

So many skeptics on that event leading into it. Models didn’t handle it well at all but the underlying theme was dumping a lot of QPF. A lot of tv stations had like 2-4” or 3-6” for interior elevated areas and I couldn’t understand it. I was going like 8-14” and I was wau too light. 

Yeah I was skeptical For my hood until the day before when we beefed up QPF and it ticked colder. Eve then everyone was on air was against it. Pretty sure you know who had me in the washed away zone. lol. 

[The 4 Seasons]

Brutal gradient. 4.5 BDL, 1-3 near 91 in MA

https://www.jdjweatherconsulting.com/mar-7-8-2013

[codfishsnowman]

50 minutes ago, The 4 Seasons said:

Brutal gradient. 4.5 BDL, 1-3 near 91 in MA

https://www.jdjweatherconsulting.com/mar-7-8-2013

There were a handful of storms that were really brutal and that was one of them. A good friend of mine in Manchester was buried under 20 inches and didn't believe that the roads were wet with some slush on the grass. Pretty sure my old stomping grounds in Bristol had a foot. It wasn't that far east of us amounts sky rocketed. We did have some accumulating snow mostly on grassy surfaces the overnight prior but much of that melted during the day. It was strictly a downsloping issue for us and I don't know what was going on in poor Rhode Island. Lower elevations east and to some extent west were destroyed. It be cool someday to experience a storm like that. 

 

[vortex95]

4 hours ago, The 4 Seasons said:

Brutal gradient. 4.5 BDL, 1-3 near 91 in MA

https://www.jdjweatherconsulting.com/mar-7-8-2013

Most anomalous in terms of weirdness set up I have ever seen for a biggie snowstorm for SNE.  Sfc low 600 mi SE of ACK when the big S+ kicked in late night on the 7th and turned the AM commute in a disaster b/c schools were not closed and the area was not prepared.  I think the fcst the night before was a general 3-6" in ern MA.  IIRC, the ECMWF had the most fcst for the event at 4-8", but even that was 3x too low!

Biggest modern day bust for so much snow for a storm in the region.

Another one that stands out was 12/23/1997.  Fcst was 4-8" at best and we ended up w/ 12-24" for the event.  BOS Herald cover the next day, "THEY BLEW IT!" and showed mug shots of all local OCMs!  I still have the paper.

Also, another big bust 12/5/2005.  The CoastalWx special, he recalls that vividly in GHG.  Woke up to this wind roar all of sudden from the NW and then when to S+.  Small nor'easter very tight but wicked!  One of the few times a nor'easter in New England product 100+ mph gusts (I can count on one had the number of times that has happen in the last 5 years).  Usually, only hurricanes here give gusts that high!  SNOINCR 9 reported in Andover MA area from a reliable source.

[The 4 Seasons]

5 minutes ago, vortex95 said:

Most anomalous in terms of weirdness set up I have ever seen for a biggie snowstorm for SNE.  Sfc low 600 mi SE of ACK when the big S+ kicked in late night on the 7th and turned the AM commute in a disaster b/c schools were not closed and the area was not prepared.  I think the fcst the night before was a general 3-6" in ern MA.  IIRC, the ECMWF had the most fcst for the event at 4-8", but even that was 3x too low!

Biggest modern day bust for so much snow for a storm in the region.

Another one that stands out was 12/23/1997.  Fcst was 4-8" at best and we ended up w/ 12-24" for the event.  BOS Herald cover the next day, "THEY BLEW IT!" and showed mug shots of all local OCMs!  I still have the paper.

Also, another big bust 12/5/2005.  The CoastalWx special, he recalls that vividly in GHG.  Woke up to this wind roar all of sudden from the NW and then when to S+.  Small nor'easter very tight but wicked!  One of the few times a nor'easter in New England product 100+ mph gusts (I can count on one had the number of times that has happen in the last 5 years).  Usually, only hurricanes here give gusts that high!  SNOINCR 9 reported in Andover MA area from a reliable source.

[vortex95]

24 minutes ago, The 4 Seasons said:

Ayer MA SNOINCR 8!  Bright-banding was not melting snowflakes aloft, it was giant dendrites making to the surface!  This was a watershed event in a way b/c it was then recognized how important the DGZ was (not all snowflakes created equal!)  Seriously, DGZ and flake type was not a thing prior, and least in mainstream forecasting.

Pretty MEH sfc low as well for this event.  Not much wind either.

 

[ORH_wxman]

2 hours ago, vortex95 said:

Ayer MA SNOINCR 8!  Bright-banding was not melting snowflakes aloft, it was giant dendrites making to the surface!  This was a watershed event in a way b/c it was then recognized how important the DGZ was (not all snowflakes created equal!)  Seriously, DGZ and flake type was not a thing prior, and least in mainstream forecasting.

Pretty MEH sfc low as well for this event.  Not much wind either.

 

I remember seeing the 40-50 dbz echoes on the doorstep and thinking it was definitely sleet. Then we got monster hooked-dendrite aggies pounding for a couple hours. We got 6” per hour in ORH at the peak. Not quite the 8” per hour stuff just northeast of us but pretty insane regardless. 

[CoastalWx]

I literally crapped myself when I saw the 6pm news showing some car dealership in Dracut and the cars buried. I was so pissed. 

[vortex95]

59 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

I literally crapped myself when I saw the 6pm news showing some car dealership in Dracut and the cars buried. I was so pissed. 

Brockton or GHG at the time?  Yah, but you just had the Bliz of 97 9 months earlier!  "I want everything IMBY no matter what!!!"  LOL.

[ORH_wxman]

8 minutes ago, vortex95 said:

Brockton or GHG at the time?  Yah, but you just had the Bliz of 97 9 months earlier!  "I want everything IMBY no matter what!!!"  LOL.

I was spoiled in ORH for that 12 month period....had back to back nor' easters Dec 6-7, 1996 totaling 26", then 33.0" in the April .97 storm and then 18" in the Dec '97 positive bust. That was the end of the luck for a while though....brutal next 3 years until 2000-2001

[vortex95]

27 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

I was spoiled in ORH for that 12 month period....had back to back nor' easters Dec 6-7, 1996 totaling 26", then 33.0" in the April .97 storm and then 18" in the Dec '97 positive bust. That was the end of the luck for a while though....brutal next 3 years until 2000-2001

Dec 6-7, 1996.  Two sig snow nor'easters in two calendar days.  That is exceptional.  I know of no other so short time period events for the region, at least in the last 50 years.  First storm was tightly wrapped 990 mb low that dumped max of 18" at Cornwall CT and 17.6" at Worthington MA (wet glop that stayed on the trees for the next storm).  Then a much larger, more classic coastal came in the evening of the following day w/ 19.5" at New Ipswich NH, 18" at Ashburnham MA, and 16.5" at Union CT (wet glop again that turned to rain many area).  So the result w/ 900k w/o power, 500k in MA alone.  Biggest power outage for NH up to this time.

CoastalWx lamenting in Brockton once again I bet for that event.

Funniest thing I recall was the huge lines at DD's the following morning of the second storm (Sunday) in places like Bedford MA.  B/c it was largely rain here but not even 5 mi N, wet snow disaster w/ no power.  So no one could make coffee and were flocking S to get their fix!