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