Tag Archives: New York City

Slammed again – Northeastern U.S. gets another snowstorm while Thornton waits

Snowfall totals from the latest snowstorm to strike the northeastern United States. (Examiner.com)
Snowfall totals from the latest snowstorm to strike the northeastern United States. Click the image for a larger view. (Examiner.com)

Yet another major snowstorm pummeled the northeastern United States yesterday and last night, their third in less than a month.  Snow totals in many areas from this single storm have far exceeded what Denver has received for its entire snow season thus far.

Snow began falling on Wednesday snarling evening commutes from Virginia to New York and picked up in intensity overnight. 

Snowfall totals this morning include 18.9 inches at Newark Airport, 19.0 inches at Central Park and 15.1 inches in Philadelphia (click here to view the latest totals from across the region).  These all dwarf Denver’s official seasonal total thus far of 12.1 inches!

Even President Barack Obama was not immune to the storm as Marine One, the presidential helicopter, was grounded due to the weather Wednesday.  Returning from a trip to Wisconsin, the president took a motorcade back to the White House instead and spent an hour stuck in traffic. 

As many as 400,000 residents across the northeast are without electricity as the unusually wet snow wreaked havoc with the utilities.  Public schools are closed Thursday and many government offices followed suit with the only exception being emergency personnel.

Slideshow: Northeastern U.S. battered by another snowstorm New York area airports shuttered Wednesday causing flight delays and cancellations across the nation.   The FAA reports that most should open late this morning or this afternoon.

Virtually every major city has reported seasonal snowfall totals so far this year far in excess of normal.  New York City, Boston, Worcester and Providence all have accumulated more than a foot of snow above average. 

Click the image to the left to view a slideshow of images of the snow around New York City (Examiner.com).

This story was originally featured by the Natural Disasters Examiner on Examiner.com.  Remember that by visiting there you are supporting ThorntonWeather.com.

New York City tornadoes confirmed – Rare event also brings 125 mph winds

In a rare occurrence, two tornadoes struck the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens on Thursday, September 16, 2010.
In a rare occurrence, two tornadoes struck the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens on Thursday, September 16, 2010. View more images in the slideshow below.

Severe weather struck the Big Apple this past Thursday and brought with it only the sixth and seventh tornadoes to strike New York City since record keeping began in 1950.  Accompanying the storms were straight-line winds packing a 125 mph punch. 

Funnel clouds were spotted in the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn from the storms that also brought extraordinary winds and driving rain.  The severe thunderstorm toppled trees and power lines and left one woman dead.

The National Weather Service sent a team to look at the damage and determine if the winds were the result of a tornado or straight-line winds.  The answer is that two tornadoes -one an EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the other an EF1 – struck Brooklyn and Queens.

In the Park Slope Neighborhood of Brooklyn, the tornado touched down at about 5:33pm and ripped across the cityscape for two miles.  It generated winds of 80mph, an EF0, and had a maximum width of 75 yards. 

Slideshow - Twin tornadoes strike Brooklyn and Queens, New York.The second twister struck the Flushing / Bayside area in Queens and was stronger and longer lived.  That tornado packed winds of 100mph making it an EF1.  It reached a maximum width of 100 yards and was on the ground for four miles.  One fatality is attributed to the twister as Iline Leuakis of Pennsylvania was killed when a tree fell and crushed her car. 

Also notable were significant straight-line winds caused by a macroburst.  In the Middle Village and Forest Hills areas in Queens, winds reaching 125 mph with a path five miles wide and eight miles long contributed to the damage. 

The two tornadoes mark only the sixth and seventh tornadoes to strike in the five counties that make up New York City since 1950 – Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond.  The strongest occurred on August 8, 2007 and was an EF2 that caused nine injuries.

New York City’s Tornadoes – Since 1950

  • 1985-10-05, Queens County, EF1
  • 1990-08-10, Richmond County, EF0
  • 1995-10-28, Richmond County, EF1
  • 2003-10-27, Richmond County, EF0
  • 2007-08-08, Richmond & Kings Counties, EF2
  • 2010-09-16, Kings County, EF0
  • 2010-09-16, Queens County, EF1

Data courtesy the Tornado History Project

Northeastern United States gets slammed by another winter storm

Satellite imagery of a major winter storm striking the northeastern United States, Friday, February 26, 2009. (NASA)
Satellite imagery of a major winter storm striking the northeastern United States, Friday, February 26, 2009. (NASA)

Yet another major winter storm smashed the northeastern United States on Friday snarling travel, closing schools and knocking out power to 1 million. The latest storm adds to the region’s astounding snow totals for the season and has already resulted in further breaking records.

With the latest storm, strong winds added another element to the heavy snowfall. From Pennsylvania through the nation’s capital to New York and New England, the havoc was widespread. All told, power companies across the region said more than 1 million residents and businesses were without power.

In New York, the city’s famed Central Park had received 16.9 inches of snow as of 7:00am today. That total gives the city 35.9 inches for the month sending February 2010 into the record books as New York City’s snowiest month on record.

Reflecting the extraordinary snow, New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg shuttered the nation’s largest public school district for the day. Three fatalities as a result of the storm have been reported, one of which was a man killed in Central Park when a snow-laden tree branch fell on him.

Other snow totals across the area were impressive. Greenwich, Connecticut reported 10.6 inches. Lodi, New Jersey led that state with 18.3 inches. In New York, Monroe reported 31.0 inches.

Rain was a problem on the northern parts of the storm system. Southern and coastal Maine is expected to receive up to 3 inches of rain prompting flood warnings in the state and in New Hampshire. Other portions of coastal New England were under similar advisories.

Travel was disrupted as well as more than 1,000 flights out of New York City’s three airports have been cancelled Friday. Philadelphia saw cancellations at its airport and ground travel was snarled.

As seen from space – Second blizzard’s snow spread across the East Coast

As seen from spance, snow covers the Mid-Atlantic from Washington D.C. through Baltimore and Philadelphia to New York City. (NASA)  See a larger image below.
As seen from space, snow covers the Mid-Atlantic from Washington D.C. through Baltimore and Philadelphia to New York City. (NASA) See a larger image below.

Whether it is called ‘Snowmageddon’, ‘Snowpocalypse’ or any other array of the names, the amazing series of winter storms that have struck the Mid-Atlantic States has been nothing short of astounding. Two storms struck the region in less than a week and NASA satellites have captured images of what the scene looks like from space after the second storm struck.

Baltimore, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Wilmington and Atlantic City have all set new records for seasonal snowfall. Baltimore has recorded nearly 7 feet of snow so far this winter eclipsing the previous record by more than 17 inches.

All of those cities have recorded more snow than ones in the Rocky Mountain region. That also led to the unusual event of 49 of the 50 states having snow on the ground on the same day.

The image to the right and below was taken by NASA’s Terra satellite on February 11, 2010 after the second blizzard struck.

Second Blizzard Strikes U.S. East Coast
As seen from spance, snow covers the Mid-Atlantic from Washington D.C. through Baltimore and Philadelphia to New York City. (NASA)

From Philly to Washington to New York, East Coast slammed by blizzard

The adjectives to describe last week’s record-setting snowstorm no longer seem adequate to describe the winter weather striking from the Mid-Atlantic to New York. A second potentially more severe storm that the National Weather Service described as ‘life threatening’ is battering Washington D.C., Baltimore, New York City and every place in between.

Storms that dumped more than two feet of snow last week were bad enough but the latest storm has introduced another element – wind. Gusts of 35 mph to 45 mph are expected and coupled with snowfall amounts of more than a foot, snow drifts to four feet are forecast for some areas.

Widespread power outages are likely to become common as the wind and heavy snow takes its toll on an already taxed infrastructure. Road crews who were still working to clear the snow from the last storm are now struggling to stay ahead of the mounting snow totals.

Blizzard Warnings have been posted for Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and New York City. Forecast snow accumulations range from 6 to 12 inches in Washington to 12 to 22 inches in Philadelphia and 10 to 16 inches in New York City. Underscoring the dangerous conditions from the wind and snow, the National Weather Service warning said, “This is a life threatening situation for anyone who becomes stranded.”

Officials were urging all area residents to hunker down and wait the storm out. Public schools, businesses and even the federal government have ceased operations for the day.

There's more to this story on Examiner.com!For more details including the travel mess the storms have created and the astounding snow totals, see the complete story on the Natural Disasters Examiner.