New York and southern New England, hardly strangers to snow, saw their most severe blizzard of record in the late 19th century. Of course, since the data only goes back to 1900, there is one glaring omission. The storm system wrapped up and wind intensified across the Rockies and the northern Plains on Feb. 22. Heres how wind chill works and how its calculated. The storm dropped up to 2 feet of snow in the Litchfield Hills and a record. 9. "The rest of central & Southern MN in the Major Impacts category. New York City was hit particularly hard; the temperature plummeted as low as 6 degrees, and up to 3 feet of snow fell amid roaring winds and near-zero visibility in the outer boroughs. We've collected a list of 10 of the worst ice storms in U.S. history, starting with one in northern Idaho. Clean up of debris from the storm lasted into the summer. Adjusted for inflation, this storm today would've caused over a quarter million dollars in 2013. A winter storm is spreading snow and strong winds across New England as we head into the weekend. In Arkansas, Mel Coleman, CEO of North Arkansas Electric Cooperative described the scene:"In all of my years I have never seen anything that compares to the damage this storm has caused. The storm also induced severe coastal flooding and erosion. Near 80 percent of Maine's population lost electrical service. Less than two weeks later, the weather grinch delivered a lump of coal to stockings from New Mexico to Oklahoma and Arkansas in the form of another ice storm. Beshear called in National Guard troops to help clear roads and go door-to-door to check on families in the western part of the state, the worst-hit area. The three coexisting hazards make blizzards uniquely dangerous, as people can find themselves stuck outside in cars or on foot in near-zero visibility and accumulating snow without the ability to find shelter. 32K views, 22 likes, 0 loves, 9 comments, 41 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from The Weather Channel Originals: 2017 was a brutal year of weather. Extensive damage totaling $3 billion was reported in portionsTexas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. There have been many ice storms in Texas history. The most recent of these big four extreme storms laid out a swath of snow fromthe Plains of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas to Mississippi to the Carolinas in the first week of 1988. Both the NESIS and RSI placed Nemo in Category 3 territory, since it missed several large metro areas including Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Sophisticated computer models allowed the National Weather Service to issue a severe storm warning two days in advance. At least nine deaths were reported from the storm. December 18-22, 1887. At the time, one Arkansas official called it the most destructive ice storm he'd seen to the electrical utility infrastructure, there. As long as we're mentioning Arkansas,Winter Storm Euclidover Christmas week 2012 clobbered the state, producing the record snowiest Christmas Day in Little Rock (9 inches), and their snowiest day since Jan. 6, 1988. Area schools were out for up to a week. Vehicles snowbound on Route 128 South in Massachusetts in the aftermath of a massive blizzard on February 8, 1978. Baxter St., New York City during the Blizzard of 1888. This winter stormcaused $4.5 billion in damage as it crawled slowly along the Northeast coast Dec. 10-13, 1992. At least 600,000 customers were without power. You don't often see snow from the Gulf of Mexico to New England, so by sheer aerial coverage, Superstorm 1993 pops to the top. Incidentally, one somewhat common ice storm corridor is along the Columbia River, where subfreezing air spilling over the Continental Divide can sometimes remain trapped ahead of a wet Pacific storm. Satellite image from Mar. In Upstate New York and portions of Connecticut, temperatures were even colder, and 45 to 60 inches of snow accumulated. Much of northern Upstate New York and central and northern New England picked up 5-10 inches of snow, including up to 10 inches near Conway, New Hampshire and Ripogenus, Maine. Little Rock, Arkansas, picked up a whopping 13 inches of snow in just 24 hours. The Weather Channel reported that southern Great Lakes states and northeastern states could see the worst of the ice Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The category-three classification in the Ohio Valley region was more of an artifact that the storm was split between regions of the RSI analysis. The storm claimed 24 lives in Kentucky and another 18 in Arkansas from a combination of traffic accidents, hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning. For example, a four-inch snowfall in Dallas, an area less equipped to deal with removing that snow, is more impactful than a four-inch snowfall in Syracuse. Copyright TWC Product and Technology LLC 2014, 2023. The Weather Companys primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. The storm was so damaging that the National Weather Service in both Paducah and Louisville, Kentucky, rated it as the worst weather event of the decade for their respective areas. Some freezing rain coated cars and roads in western and northern New York. All dollar amounts are adjusted for inflation. Pedestrians make their way along an icy street outside the Georgia Dome before the start of Super Bowl XXXIV between the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans In Atlanta, Georgia. Don't tell that to the hundreds of thousands who lost power around the Christmas holiday, due to the combination of high winds and heavy snow downing trees and power lines. Dangerous travel conditions also could be experienced in Denver, Colorado, during the day on Wednesday as the city receives anywhere from 3 to 6 inches of snow. The disaster resulted in more than 400 deaths, including 200 in New York City alone. Low visibility can also lead to deadly car crashes. Ice accumulations of up to 2 inches were reported on power lines and tree limbs. The timing couldn't have been worse, and the impact of this ice storm continues to this day in Atlanta. You can certainly vouch for grumpy moods around Christmas 2000 in parts of the South. DePodwin told Newsweek that "treacherous" travel conditions and power outages are likely. New Year's Eve 1978 was the worst ice storm in North Texas in three decades, producing ice accumulations up to 2 inches thick in a 100 mile-wide swath from just west of Waco to Paris, Texas.. David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe/Getty Images. Over the past 150 years, the country has been pummeled with record-breaking blizzards. On Tuesday, the cold air advancing south from the Arctic chilled the ground so much that one monitoring satellite mistook the ground for tops of clouds, which are usually much colder than surface. . Since 1980, NOAA has documented 16 winter storms with a damage cost of a billion dollars or more. Here are 10 blizzards that have brought parts of the US to a standstill. Warm air crusaded northward from the Lower Mississippi Valley into the southern Great Lakes causing precipitation to turn to a mess of freezing rain, sleet and even some heavy rain as far north as Chicago during the afternoon hours. The Blizzard of '96 was the snowstorm of record in both Philadelphia and Newark and set the state snowfall record in Virginia (48 inches at Big Meadows), snarling travel and shutting down schools and businesses for days. Remember, the factors are areal coverage of snow, snow amount and population. In Arkansas, Mel Coleman, CEO of North Arkansas Electric Cooperative described the scene,"In all of my years I have never seen anything that compares to the damage this storm has caused. 12-14, 1993 Superstorm. A crippling, devastating ice storm hit portions of upstate New York, northern Vermont, northern New Hampshire, much of Maine and southeast Canada. Accumulations of more than a half-inch are considered crippling. The storm system also brought severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and tornadoes to Florida. Accumulations of up to an inch were reported in central parts of the state. Temperatures and timing will be key to determining how much rain, snow and ice accumulate. Read more: 6 holiday travel horror stories that will make you want to stay home. The storms also can lead to power outages, exposing even those within built structures to dangerous cold or, at the hands of faulty generators, the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Record Snow and Incredible Cold January 17 - 19, 1994 An intense winter storm brought copious amounts of snowfall to the region Monday the 17th, with all of Kentucky and southern Indiana receiving several inches of snow. NWS Twin Cities quipped on Twitter that "odds are, a ruler won't cut it when measuring this one". Around 2,000 flights were canceled, and 20 people died, according to CNN. The flat landscape, just east of the Rockies, is ideal for powdery, windswept snow north of developing storms and along powerful cold fronts; a small handful of blizzards occur in this part of the country each year. So, we have two scales: 1) NESIS can capture storms in adjacent eastern regions, but its snow amounts reflect typical Northeast impacts and 2) RSI, a regional index. Just days later, another winter storm hit Atlanta on Super Bowl weekend. 2,000 residents treated for injuries from vehicle accidents, falls on ice and frostbite. The last month of the spring, May, is a comfortable month in Boxford, Massachusetts, with an average temperature varying between 63. The snow really ramped up as an arctic cold front swept southward through the Rockies, Great Basin and Sierra on Feb. 21. At its height, a total of 1.3 million residents were left without power in multiple states. 2) Timing is not a factor. The most destructive ice storms bring heavy ice accumulation, sometimes on the order of several inches. Heavy snow and strong winds occurred from South Dakota through Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and into the Sierra. For Kentucky, it was the largest power outage in history with 609,000 homes and businesses in the dark. Just opening the door to the outside sounds like a war zone, with the continuous sounds of trees and limbs breaking.". Drifts were over the tops of some homes. Here are our tips for staying warm when its super cold and some ideas for picking the best winter coat. Snowdrifts covering parked cars on 110th Street after more than 20 inches of snow fell in two days in New York City in 1996. Snow nears the rooftop of a home in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Dec. 27, 2009. Travel safe: Driving in snow? Some flat roofs collapsed or buckled after additional snow fell in the days following the storm. In his book, Extreme Weather, Weather Underground's Christopher Burt cites a paper in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society stating "ice on the side of any dense, unbroken evergreen tree 50 feet high and on average 20 feet wide would have weighed five tons" due to the weight of accumulated ice. Feb. 1-3, 2011 Central (Blizzard) and Eastern United States Winter Storm: $2 billion, 10. Just days later, another winter storm hit Atlanta on Super Bowl weekend. Based on these NESIS values, there are five categories of winter storms, somewhat analogous to theSaffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale: Building off the work of Kocin and Uccellini, scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) developed theRegional Snowfall Index (RSI)to rate snowstorms in other regions, mainly east of the Rockies, including the Midwest and South dating to 1900. accumulations of more than a half inch are considered crippling. Jan. 19-22, 1985 Winter Storm and Cold Wave in Central and Eastern States: $2 billion. That is the first time I've seen this," Fox9 meteorologist Cody Matz tweeted. Locations from Oklahoma to southernMissouri, southern Illinois, Kentucky, northern Tennessee, northeast Georgia and the Carolinas were impacted byfreezing rain, sleet and snow. Paul, Minnesota (28.4 inches), topping the previous record from the fourth extreme storm on the list above (21.1 inches). In total, the entire Atmospheric River event caused between $200-$300 . Heres how they form and where the term came from, tips for staying warm when its super cold, what to do if you get stuck in a winter storm, tips for staying safe in the dark and cold, how to get your home ready for extreme cold, phone and internet are ready for a disaster. With a central pressure usually found in Category 3 hurricanes, the storm spawned tornadoes and left coastal flooding, crippling snow, and bone-chilling cold in its wake. Herbert A. French/Buyenlarge/Getty Images. All Rights Reserved. When combined with strong winds, they can bring down trees and power lines, and plunge hundreds of thousands into the dark sometimes for several days. after the November 1921 ice storm. The National Weather Service in Twin Cities, Minnesota warned that the "historic" three-day storm will bring blowing and drifting snow mainly from Wednesday to Thursday. Advertisement: "I arrived in Boston in 2002, so I . At the time, this was the most destructive ice storm of record in New England. There have been only 28 Category 5 winter storms in the U.S. since 1900, based on the RSI. Included in the millions of damaged trees were many maple and apple trees, which affected the maple sugaring and apple industries for years. Affecting what would have been 49 million people according to current population, the Great Appalachian Storm was so intense and wound up it turned basic meteorology in the northern hemisphere on its head. We recognize our responsibility to use data and technology for good. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Over 200,000 homes and businesses lost power, according to the Washington Post. Areas in the storm's path could see anywhere between 6 inches and 2 feet of snow accompanied by dangerous winds, with meteorologists expressing concern about some of the areas most likely to be impacted. More than 145 miles of high-voltage transmission lines were downed in southeastern Missouri. The Weather Channel reported that the winter storm could make travel "extremely difficult, if not impossible" in Wyoming, South Dakota, southern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin as winds create blizzard conditions and frigid air becomes "life-threatening" for stranded motorists. Two main periods of heavy snow expected are expected: late Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning & Wednesday afternoon through Thursday. A whopping 25.9 inches of snow fell between December 16 and 18 that year. Damage to power lines, trees, and phone lines was estimated at $20 million. Death Valley 1. Another 100 people died in the Northeast, and 100 more aboard offshore boats, making the storm probably the deadliest blizzard in American history.