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New England snowstorm memories.


CoastalWx
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2 hours ago, LoveSN+ said:

Not familiar with the terminology, do tell

becs = biblical east coast snowstorm (lifetime event)

mecs = major east coast snowstorm (practically once a winter event)

In between becs and mecs, though, is hecs = historical east coast snowstorm.

So, it was sarcasm on how some have had it so good lately that 24” is just another run of the mill snowfall. 

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On 10/20/2017 at 9:51 PM, RUNNAWAYICEBERG said:

becs = biblical east coast snowstorm (lifetime event)

mecs = major east coast snowstorm (practically once a winter event)

In between becs and mecs, though, is hecs = historical east coast snowstorm.

So, it was sarcasm on how some have had it so good lately that 24” is just another run of the mill snowfall. 

You left out SECS--'significant'

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On ‎10‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 4:58 AM, Niksic 3 said:

I would like to know how many time Portland has snow depth more than 40 ich.

Found 3 winters, though my records begin in 1920 (I think there are city records 40+ years older) and are missing about 10 years late 20s-early 30s.  Two others showed up in the sort, but were short periods of recording depth to the tenth inch w/o the decimal.

Tops is 55" in 1923, but their January depths look suspicious.  They recorded 44.8" during that month's first 16 days, and depth climbed from 10" to 55".  Temp never topped 32 during that time, but zero compaction?  A low 40s peak would seem more defensible.
Next is 1920, topping out at 49" and without as much uncompactable snowfall. 
Most recently, they reached 40" in Dec 1970, in their snowiest winter on record (141.5") but never got back that deep.
Their record storm, 31.9" in Feb 2013, was just the opposite of the 1923 depths, with the pack never exceeding 21".

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Surprised PWM has only had one occurrence at the modern jetport site. I assume the 1923 and earlier occurrences were all at the older site. The jetport is obviously right on the water, but it is still a pretty decent snow spot. I would have thought at least a couple times more recently. Winters like '92-'93 or '95-'96....surprised they didn't squeak one out in '68-'69.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
10 minutes ago, USCAPEWEATHERAF said:

Winter Storm Juno photos and videos from Mike Siedel from the Weather Channel is amazing to continue to watch over and over again.  Juno was the second most amazing snowstorm to strike Harwich, MA, 32" of snow, second behind the Great North American Blizzard of 2005, 35"

Once someone becomes a legend, are they always a legend?

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On ‎10‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 3:35 PM, ORH_wxman said:

Surprised PWM has only had one occurrence at the modern jetport site. I assume the 1923 and earlier occurrences were all at the older site. The jetport is obviously right on the water, but it is still a pretty decent snow spot. I would have thought at least a couple times more recently. Winters like '92-'93 or '95-'96....surprised they didn't squeak one out in '68-'69.

 

 

Getting back to this - PWM got 49" in March 1993 with 39.7" from 4 storms (one a mix/mess) 5th-14th growing the pack from 9" to 34", followed by late winter sun effect.  In 1996 the winter's biggest storm, 15.5" Dec. 19-21, raised depth to 25" but it was back to 11" when the Jan storms arrived.  No blockbusters, but 2 10-inchers plus a 3" and a 7" kicked the depth to 31" on 1/13.  Three deluges and by the 28th it was brown ground and dirty piles.  1969 peaked at 28" after the 21.5" dump on Feb. 9-10.  It settled back to 7" by the time the late Feb event came, 27" at near-freezing temps that only boosted depth to 23".  They also got just past 30" in Jan 1979, which topped by 1" the 61" of Feb 1969 for their snowiest month on record, but the 31" pack on 1/21 was immediately cut in half by a 2" mlow-40s downpour.  I think their oceanside locale rarely gets sustained cold when they're also getting storms.  Their depths may also suffer from wind; the 9" of frigid 10:1 snow on 2/2/15 landed atop a solid 16" pack but only raised it to 20".

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Tip brought up an awesome memory the other day from the 1986 mid November bowling ball

I was in middle school and just did not believe the forecast, the two years prior it had a remarkably hard time snowing a few inches in the dead of winter

woke up to thunder lightning and moderate to heavy snow around 2 am...wound up with 4 to 6 inches of paste in central ct, but back then I don't remember hearing about eastern zones getting crushed....figures lol

but where I lived at the time that winter actually turned out okay, especially considering winters before and after that decade....we had 50 inches that winter

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1 hour ago, codfishsnowman said:

Tip brought up an awesome memory the other day from the 1986 mid November bowling ball

I was in middle school and just did not believe the forecast, the two years prior it had a remarkably hard time snowing a few inches in the dead of winter

woke up to thunder lightning and moderate to heavy snow around 2 am...wound up with 4 to 6 inches of paste in central ct, but back then I don't remember hearing about eastern zones getting crushed....figures lol

but where I lived at the time that winter actually turned out okay, especially considering winters before and after that decade....we had 50 inches that winter

86-87 was def a really good winter just off the coast. Esp Jan 87. But those teasers (or blockbuster for a small area, lol) in November were a good prelude. 

Just a nitpick though...it wasn't really a "bowling ball". It was a very strong vortmax moving through southern lakes that went nuclear when it go south of LI. A classic clipper/redeveloper as we sometimes call them on here...a rarity to see one so perfect in November though like that year. 

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On 10/23/2017 at 0:45 PM, tamarack said:

Found 3 winters, though my records begin in 1920 (I think there are city records 40+ years older) and are missing about 10 years late 20s-early 30s.  Two others showed up in the sort, but were short periods of recording depth to the tenth inch w/o the decimal.

Tops is 55" in 1923, but their January depths look suspicious.  They recorded 44.8" during that month's first 16 days, and depth climbed from 10" to 55".  Temp never topped 32 during that time, but zero compaction?  A low 40s peak would seem more defensible.
Next is 1920, topping out at 49" and without as much uncompactable snowfall. 
Most recently, they reached 40" in Dec 1970, in their snowiest winter on record (141.5") but never got back that deep.
Their record storm, 31.9" in Feb 2013, was just the opposite of the 1923 depths, with the pack never exceeding 21".

They also had snow up to knicker levels in Feb 1894, 45" for three days after Valentine's Day. Started the month with 23" OTG and packed on another 24.9" to reach 45". Records do look a little sketchy at that time, just add new snow to current snow depth to get new snow depth.

There's also Feb 1983 that hit 40 and 41" within a couple days of each other late in the month. 

But 1970 looks like the first modern era 40" snow depth.

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2 minutes ago, OceanStWx said:

They also had snow up to knicker levels in Feb 1894, 45" for three days after Valentine's Day. Started the month with 23" OTG and packed on another 24.9" to reach 45". Records do look a little sketchy at that time, just add new snow to current snow depth to get new snow depth.

There's also Feb 1983 that hit 40 and 41" within a couple days of each other late in the month. 

But 1970 looks like the first modern era 40" snow depth.

What do you have on mid-April 1933? Is this a weenie measurement?

http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS/IPS-8A0AFA92-B375-4468-9ACD-4EE35C2EB4E4.pdf

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On 10/25/2017 at 3:35 PM, ORH_wxman said:

Surprised PWM has only had one occurrence at the modern jetport site. I assume the 1923 and earlier occurrences were all at the older site. The jetport is obviously right on the water, but it is still a pretty decent snow spot. I would have thought at least a couple times more recently. Winters like '92-'93 or '95-'96....surprised they didn't squeak one out in '68-'69.

PWM has reports from the Jetport since 1931 ('31-'40 overlapped with Exchange Street downtown to verify consistency). 1940 officially moved to the Jetport, and moved twice with the terminal building, once in 1940 and again in 1988, then automation began in 1994 when we moved to GYX. The Jetport itself is pretty susceptible to west winds for blowing/drifting.

I can't seem to find the info prior to 2010, but the current snow observer is 2 miles NE of PWM (Deering neighborhood). It's not the best snow location in the sense of obstructions, not like Winthrop sticking out into Boston Harbor.  

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1 hour ago, OceanStWx said:

He does note it fell over the night of the 12th, but I'm more concerned with the 1.35" turning into 34" of snow. That's awfully dry for 32 SN.

Was he letting it fall into the can though? That usually greatly underreports w.e...especially if the snow was all stuck around the side of the gauge too.

I do like Tip's blue snow mentioned in the comments.

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