Meteorologists (ourselves included) have been forecasting this huge storm for days in the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Northeast. In this case our computer forecast models were spot on with snow fall amounts in major cities around two feet and more than three feet in the mountains of Appalachia.
This storm, this blizzard…was epic, historic, and definitely record setting and record breaking. The storm itself tracked out of the Gulf Coast Thursday producing severe weather there. By Friday it was already spreading snow across Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. It hit the Mid-Atlantic states with a fury later Friday and began pounding Washington D.C., the Carolinas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Several states set new record snow fall amounts from city to city. Many of the major metro areas like Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia saw more than two feet of snow. Take a look at some of the totals below. The highest I could find was in the mountains of West Virginia with more than 40 inches! Note that Washington Dulles Airport (across the river in Virginia) picked up 29.9″, while Washington National Airport about 12″ less!
You can also click here for more snow totals from the National Weather Service from Washington D.C.
There were blizzard conditions along some of the coastal areas like Washington, Philadelphia, and New York as 50 to 60 mph winds slammed those areas with a hard-driving snow making for zero visibilities and extremely treacherous conditions. A few gusts were clocked at hurricane force (74 mph) off the coast of Rhode Island at 75 mph. Take a look at top three climate sites from the National Weather Service for snowfall with more than 100 years of data. If the record wasn’t shattered, it certainly is in the top five after the blizzard of 2016!
If you’d like to get an idea what these cities look like covered in all this snow, click here for the live camera from EARTHCAM in Times Square New York.
Here’s a live shot (click here) from EARTHCAM at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore.
Here’s a great live shot too from the top of the Washington Monument on the mall in Washington D.C.. Click here.
Click here for snowfall totals from the National Weather Service and the Philadelphia office.
Click here for snowfall totals from the National Weather Service Virginia office.
Click here for the latest snowfall totals from the National Weather Service New York office.
The image attached to this story was snapped in Thurmont, Maryland…about an hour or so northwest of Washington D.C.. That’s actually my brother-in-law in the tractor trying to remove snow on their property in the mountains. They live just off the road the President takes to get to Camp David! Thurmont picked up about 32″ in the mountains!
This blizzard was also responsible for stranding thousands of motorists along highways, killing at least 18 people, and forcing the cancellation of more than 10,000 flights! It will take days for normal travel to resume and businesses and schools to get back up and running to normal capacity.
Our weather by comparison will be far more on the quieter side the next few days. We may see some light rain or snow Monday evening/night before transitioning to all light snow on Tuesday. Get more at www.fox17online.com/weather.
