Holiday weather, 1988

Christmas, 1988 was relatively mild. The high on Christmas Day was 49 degrees. Christmas Eve had been rainy, and gray, whereas most evidence of the rain was gone by midnight on Christmas Day. The clouds cleared out by sunset, so that left the holiday cloudy. The next day,Boxing Day, was mostly cloudy, and relatively mild. The cloudy conditions continued on the next day, and the temperature was a bit lower, but not by much, with 41 degrees as the high.

Christmas Eve surface map 7 AM

Rain began during the late afternoon hours on the 28th. It became heavy after midnight. The high was close to 60 degrees. The weather during this time was hardly what you’d call winter. The 29th, dawned clear, but clouds returned by mid day. The temperatures fell during the afternoon, and were back into the 20’s by nightfall.  December 30th, was an overcast day, and the temperatures were back into the freezing range.

December 28, 1988 7 AM

The temperatures were back to the 40’s on New Years Eve. The weather was clear for the midnight hour. The temperatures actually dropped on New Years Day, and we were set for some very cold weather in the coming months.

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

December 17,1988 snowstorm

The 1988/1989 winter was somewhat of a dud, at least as far as Nantucket is concerned. On the 15th, an area of Low pressure developed in the midwest, and moved eastward. By the 17th, it was near New England, and began to bring precipitation to the area. Snow began on Nantucket after 2 pm. It began as a light snow at first, but after 3 PM, it got heavier in intensity. It slackened off considerably after dark, but it still snowed nonetheless. The town had no trouble with snow removal. The storm was forecast to move offshore well to the south of Nantucket, which it did, and by the early morning hours of the 18th, the storm was gone.

Overall about 4″ fell on Nantucket, the Cape fared a little better, but not by much. The snow was a light, fluffy composure, not good for snow building, but good for sledding. Chicken Hill recorded a little more than the official total.  It was a good saturday for kids, and a headache for adults. There was another event on Monday, and that would leave snow on the ground, but that would be gone by Tuesday.

Small view of the storm centered near Nantucket

The storm at its peak.

Stats:

Accumulation: 4″  Forecast: 1″

Wind: 30 mph Unofficial: 28 mph

Damage: None