Not one. Not two. But THREE outstanding nor'easters have struck the mid-Atlantic and the northeast over the past two weeks. Let's do a quick recap:
1. The first nor'easter impacted places from central Pennsylvania all the way out to Cape Cod on Friday, March 2. The most snow fell in the northeast corner of Pennsylvania (including the Poconos) and especially in the Catskills of New York. Additionally, travel was hindered for some students trying to head home for spring break on Friday afternoon and evening as well. The winds were very, very strong with this system causing coastal flooding, especially in Massachusetts, since the storm also coincided with a full moon making tides even higher than they normally are. The wind field of this storm was massive and mirrored Hurricane Sandy's wind map with places as far south as North Carolina feeling the wind gusts.
2. The second nor'easter dumped plenty of snow from Philadelphia to all over New England on Wednesday, March 7. Some of the snowfall rates were insane with this storm system as it strengthed off the coast in the North Atlantic and bands of heavy snow set up in certain spots. One report from western Massachusetts claimed they had gotten 18 inches of snow in a mere 3 hours (6" per hour snowfall rates!!). Philadelphia also got a decent amount of snow with a few heavy bands of snow setting up in Eastern PA. Widespread power outages and travel delays/accidents were again caused by this storm system.
3. The third (and maybe not final) nor'easter of March caused everyone to get in on the snow - even all the way out in Cape Cod and along Long Island - due to the cold air that was already in place and further east track of the storm. This storm impacted millions of people in the Northeast on Tuesday, March 13. Some of the highest snow totals were from around Worcester, MA and in Western Massachusets, where over two feet of snow fell! Places in Eastern New England also saw blizzard conditions with some wind gusts as high as hurricane-force winds in some locations. Boston, MA, Worcester, MA, and Providence, RI all broke daily snowfall records which were previously set during the Blizzard of 1993. This was one of the nor'easters that achieved bombogenesis status, where there was at least a 27 millibar drop in pressure over 24 hours as it strengthened over the waters of the Atlantic. Since the center of low pressure of this system was further off the coast of New England, Pennsylvania didn't pick up as much snow as with the previous two nor'easters, with only the extreme eastern part of the state picking up an inch or two.
 |
| Snow totals across New England from the third, and most recent, nor'easter. Credit: National Weather Service |
 |
| A high-resolution satellite image of the third nor'easter of March. Credit: Accuweather/NOAA |
 |
| Snow depths across the northeast after the trio of nor'easters. Some places have over 20 inches of snow on the ground. Credit: NOAA/NWS |
Now maybe you're thinking, the first day of spring is less than a week away (March 20), so warmer temperatures and less snow has to be on the way, right? Well, another storm is on the horizon that might impact the northeast in the first half of next week. We will have to monitor it closely as we get closer to early next week, but it could miss the northeast to the south, bring us a wintry mix, or develop into another potent nor'easter. But regardless of what happens with this storm system, the cold temperatures are looking like they'll stick around until at least the end of March.
Both the 6-10 day outlook and the 8-14 day temperature outlooks issued by the Climate Prediction Center at the National Weather Service indicate temperatures to be below average - and they're very confident in this forecast (70% probability). So keep out that winter jacket for a few more weeks and blame the groundhog for these cold temperatures for seeing his shadow back in February!
 |
| CPC 6-10 day temperature outlook. Credit: NOAA |
 |
| CPC 8-14 day temperature outlook. Credit: NOAA |
I really just want warm weather and all this cold weather to end! I find it so interesting how it's already March yet there is still so much snow and cold weather. I am just overall so grateful for the rare warmer days we have. I'm really sad to hear that this cold weather will persist. I was so mad at winter storm Riley for cancelling my flight to North Carolina over spring break!
ReplyDelete