December 11-12,1988 snowfall

Up until this point, December was looking bleak. The normal high until this event, was in the upper 40’s. Christmas Stroll weekend, was a cloudy one. 35 was the high on both Saturday and Sunday. On sunday night, snow began to trickle into the area, and by early monday morning, the snow began to fall; however dry air was in place, preventing any real accumulation from being established. I consider this the forerunner of the Tuesday event. Any accumulation from this phase, was minimal. The airport recorded just a trace of snow.

The next day, Tuesday; was the real event. The snow started around 4 AM on the 12th. It quickly picked up, and became an all out storm by 6 AM. The snow quickly amassed into 2″ by the time it stopped the first time, which was around 8 AM.  Another band of snow came through after 3 PM. The temperatures were below freezing the entire day, however that would change after midnight, gradually, the temps were in the 30’s; but then they rose to the 40’s. The next day, rain began to fall around 2 PM, melting all of the 4″ snow pack. This storm would usher in another storm on the 17th.

The system, off of the Delmarva

The storm at its peak

Stats:

Accumulation: 5″ Forecast: 2″

Winds: 35 mph Unofficial: 42 mph

Damage: None