Winter Storm Bastian

Details

• Date:  November 26th
• Impact Areas:  Northeast
• Peak Winds:  N/A
• Snowfall:  Laconia, NH - 16.5 inches - Orwell, VT - 16 inches - Binghamton, NY - 10 inches
• Notables:  More than 400,000 lost power due to heaviness of snow

A rare Thanksgiving time snowstorm pushed through the area on Wednesday.  Due to the holiday I haven't even been able to take a look at this one until now, and quite frankly even at this point I don't have a ton of time to dive into the storm.  I'll make it as quick as I can.

In the way I saw it play out I was right in some areas and wrong in others.  I did expect higher totals than what was recorded for bigger cities.  I don't mind so much that I was off since I give specific amounts.  If I go with the general call of 3-6 or 5-8 or 6-10 I end up being right.  But when Allentown officially reports 4.9 when I guessed 7.7 it looks like I'm way off.  Realistically it is less than a three inch difference when all those I listed have at least a four inch swing.

In terms of what went right I think (and saw) how huge a difference elevation played in this storm.  And with that I was much more accurate in my call of double digits for the random hills.  I noticed throughout the area that a difference of a few hundred feet produced a very noticeable difference in snow totals.

I still don't have a go to city outside of Allentown.  Only spotters reported in Lehigh County which unless they were on a hill I'd say the report of 7.8 inches in Salisbury township is a bit high.  But again there is a big increase in elevation that could have easily played a part.  Easton did not report a total which makes me think they won't be consistent.  Bethlehem is out since the official snowfall total for the city of Allentown is taken at the airport which is basically in Bethlehem.  I did notice Nazareth reported through a weather specific program.  That might become the one to follow.  They recorded 5.5 inches.  Berks was all over the place which can be expected for the size and elevation differences.  I don't mind that Reading reported 2.7 inches but the fact that it finalized at 5:00 Wednesday evening when it was still snowing is comical.  I do tend to think that the rapid melting of the snow played a factor in measuring.  The reporting stations recorded totals above 7 inches in places near Fleetwood and Mohnton even though you wouldn't have measured that much.

I as always enjoyed the snow as much as a person could who spends most of a nine hour day in a windowless office space.  Even though my ankle is still sore and swollen I made sure that exactly one month after almost fracturing my ankle I made it a point to enjoy a snowy night.