I’ve followed many great snowstorms and blizzards across the United States over the past decade including the Blizzard of 2003 which brought the biggest snowfall on record to Boston, the Valentines Day Blizzard of 2007, the Blizzard of 2006 which brought an all-time record breaking 28 inches of snow to New York City. The year of Snowmaggedon. This blizzard which struck New England Friday night into Saturday goes down in the books as one of the greatest and right up there with the worst in history.

Like all great storms, a series of factors must all came together. A system dropping out of the Great Lakes along with arctic air dropping into the Northeast was met by a powerful, moisture and energy rich sub-tropical jet racing out of the south. An offshore low deepened as it headed north up the coast. By the time it reaches the New England coast, pressures were falling fast and moisture from both the Gulf and Atlantic were pouring into increasingly cold air which the circulation was pulling in from Canada. This infusion of energy along the fuel added by abnormally warm SST’s offshore, helped produce 12-40 inches of snow from New York City up to Portland, Maine.

Record Snowfall

While Boston saw their 5th biggest snowstorm, Portland, ME got slammed by an astonishing 31.9 inches of snow which breaks the all-time record of 27.1 inches set back in Jan 1979. Snow totals across Massachusetts ranged from 20-32 inches. As for Connecticut, the state was worst hit with an incredible range of 22-40 inches.

Hamden in southwest Connecticut took the prize with an incredible 40 inches of snow. Hartford, CT reported 22.3 inches which makes for their 2nd biggest snowstorm, Worchester, MA picked up 28.7 inches which is the 3rd biggest. Concord, NH collected 24 inches which is the 2nd biggest.

What for me was probably one of the most noteworthy aspects about the Blizzard of 2013 is probably the rate in which the snow came down within the intense bands.

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83 mph Wind Gusts, Storm Surge Flooding

Another aspect which made this storm pretty exceptional was the intensity of winds. Wind gusts ranged from 50 mph in New York City to between 60-83 mph along the Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine shores According to The Weather Channel, a gust to 83 mph was recorded at Cuttyhunk, MA while a gust to 82 mph was clocked at Westport, CT. Other notable gusts include 76 mph at Boston, MA, 75 mph at Plum Island, NY, 75 mph at Bangor, ME. These winds built up huge snow drifts on top of the 1-3 foot totals with cars being buried, streets blocked off from the rest of the world.

The increase winds also brought 2-4 foot storm surges into parts of Massachusetts and I believe Maine also which brought coastal flooding.

12 Inches Of Snow In 90 Minutes

One of the most notable stats which came from this blizzard was an apparent 12 inches of snow which fell in just 90 minutes around the Staffordville area of Connecticut, that’s OVER 6 inches per hour. Parts of Long Island saw snow rates of 3-5 inches per hour and within these intense snow bands was thunder and lightning.

Here’s an extensive list of top snow totals and highest wind gusts from AccuWeather.com on the Northeast Blizzard of 2013

Maine: Gorham – 35.5 inches Berwick – 32.0 inches Portland – 31.9 inches (All-Time Greatest Snowstorm) Westbrook – 30.0 inches Augusta – 28.0 inches Lewiston – 25.5 inches

Massachusetts: Framingham – 32.2 inches Spencer – 31.0 inches Northboro – 29.5 inches Foxboro – 29.0 inches Worcester – 28.7 inches (3rd Highest Storm Total) Southwick – 28.3 inches Saugus – 28.2 inches Shrewsbury – 27.0 inches Belmont – 27.0 inches Logan Airport (Boston) – 24.9 inches (5th Highest Storm Total)

Rhode Island: West Glocester – 27.6 inches Burrillville – 26.0 inches Woonsocket – 26.4 inches Cumberland – 24.1 inches Smithfield – 24.0 inches Providence – 17.0 inches (Official report from T.F. Green Airport) North Providence – 20.5 inches West Warwick – 21.5 inches Charlestown – 19.0 inches

Connecticut: Hamden – 40.0 inches Milford – 38.0 inches Clintonville – 37.0 inches Oxford – 36.2 inches East Haddam – 35.5 inches Yalesville – 35.0 inches New Haven – 34.3 inches Gilford – 33.0 inches Manchester – 32.0 inches

New York: Medford – 33.5 inches Upton – 30.9 inches Central Islip – 30.7 inches Commack – 29.1 inches Huntington – 29.0 inches Islip Airport – 27.8 inches Port Chester – 23.3 inches Yonkers – 23.0 inches Ardsley – 23.0 inches Scarsdale – 22.5 inches Plainview – 18.0 inches Middle Village – 15.0 inches Flushing – 11.0 inches La Guardia Airport – 12.1 inches Central Park – 11.4 inches Upper West Side – 10.9 inches

New Jersey: Rivervale – 16.8 inches Hillsdale – 14.0 inches Paramus – 14.0 inches Verona – 14.0 inches Chatham – 14.0 inches West Milford – 13.2 inches Oakland – 12.5 inches East Rutherford – 11.5 inches West Orange – 10.2 inches Newark Airport – 10.0 inches Point Pleasant – 9.0 inches

New Hampshire: New Boston – 30.4 inches Dover – 28.0 inches Pelham – 24.0 inches Concord – 24.0 inches Laconia – 23.9 inches Nashua – 22.0 inches Hudson – 21.7 inches Peterborough – 20.0 inches

Vermont: Springfield – 16.0 inches Chester – 14.0 inches Waterbury – 14.0 inches Barnet – 11.5 inches Cornwall – 10.0 inches

Pennsylvania: Lake Harmony – 7.5 inches Pocono Lake – 8.0 inches Allentown – 5.7 inches Portland – 7.0 inches Plainfield – 6.0 inches Somerton – 4.7 inches

Below are the peak wind gusts during the blizzard:

Maine: South Thomaston – 62 mph New Portland – 59 mph Portland – 53 mph Sanford – 49 mph Augusta – 47 mph Vinalhaven – 47 mph

Massachusetts: Hyannis – 77 mph Marstons Mills – 74 mph Buzzards Bay – 74 mph Mashpee – 72 mph Scituate – 68 mph Milford – 65 mph Fall River – 63 mph

Rhode Island: Jamestown – 68 mph Warwick – 63 mph Westerly – 43 mph

Connecticut: Westport – 82 mph Portland – 81 mph Groton – 60 mph Waterbury – 48 mph

New York: Plum Island – 75 mph Hither Hills – 57 mph Montauk – 52 mph Islip – 48 mph Eatons Neck – 47 mph

Some impressive wind gusts…

Here are some great during and after shots of the Blizzard of 2013

Will have a post later which looks at the upcoming pattern..

Follow my weather updates on Twitter @MarkVogan

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Tags: blizzard 2013, Blizzard Nemo, New England Blizzard 2013, Northeast blizzard 2013