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
