March 7-8,1989 snowstorm

We  just had the major snowstorm in February, and now this one came. The 7th dawned dreary and gray. The first flakes fell a little after 7 AM, and went to work covering the ground. By 10 AM, there was an inch and a half. Throughout the day, the snow came in heavy waves. By noon, it became apparent that the snow was going to be around for a while. Around nightfall, the snow let up some, but not much. This was one to save the winter from being horrid.

The snow continued throughout the night, becoming heavier and heavier. The DPW had no problems, and they sanded the roads, to make sure whoever had to work the next day had a smooth commute. The last flakes fell after 2 PM. Sure enough school was cancelled both Tuesday and Wednesday. Sledding was common, and children built snow men; had snowball fights, and did other things with the snow.

On Chicken Hill, the unofficial total accumulation was 10″. The highest unofficial gust was 49 mph, and some of the hedges were damaged. On Old South Road, some wires were downed by the winds, and temporary power loss was reported. The parking lot of RB Corcoran was snowed in, except for the shovel path dug by my father. The drifts were relatively tame in the parking lot, unlike the last snowstorm.

Map showing position of storm at 7 AM

Stats:

Accumulation: 10″ Forecast: 6″

Wind: 40 mph Unofficial: 49 mph

Damage: Wires down, plants damaged.

February 5, 1989 snowfall

After getting off to a good start, the winter began to get even better. On the morning of  Sunday, February 5th, snow began to fall a little bit after 8. By noon, there was an inch on the ground. It looked as though there might not be any school on Monday. The snow continued to fall throughout the afternoon hours, and by 8 PM, there were three inches recorded at the house on Chicken Hill. The storm ended shortly before 4 PM, and it left the island frosted with a decent accumulation.

The snow started back up around midnight, and it fell heavily throughout the region. A new storm system was making its way into the region, and by 8 AM on the 6th, it switched to heavy rain, melting the snow. The temperatures made their way into the upper 30’s, and became steady at 36. The rain froze and made everything glazed, causing numerous slip and fall injuries on island.

the storm at its peak

Stats:

Accumulation: 3″ Forecast: 1″

Wind: 20 mph Unofficial: 25 mph

Damage: None

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

January 8-9,1999 snow and rain storm

The winter of 1998/1999 was still going badly for Nantucket, and we were in a snowfall rut.  The two previous events were well forecast for the area, however the totals were off, but not by much. As with the Dec. 23-24 storm, there was a bit of mixing with rain, however it was more catastrophic with this storm. This could have been much more of a snowstorm had it not changed over.

The storm was from the southern great plains. The storm didn’t get its act together until it was over Pennsylvania. Another center developed off of Long Island, and moved east. The conditions on Nantucket Island on January 8th, were typical for a winters day. The day dawned clear, but by early afternoon, the clouds were completely socked in. Precipitation initiated just before 4 PM. The snow began to pick up in intensity.

An inch of snow was on the ground before it switched to rain. The rain became very heavy and washed whatever snow pack we had away. Heavy rain continued throughout the night, and into the next morning.  The rain stopped for a few hours on the 9th,  and it even cleared up, but before nightfall, the rain moved back in. This was another bust. Places like Albany,Rutland, and Brattleboro received measurable snowfall.  For the kids of the area, heartbreak was common, as they could not go sledding. There was some hope. On Sunday, the 10th, light snow fell, but it didn’t amount to much.

The snow portion

Snow changing over to rain

Peak of storm

Stats:

Accumulation: 1.5″  Forecast: 2″-Bust

Wind: 25 mph  Unofficial: 36 mph

Damage: none

December 31-January 1 Snowstorm

This was perhaps the most intense ocean effect snow to impact the island. The weather on New Years Eve was cold, and partly cloudy. By late evening, it was apparent that something was coming.

By sunset, a look on the radar revealed an area of snow showers to the south, and they were steadily moving northward. First flakes fell after 8 PM, and steadily increased. After midnight, things really got cranking.

1999 opened with heavy snow. Plowing the roads? Forget it the roads were too covered with snow, so sand was employed. Nantucket saw the snow end by 6 AM on New Years Day. Temps on the 1st were very cold, with 4 being the high.

This was the other highlight of a very bleak winter, that made for some interesting weather. The snow stayed on the ground for two days after the event. The snow was of a light and powdery composition, not good for snow building.

Stats:

Accumulation: 6″ Forecast: none
Wind: 10 mph
Damage: none

Review: March 4-6,2001 snow “Bust”

Often times, we all have painful memories, like when a loved one has died, or even when we move. In the meteorological community, we all have a painful memory: March 2001. From a Nantucket perspective, the storm was decent. On the 4th, which could be considered the first day of the storm; snow began to fall after dark. Winds at this point, still had not picked up. After Midnight, the snow which had been falling ,switched over to a light freezing rain.

Something was not right: The temperature, which had been rising steadily from freezing to the low 40’s throughout the day. Another factor, the wind had been increasing out of the East-northeast. The rain continued throughout the day on the 5th. Meanwhile on the mainland, places such as Durham,NH were receiving a screaming blizzard.  The rain, had backed off leaving a nasty raw day in place.

The rain was not done however. It picked up just before 10 AM on the 6th. Any hope for snow, had been dashed with the falling of rain. The wind had now become a factor. The low pressure itself was offshore by about 100 miles, and this caused wind gusts to be in the 40’s. Sustained, the winds were in the low 20’s. The next day, the low pressure system kicked out of the area, and became the offshore fishing grounds’ problem.

The problem with this storm, was that it was overforecast. Originally amounts of up to 3 feet were predicted for the region, this was not going t0 verify, because the storm moved too fast.

map depicting snowfall totals

Stats:

Accumulation: 0″  Forecast: 5″-Bust

Winds: 40 mph  Unofficial: 42 mph

Damage: only pride

Review: January 19-20, 2002 snowstorm

For the most part, the winter of 2001/2002 was a bit of a dry winter. It had been mild just after Christmas and the New Year, and fears that Nantucket might not get any snow were beginning to come together. A low pressure area was in the Appalachians on the 19th, and steadily moved eastward. The 19th on Nantucket began as a clear day, it wasn’t until 2 PM that any clouds began to filter in. Gradually the sky went from a milky haze to all out overcast.

Snow began after dark, and grew in intensity. At this time, the wind also switched; until now, the wind was out of the east-southeast.  Most areas near and around Nantucket saw their snow end by 4:30 AM on the 20th.  5.5″ fell on the island. Wind was not a problem with this storm, however there was a peak wind gust of 26 mph, however unofficially there was a wind gust of 30 mph and this was recorded at Chicken Hill.

There was also a brief, and I mean brief period of rainfall. This rainfall did not melt the snow cover at all. By 10 AM, the sky was clear, and the storm was all but a distant memory.

snow contour map for SNE

radar image from the snowstorm

Stats:

Accumulation: 5.5″  Forecast: rain

Wind: 20 mph  Unofficial: 30

Review: January 27-28, 2004 snowstorm

The winter of 2003/2004 was a decent winter, however on Nantucket, it turned out to be above average. This snowstorm affected New Jersey and the rest of the mid atlantic on the 27th, and affected Nantucket on the 28th. Snowfall was relatively light with this storm. The storm’s onset was a little bit after 2 AM. All through the daylight hours, the snow accumulated, eventually, six and a half inches were recorded with this storm. The town of Nantucket’s DPW worked well with snow removal during the storm.

The snow came to an end well after dark. The snow was of a light,powdery composition. During the beginning of the storm, it was of concern that the snow would be heavy and wet; this was not the case. School was canceled for the day, and most students were ecstatic. The temps were in the low 20’s during the event.

Stats:

Accumulation: 6.5″ Forecast: 5″

Wind: 20 mph

Damage: none

Peak of storm

Review: January 9-10,2004 Snow

A cold front passed through the region on the 10th of January. With it, like most cold fronts in the winter, precipitation came along with it.

The snow began just before 4 PM on the 9th, and continued to fall into the evening hours. The snow gradually became heavier and by 10 PM, an inch was already on the ground. The snow did not slack off until just after daybreak on the 10th. Finally, by 10 AM the snow tapered to a few flurries, and by 3 PM, the sky was clear, bringing the temperatures down to the single digits. No scalloping was allowed that day.