The North East and Mid-Atlantic region of the United States (from West Virginia to Maine) experienced an unseasonably early snow storm on the weekend of Halloween, October 29-30, 2011. The nor’easter brought as much as 81 inches of snow in some places and the weight of the snow on the still-attached leaves, made branches to snap more easily. The snapping of trees led to many downed power lines and a chaotic attempts by utilities personnel to restore power. Over 3 million homes lost power during this time, exceeding the number of power outages experienced in September 2011’s Hurricane Irene.
Central Park in New York City broke records – it was the only time in its history that snow accumulation exceeded 1-2 inches within the month of October. By the first morning of the storm on Saturday, October 29, 2011, Central Park had already received 2.9 inches of snow. The storm also brought New York City closer to the “all-time wettest” year in its history, In total, the storm gave New York City 65.75 inches of precipitation – over 2 feet above average! In New Hampshire and Massachusetts, 31.4 inches and 32 inches of snow were produced, also above average during the month of October. According to NOAA, the Northeast had 86% snow cover with approximately 4” deep. Very, very unusual.
NASA's "Image of The Day" during Snowtober 2011
One weather historian Christopher Burton has called the storm, “the most extraordinary October snowstorm in over two centuries in the northeastern US”. This unseasonable snowstorm is further proof of a warming world. With warmer temperatures, the atmosphere is able to hold more moisture and thus heavier precipitation. With temperatures falling just below freezing during late October 2011, this precipitation came down as snowfall.
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Freedman, A. (2011, October 31). Historic October Northeast storm: Epic. Incredible. Downright ridiculous. Capital Weather Gang. The Washington Post. Accessed November 5, 2011
This shot is pretty incredible. My hometown of Mercersburg in South Central Pennsylvania recieved about 8 inches of snow. Apparently they delayed trick or treating by a day because some of the roads were still in bad shape. It is also pretty indredible how over the last two weeks the weather has been extremely nice. For instance, I just walked from the gym to the international center in shorts and a t shirt and felt comfortable. It is the middle of November and its 65 and humid in the evening! The weekend that the snowstorm you blogged about took place I was camping in the mountains in Central Virginia. It was cold. I mean really cold. I think the nightime low was around 20 degreed Fahrenheit. Compare that with a projected low of 58 degrees tonight and you have a pretty drastic swing in regional weather over the past two weeks.