3-day snowstorm drops 3 feet of snow

3-day snowstorm drops 3 feet of snow

An unusually potent snowstorm dropped a plowable snow for many major cities in the Midwest and Northeast this week -- from Milwaukee and Chicago to Richmond up through Pittsburgh, but also D.C. and Baltimore and up I-95 through Philadelphia, New York City, Hartford and Boston. Even the southern Appalachians in North Carolina picked up snow!

The storm was still ongoing on Groundhog Day, which made for the snowiest Feb. 2 that Punxsutawney Phil had seen in over 30 years. We ended up with 14.5 inches here in State College, at the official observing station at Penn State, and this season is the first winter we've had two snowstorms over a foot in one season, since 1996.

One interesting tidbit was how long the storm lasted. The storm stalled off the coast of New York, causing snow to fall for nearly three days, almost unabated. Here are some stats I pulled:

• At Central Park, snow began at 31 Jan 5:51 p.m., ending at 02 Feb 3:58 a.m., after 35 hours.

• But that wasn't so bad -- at Sussex Airport, New Jersey, snow began at 31 Jan 2:53 p.m. and continued unabated through 02 Feb 1:11 p.m., 46 hours.

• Here in State College, Pennsylvania, (University Park) snow began at 31 Jan 6:53 a.m., paused at 02 Feb 5:53 a.m. after 47 hours then resumed shortly afterwards between 02 Feb 8:10 a.m. and 02 Feb 10:35 p.m., another 14 hours, for a total of 59 hours that would have been consecutive if not for those two hours on Feb. 2. Then, it snowed for six hours on the morning of Feb. 3, for a total of 65 hours of snowfall.

• In Altoona, Pennsylvania, snow began at 31 Jan 6:53 a.m. and stopped for three hours starting at 02 Feb 5:26 a.m., 47 hours later. And that wasn't all the snow. It started again at 02 Feb 8:45 a.m. and went through 03 Feb 3:53 a.m. All told, snow was reported for all but seven hours out of that 69-hour period - a total of 62 hours.

• And finally, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, it snowed from 31 Jan 8:09 a.m. through 03 Feb 3:20 a.m., having frozen precip not reported for only seven of those 67 hours.

You can read more in our wrap-up story, but here are the highlights:

In New York City, observation sites reported 17.4 inches of snow in Central Park and more than 17 inches in Parkchester and Queens Village by Tuesday. Despite the fact that most of the snow fell on the first day of the month, the storm made for the city's snowiest February since 2014.

A 122-year-old state record for most snow from a single storm may have been broken in northern New Jersey as a result of the nor'easter. According to The Associated Press, the town of Mount Arlington ended up with 35.5 inches. If the total, which is currently preliminary, is in fact confirmed, it would best the previous state record of 34 inches measured back in a February 1899 blizzard in Cape May County, located in the southern part of the state.

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