March 11-12, 1999 snowfall

It had been a very horrible winter for the far away island of Nantucket. Not much snow had fallen, save for a few storms here and there, you know: nickel and dime events. The storm in question was a small low pressure system that scooted off to our south. Most coastal regions of southern New England were affected by this low pressure system, including Cape Cod and the Islands.

The 11th of March, 1999 dawned overcast on Nantucket, but that was typical for the winter. As the day progressed, the clouds thickened, and it looked like there was going to be some snow. Around this time, the snow was still off to the west, about to enter Providence. During the late evening hours, the snow began to fall.

It came down heavy at times. At midnight, the snow became increasingly heavy, almost to near white out conditions. The snow also fell all day on friday. At times, it looked as though the snow would leave heavier accumulation on the island. The snow mixed and changed to rain in the evening on the 12th, but the rain did not last long. It switched back to snow after dark.

This storm paved the way for the more intense 13-15 snowstorm. Most islanders don’t even remember this storm. Kids of all ages appreciated the snow and used it to their advantage for sledding, however the snow was not of a good quality for building.

The low south of New England

 

Stats:

Accumulation: 3″ Forecast: 1″- Positive bust

Winds: 30 mph Unofficial: 35 mph

Damage: if any, it was slight.

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

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.