Wrapping Up & Moving On

It was a hit and it was a big one for many but not all areas. Every storm delivers a surprise element or two and this one was no exception. First of all in this post-mortem, does this storm satisfy the true definition of a blizzard? Well, it is a very close call. Clearly, the nor'easter produced blizzard conditions from time to time but for portions of the region, it may have fallen just short of being an official blizzard. In reviewing all of yesterday's regional observations, the area that easily satisfied the blizzard warning criteria of the National Weather Service is northern New Jersey, NYC and Long Island where 16-32 inches of snow fell with many hours of visibility at or under a quarter-mile! In New England, it lived up to its expectations only for eastern Massachusetts closer to and inside the I-95 corridor. Despite the accurate anticipation of 30-60 mph winds, the storm outperformed on outer Cape Cod where gusts of 75-80 mph were recorded. Perhaps we could call it a wintercane. Dire predictions of moderate to major coastal flooding verified as some South Shore residents are stating that it was the most damaging event since the no-name storm of Halloween 1991. The switch from a wetter snow to sleet and rain took place on Cape Cod into portions of Plymouth County and eastern Bristol County although a slight delay resulted in a bit more snow on parts of the Cape. The projection of a higher density, pasty snow over southeastern Massachusetts and a lower density, fluffier snow elsewhere was spot on. On the flip side, underperformance was pronounced in Worcester County and the Connecticut River Valley. While it is not surprising to see the meager amounts of snow in the usual shadow area of Franklin County, Hampshire County and Hampden County, it was somewhat shocking to recognize that only 4-12 inches fell in the hillier Worcester County. Dry slotting erupted for several hours in this central location while most of the atmospheric lifting was restricted closer to a coastal front aligned over eastern Massachusetts. As a result, more than a foot of snow was confined to southeastern Rockingham County in New Hampshire, most but not all of Essex County, southeastern Middlesex County, Suffolk County, Norfolk County, northwestern Plymouth County and northern Bristol County in Massachusetts into eastern Providence County in Rhode Island. Boston's Logan Airport amount of 18.2" makes this the 10th biggest snowfall on record for the city! Check out this snowfall listing from the National Weather Service. The final surprise element of this storm was the large snowfall totals from Berkshire County in Massachusetts extending into southern Vermont plus another area of strong banding and lift over northern New Hampshire into western Maine. These areas received 18-34 inches!! As examples, in Massachusetts, North Adams got 19" and Savoy got 25" while in Vermont, North Bennington got 20" and in New Hampshire, Randolph got 25" and my favorite ski area, Bretton Woods received an astounding 34 inches with nearby Cannon Mt at 28". In Maine, Sugarloaf received close to two feet and Saddleback got about 30 inches! SWEET!

The storm will continue to pound the area with strong, gusty, howling frigid winds overnight through tomorrow. Gradually, the magnitude of these winds will decrease but they will continue to chill the air making it feel more like several degrees below zero tonight as the thermometers reveal lows in the 9-17 degree range. The threat of any additional coastal flooding has ceased but the sea will remain very rough. The arrival of drier air will clear the sky by daybreak so tomorrow will feature blinding sunshine reflecting off the fresh snow cover. The temperatures will recover to near or slightly above 30 degrees with a northwesterly wind simmering down to 15-35 mph. As a ridge of high pressure approaches, the wind, although still brisk, will slacken tomorrow night and Wednesday. Patchy clouds may cross the sky as it warms up to the middle 30s on Wednesday followed by sunshine and light winds sending temperatures flirting with 40 on Thursday. For the final day of 2010, it may reach 45 degrees with ample sunshine. We will be able to enjoy First Night activities with light wind and temperatures falling through the 30s. New Year's Day will be sunny to partly cloudy with highs of 45-50. A batch of rain is destined to cross the region On Sunday thanks to a frontal boundary and a weak wave of low pressure. It will be back to freezing next Monday.

Melissa Mack delivers her latest AccuWeather Forecast early in the morning and I shall return later in the day for Todd Gutner. Have a good night.