32-Year Winter Storm Archive

[vortex95]

14 hours ago, dendrite said:

Pretty sure it was the same measuring standards back to the 1950s. Airports were doing 6 hourlies.

See here for the snowfall measuring issues pre-1990.
https://news.ucar.edu/14009/snowfall-measurement-flaky-history
 

[The 4 Seasons]

On 6/19/2026 at 9:49 AM, dendrite said:

Not sure you can do 6hrs successfully with wind like that anyway. But I assume most of those obs were COOP. People measured like weenies back then too. What’s that 27” in NE CT? Sticks out like a sore thumb.

How they did it in Feb 2026 at PVD i do not know but they all continue that standard somehow even in the most windy blizzards with lots of drifting and blowing snow. 

This was pretty extensive published by the state climate extremes committee (SCEC) on the record https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/extremes/scec/reports/20260331-Rhode-Island-24-Hour-Snowfall.pdf

[The 4 Seasons]

On 3/12/2026 at 9:19 AM, PhiEaglesfan712 said:

Can you do 1992-93 and 1993-94, as both were really good snow seasons? The archive would feel incomplete without the Blizzard of 1993.

You fished your wish, 92-93 and 93-94 seasons are up

[Baroclinic Zone]

Appreciate the efforts you’re putting into getting these storms visually mapped for the record. 

[The 4 Seasons]

2 hours ago, Baroclinic Zone said:

Appreciate the efforts you’re putting into getting these storms visually mapped for the record. 

Thanks, im going to do a long post in Oct or Nov going over all the new additions and changes. There is a ton of new stuff on the site including two new seasons, 10 new historic storms, new Lower Northeast maps and ERA5/ECMWF reanalysis maps...still working on it. 

[CoastalWx]

On 9/2/2026 at 8:27 PM, The 4 Seasons said:

Thanks, im going to do a long post in Oct or Nov going over all the new additions and changes. There is a ton of new stuff on the site including two new seasons, 10 new historic storms, new Lower Northeast maps and ERA5/ECMWF reanalysis maps...still working on it. 

Yeah man, this is good stuff. Brings back some nostalgia for 93-94.

[The 4 Seasons]

4 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

Yeah man, this is good stuff. Brings back some nostalgia for 93-94.

Thanks, more to come.

I don't remember 93-94 at all, even 95-96. I have a lot of nostalgia for 00-01 and 02-03 though.

[codfishsnowman]

92-93 and 93-94 are etched in my memory forever. They proved that real winter weather had finally returned.  Outside of 87-88 we had suffered some rough years prior. 

[UnitedWx]

16 hours ago, codfishsnowman said:

92-93 and 93-94 are etched in my memory forever. They proved that real winter weather had finally returned.  Outside of 87-88 we had suffered some rough years prior. 

You can say that again. 87-88 was a small tease. 92-93 was total joy after a decade of mostly suffering 

[Ginx snewx]

On 9/13/2026 at 4:21 AM, codfishsnowman said:

92-93 and 93-94 are etched in my memory forever. They proved that real winter weather had finally returned.  Outside of 87-88 we had suffered some rough years prior. 

Was at URI 92 to 94 walking around was brutal. The wind and cold in 93 was constant 

[cleetussnow]

To me, Superstorm of 93 kind of kicked off the snowy epoch that followed.  Also got me interested in meteorology. 

[codfishsnowman]

17 hours ago, Ginx snewx said:

Was at URI 92 to 94 walking around was brutal. The wind and cold in 93 was constant 

Yup I remember the cold too like it was yesterday. I think there were afternoons that struggled to hit 10 above but with 15 to 25 mph northerly winds and who can forget the sleet fest in Jan 93 I think where it was just below 10 degrees with 2 to 3 inches of pure sleet...wild stuff

 

[codfishsnowman]

8 hours ago, cleetussnow said:

To me, Superstorm of 93 kind of kicked off the snowy epoch that followed.  Also got me interested in meteorology. 

Superstorm 93 was epic on so many levels. The certainty almost a week out. It had been a decade since I had seen March snow that didn't just accumulate on grassy surfaces. The sunny but cold calm quiet day before and the craziness at the gas stations and supermarkets.  I was 19 and worked for Stop and Shop at the time.  It was the first time I had een more than a foot of snow since the Feb 83 storm.

[cleetussnow]

8 hours ago, codfishsnowman said:

Superstorm 93 was epic on so many levels. The certainty almost a week out. It had been a decade since I had seen March snow that didn't just accumulate on grassy surfaces. The sunny but cold calm quiet day before and the craziness at the gas stations and supermarkets.  I was 19 and worked for Stop and Shop at the time.  It was the first time I had een more than a foot of snow since the Feb 83 storm.

Yeah what got me is that I read the forecast in the newspaper 5 days out.  I got over 30 inches.  Heavy snow compacted by insane winds.  While shoveling, I saw a neighbor drop to the ground literally dead while he was operating a snowblower.  I tried to render aid, but he had aortic dissection turns out so there was no hope.  Obviously I didn't know that then but just had to keep trying.  The ambulance took 30 minutes to get there.  I will never forget that storm!

[tamarack]

On 9/16/2026 at 2:51 AM, codfishsnowman said:

Superstorm 93 was epic on so many levels. The certainty almost a week out. It had been a decade since I had seen March snow that didn't just accumulate on grassy surfaces. The sunny but cold calm quiet day before and the craziness at the gas stations and supermarkets.  I was 19 and worked for Stop and Shop at the time.  It was the first time I had een more than a foot of snow since the Feb 83 storm.

Feb-Mar 1993 was epic, with 7 storms 7" to 14.5", totaling (with some small events) over 80".  The superstorm brought the pack to 31", tallest in our 13 winters in Gardiner.  That capping event was a bit disappointing at our place, if a double-digit snowfall can disappoint.  Listening to "1-3 feet with life-threatening conditions" had me primed for a storm of the lifetime.  Instead, we had 10.3" of heavily rimed 6:1 flakes, almost the lowest report in New England and 3rd biggest of the winter.  (BHB and Block Island had 10.0".)  Temps during the storm were upper teens to 20.  The storm did bring wind 30-45 mph.  A favorite wind report at 8 AM - BGR was calm while 50 miles to the SE, Mt. Desert Rock reported 60 knots.

[codfishsnowman]

7 hours ago, tamarack said:

Feb-Mar 1993 was epic, with 7 storms 7" to 14.5", totaling (with some small events) over 80".  The superstorm brought the pack to 31", tallest in our 13 winters in Gardiner.  That capping event was a bit disappointing at our place, if a double-digit snowfall can disappoint.  Listening to "1-3 feet with life-threatening conditions" had me primed for a storm of the lifetime.  Instead, we had 10.3" of heavily rimed 6:1 flakes, almost the lowest report in New England and 3rd biggest of the winter.  (BHB and Block Island had 10.0".)  Temps during the storm were upper teens to 20.  The storm did bring wind 30-45 mph.  A favorite wind report at 8 AM - BGR was calm while 50 miles to the SE, Mt. Desert Rock reported 60 knots.

I lived in Bristol CT at the time we r had a solid foot of pretty dense snow before 1.5 inches of sleet and then a quick but wild burst of 2.5 inches on the backside giving us 16 inches. The backside snows were not widespread, we just got lucky in central and I think western CT had it too.  But we had no snow on the ground prior.  I will never forget the wind on the backside of that thing that Sunday with gusts over 50 mph bright sunshine and mid afternoon temperatures in the low teens.

[IrishRob17]

On 9/16/2026 at 2:51 AM, codfishsnowman said:

Superstorm 93 was epic on so many levels. The certainty almost a week out. It had been a decade since I had seen March snow that didn't just accumulate on grassy surfaces. The sunny but cold calm quiet day before and the craziness at the gas stations and supermarkets.  I was 19 and worked for Stop and Shop at the time.  It was the first time I had een more than a foot of snow since the Feb 83 storm.

I worked at a Price Chopper supermarket at the time and the sales that week were recording breaking for the time and store. The cops had to be called that Friday night before it started for two jabronies fighting over the last loaf of bread. 

[tamarack]

29 minutes ago, codfishsnowman said:

I lived in Bristol CT at the time we r had a solid foot of pretty dense snow before 1.5 inches of sleet and then a quick but wild burst of 2.5 inches on the backside giving us 16 inches. The backside snows were not widespread, we just got lucky in central and I think western CT had it too.  But we had no snow on the ground prior.  I will never forget the wind on the backside of that thing that Sunday with gusts over 50 mph bright sunshine and mid afternoon temperatures in the low teens.

The Farmington co-op reached an incredible pack of 84" after getting 43" from the late Feb 1969 endless snowstorm.  (For 48 years that was Maine's tallest, until Chimney Pond reached 94" in 2017.)  Second place is 56", recorded in both 1971 and 1993.  In that latter winter, they had only a trace on the ground at their Jan 31 obs - 7 AM at that time.  Feb-Mar brought a total of 97", with Feb storms of 13", 14" and 17" followed by a 15" dump and 18" from the superstorm, to build all 56" in just 6 weeks.  The 12" storm early in April capped the season.