Winter Storm Dowery

This is the actual real one.

• Date:  January 25, 26, 27
• Impact Areas: Northeast
• Peak Winds: +70 MPH
• Snowfall:  Multiple Reports of  +30 inch totals - Highest reported of 36 inches in Massachusetts 
• Notables:  Boston - 24.6, Portland - 27.4, Central Park 9.8 

I really wanted to lead off with how insane this storm was and that it was all you could want in a storm.  The problem is I can't.  It will go down in the record books without doubt.  In keeping with hurricane tradition I will also retire this name though I can't see myself reusing names anyway.  For record keeping in case I continue this for awhile I will make note of the date and name.  Thinking back on storms of the past keeps this off the upper echelon.

For starters the area affected turned out to be quite small.  Had this been a classic I-95 storm with huge impacts from D.C. to Boston I think we'd be talking about something different today.  That didn't happen although the initial call was for far worse.  I saw a lot of apologies coming out from various sources including the NOAA for being so horribly incorrect.  It's nice for them to do however I mentioned before that this is such a guessing game that you can't begin to understand what type of challenge these storms are to predict.

I'm far more annoyed by the media who almost all become completely unwatchable.  It's the ultimate in watching who can get the most viewership by spouting off incorrect information to make things seem far worse than they actually are.

Blizzapocalypsegeddon '15 - The White-Erdammerung!:

The Daily Show has often made fun of these shows.  If you get a minute take a look at their last piece.  It sums up a lot of my issues.  Even I didn't watch any live reporting from New England.  The problem is that while these stupid reports are being made about what became a snowfall in New York there were far more serious issues.  Just like any coastline that can be wonderful to live near most of the time, there are risks.  Everybody in New England knows.  Nor'easters are virtually a winter hurricane.  It has all the same type of qualities.  And for people near the coast it produces flooding.  Flooding and freezing temperatures don't mix well.  Do a search on coastal areas of Massachusetts or Nantucket and see what happens.  It's not pretty.  People lost houses.   


I'm still more amazed at how these things form.  I tried finding some satellite or radar images of what went from nothing to a huge storm in the matter of a day but nothing really caught my attention. 

This relatively light snow that is cutting across the northeast tonight will also quickly strengthen.  The impacts are less great since it will be generally in Maine and probably not mentioned much.  But just take a look at the snowfall prediction.  The highest total for this little piece of energy is 17 inches.  All because it develops and strengthens off the coast.