Review: March 6, 2003 snowstorm

On the 5th, the National Weather Service predicted up to 10″ of snow; the same day, was wet and mild. A southwesterly wind kept temperatures above freezing. That wet weather ended by the early evening. The night was calm, and nothing of note happened… Until the next morning. Around 8:30 AM, the snow began, it was light at first, but then it began to intensify. The snow itself stuck really quick, turning streets into bumper cart arenas. Roads were sanded and salted but the snow kept coming down, making work hard and slow.

Throughout the day, it kept slacking and at the same time strengthening. The wind was out of the northeast, sustained at 35 mph. There was no damage along the waterfront to speak of, and any flooding, was in the creeks. School was canceled. and, as usual sledding places were filled to the brim.

The snow ended a little bit after 8 PM on the 6th. Overall, it was a good haul of snow. At Chicken Hill, we managed to receive 9″, while the airport recorded 8.5″ Our highest wind  gust was 39 mph.

SNE totals

storm at peak

Stats:

Accumulation: 8.5″  Forecast: 10″

Wind: 35 mph Unofficial: 39 mph

Damage: none

Chicken Hill-Why its important

Chicken Hill

This house is where the annals of my website were recorded. From the street, we can see the front room, that was the unofficial “study” On the left hand side of the house, is the TV room. The windows leading off to the back of the house, was the sun porch ,or the weather center. The garage was where most of the snow removal equipment(i.e. snow shovels) was located.

Let’s take a photo tour of the house, shall we?

The back

In this picture, is the back yard. Here, is where the snow measurement was done. I used to have a yardstick nailed to the back fence for accurate measurement. It was actually a very accurate measurement system, the margin of error was .2″

The Blizzard of Jan. 2005, however damaged the fence. A new one was built that summer.

Stairs leading to upstairs

These were the stairs used to access the other weather center(tropical weather,winds, and rain).

Weather archive room

This was the unofficial “Study” I kept wx archives in this room. My archives, as well as my father’s were stored in a desk just out of camera view.

MMM food

Dining area.

The heart of the place

This is where the computer was.  It isn’t there any more.

Upstairs portion of house

This is where those stairs would take you. This concludes our tour of Chicken Hill

Chicken Hill is important because it is one of the highest points on the island. For example, during the April 15-17, 2007 nor’easter a recorded gust of 85 mph was recorded here, however it was unofficial.