February 25–27, 2010 North American blizzard

The February 25–27, 2010 North American blizzard (also known as the "Snowicane") was a winter storm and severe weather event that occurred in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the United States between February 24 and 26, 2010. The storm dropped its heaviest snow of 12 to 24 inches (30 to 61 cm) (locally as much as 36 inches (91 cm)) across a wide area of interior New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. The storm also brought flooding rains to coastal sections of New England, with some areas experiencing as much as 4 inches (10 cm). Aside from precipitation, the nor'easter brought hurricane-force sustained winds to coastal New England.

February 25–27, 2010 North American blizzard
Category 4 "Crippling" (RSI/NOAA: 15.85)
Satellite image of conditions on February 26, 2010 (day 2)
TypeExtratropical cyclone
Winter storm
Blizzard
FormedFebruary 24, 2010
DissipatedFebruary 27, 2010
(exited to sea)
Lowest pressure972 mb (28.70 inHg)
Maximum snowfall
or ice accretion
53.0 inches (135 cm) – Potter Hollow, New York
Fatalities1 death
Areas affectedMid-Atlantic region, New England states, West Virginia, Eastern Canada

This storm was a complex combination of multiple systems, including an upper air low from the northern Great Plains states, and a surface low from the Gulf Coast states. As the surface low tracked northeast from the coast of North Carolina, the upper air low transferred its energy to it, eventually enabling the new storm to undergo rapid intensification near the shore of eastern Long Island. A strong blocking regime of high pressure over the Canadian Maritime provinces prevented the storm system from exiting to the east. This resulted in a cutoff low (not influenced by the predominant jet stream currents), which took a highly unusual track, retrograding west into New York state before looping back out to sea.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.