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: December 5-6 Snowstorm

This was the first major snowstorm of the 2002/2003 winter. The snow began just after 11 AM on the 5th. The snow kept falling during the afternoon hours, and ended, just before 8 PM. After an hours lull, rain began to fall, and it melted most of the snow pack away. The wind was not a factor with this storm, and in fact there were no major wind gusts.

On the other hand, 6.5 inches of white powder fell on the island. School was canceled for the day. After the snow stopped, the temperature rose to 36 degrees. Snow removal was aided by rain. The next day was very rainy, and most of the snow pack was gone; also the next day the temperature rose to 37 degrees. It was a somewhat disappointing snowstorm, but not as bad as some storms have been in the past.

SNE snowfall maps

peak of storm

Stats:

Accumulation: 6.5″  Forecast: 6″

Wind: 15 mph unofficial: 11 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.