Blizzard of 2010 Recap...One For The Record Books!

Hello this is Junior Meteorologist Kyle Elliott...and all I can say is WOW! The Biblical East Coast Blizzard of 2010 is finally wrapping up as the last snow bands have moved to the Jersey shore and the eastern shore of Maryland...but believe me, the damage has already been done. Last time I checked, Baltimore had received 26.5" of snowfall officially at the BWI airport. That would make this the 2nd biggest snowstorm of all time for Baltimore...but that report was taken at noon before the snowfall ended. In all likelihood, this will be the biggest snowstorm Baltimore has ever seen as I expect their final report to be somewhere around 28". The storm that previously held the record was the President's Day Blizzard of 2003, another incredible storm. Anyway, Washington, D.C., did not make it to 28" and break their all-time record set by the Knickerbocker Storm of 1922...but Dulles Airport did manage to report nearly 20 inches of snow last time I checked. And the heavy, record-breaking snowfall did not stop there. Farther up I-95 in Philadelphia, 26 + inches of snowfall was recorded at the Philadelphia International Airport...making this their 2nd largest snowstorm on record. (As a side note, the 3rd largest storm is now the Blizzard of 2009, which makes this even more remarkable in that Philly has seen their 2nd and 3rd biggest storms ever in a single winter season.) The heaviest snow band, though, had to be just north and west of Baltimore and D.C. as Frederick, MD, saw 30 inches of snow and Martinsburg, WV, saw nearly 3 feet. Ellicott City, Md, reported 32" of snow last time I checked, and Glen Rock, PA, about 15 miles to my south, reported 27" of new snowfall. The storm did not spare me in my backyard, either, as this is the 2nd heaviest snow I've seen in my lifetime with 23" falling by my measurements. (The heaviest was 30" in the Blizzard of '96.) Many surprises took place, too, with this storm as heavier snowfall occured along the PA Turnpike as far west as Pittsburgh. 20+ inch amounts were common around the Pittsburgh, when only a mere 8-12" inches was forecast. Even I thought Pittsburgh would max out at 14", but it turns out some locations around Pittsburgh came in with 25" of snowfall. A huge surprise for them no doubt. Also, 30" of snow fell in Somerset, 28" in Johnstown, 14" in State College, and 22" in Carlisle, PA. Lancaster reported 20-21" of snow, and York reported between 22 and 27" of fresh snow. Even Harrisburg, PA, received between 17 and 21 inches...far more than forecast. Practically all of southern PA south of the Turnpike (and north of the Turnpike in the case of Johnstown, Altoona, etc...) right down through central and southern Maryland saw 18-32" of snow out of this storm...with the same amounts occuring in Delaware and south-central/southern New Jersey. With the wrap-around upper level disturbance today, even the beaches of southern Delaware, eastern Maryland, and northeastern VA around Assateague got in on accumulating snow as 4-8" minimum fell their in a span of 6 hours or less. At the height of the storm, both at my house and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, snowfall rates exceeded 2-3" an hour at times with thunder and lightning reported in isolated locations. Thundersnow is a rare event, and many places reported that last night...which proves the utter intensity of this system. Case in point my area: from 6 to 7 PM last night, we had an epic snow band go through here which gave us 3" in one hour's time. We entered the 6 o'clock hour with about a half an inch...only to leave it with 3.5". By the time the clock struck 8, we had 5 inches already. The snow rates then backed off...as we had 4 inches in the next 4 hours...but then at midnight the snowstorm really started to crank. Conditions deteriorated as a 35 DBZ snowband moved through my area, reducing visibilites to less than 100 feet as winds gusted to 30 MPH in the midst of a near whiteout snow band. By 2 AM, we had 13 + inches as 4 inches fell in two hours. At 2:30, exhaustion caught up to me and I fell asleep...but now I wish I hadn't. The best snowfall rates of the entire storm hit between 3 and 7 AM, when the heaviest band of the night sagged southward from Harrisburg and stalled for 3 hours over York County. I didn't wake up till 7:30, and it was still snowing heavily for about a half hour after I woke up. I wish I would have been awake during that time, though, as we went from 13.5" at 3 AM to 21" by the time I checked the yardstick at 7:30. That's 7.5" in just over 3 hours time...absolutely incredible. The snowfall continued until about 11:30 AM before tapering to flurries...but those hours experienced only minor additional accumulations of 2" to bring us to a grand storm total of 23" here at my house. In northern Maryland, that snow band intensified farther and stalled for about 5 hours there from early to mid morning until early afternoon. That, in my opinion, put them over the edge as 4-8" amounts were common from that band on top of the 20-24" that had already fallen in most areas.

Currently, the snow is just about pulling completely offshore as the last echoes pass through Ocean City, MD, and Atlantic City, NJ...leaving behind a historic path and a storm for the record books. As I said, many records were shattered as this storm will probably end up in the top 5 of all time from Philadelphia to D.C. and surrounding areas. On the flip side of the coin, though, the storm was a major disappointment for snow geese in northeastern PA and NYC on northward as little if any snow occured in those areas. Case in point NYC: Times Square saw nothing at all, while 30 miles south of the city picked up 10-12" of snow. As is common in powerful blizzards like this, a sharp northern cutoff to the snowfall is featured...and this time, that cutoff happened to set up right over the city of New York. In one instance, I saw that Harrisburg, PA, had 20" of snow...and an area 30 miles to the northeast of that only had 5" of snow. North of Allentown, Pa, to southern Morris County, NJ, little if any snowfall occured as dry air from the north and the influence of the Polar Vortex shunted the storm out to sea and blocked off snowfall from reaching the area. One would only have to drive 20-40 miles south of that line, though, to find a rapid increase in snowfall totals of a foot or more. A disastrous disappointment for those north of the above mentioned line, this storm can clearly be defined as one which overperformed in many areas but featured a sharp northern cutoff which caused an underperformance in New York City and surrounding areas of northern NJ and northeastern PA. Having said that, though, this storm will still go down in history as one of the greatest of all Mid-Atlantic snowstorms as practically all of the Mid-Atlantic is now buried under 18-32" of snow, with 3 feet in spots. Some would call this a Biblical East Coast Blizzard, while some to the north would cause this a Biblical East Coast Ledown but, either way you slice it, the Blizzard of 2010 will remembered for years to come as one of the greatest snowstorms of all time. I can tell you that last night was one of the wildest nights I've ever experienced, and one of the heaviest snowfalls that I have ever seen or probably ever will see. Many people around the Mid-Atlantic area too, I'm sure, can claim the same. An anomalous event to see 2 historic blizzards in the same season, this storm gave many areas their second 20" plus snowstorm of the winter season...something that has never happened before in many areas. A pattern for the winter weather record books, many places in the Mid-Atlantic have already set seasonal snowfall records as 60-70" plus of snowfall have already fallen in several places for the winter thus far. I leave you now with those thoughts....a recap of a storm I will remember for the rest of my life. Stay safe out there, don't go out and drive in the snow-covered, icy roadways if at all possible tomorrow, and mark this down as probably one of the heaviest snowfalls that many of you will ever see. My final snowfall map was a great success...though it did have some bust areas on the low side. Also, my errors abounded in the NYC area where I had 3-6" traversing the city...when only a dusting occured at the most. South of that line about 20 miles south of the city, though, my snowfall map was pretty much a lock as most everybody saw 12+ inches and 99% of locations in my 20-30" zone saw exactly those amounts. I was slightly low in Harrisburg, Johnstown, York, Lancaster, and Pittsburgh, where I forecasted 12-20" when 20-28" fell...but that is going to happen with a storm of these proportions. Overall, I am very happy with my final forecast on this storm as I would give myself a B to B+. My long-range outlook, though, would have to be given a D- as I pretty much guaranteed the storm would go out to sea south of the PA Turnpike as heavy snowfall amounts would be confined to the MD/PA border on southward through Virginia. In the end, though, I overlooked the perfect setup that was about to occur as the northern and southern Jet Streams merged to produce a negatively tilted trough on the East Coast...which would produce a historic storm as has occured. A bad long-range call, but I was not hesitant to change that in the medium to short range...and for that, I'm happy with myself. Anyway, I've rambled long enough, so hope ya'll enjoyed the Blizzard of 2010...and good luck shoveling out from the storm. Most cities are paralyzed for the remainder of the weekend, but road crews should get out and about tomorrow to clear the roads and allow for a re-opening of schools and business by Tuesday at the least, in not by Monday. Stay warm, stay safe, and I'll talk to ya'll later. The Mid-Atlantic saw a blizzard yesterday and today...southeastern New England and NYC may see one Wednesday. That is for my next post tomorrow though, so until then, I bid you good day as the storms and rumors of storms will see no shortages in the upcoming days. 2-3 Blizzards so far in the East this year, and we may not be done yet...what an incredible winter! This is Junior Meteorologist Kyle Elliott reporting for the AKStormtracker Forecasting Center.