Groundhog Day Storm Greatest Hits
UPDATE: 2/3/2011: Some information was lost from this blog yesterday and I am attempting to restore it from memory. If you see something missing, leave me a Comment below. Numbers adjusted below. Here is our final accumulation map (approximate, not meant to show local totals) and a link to a NOAA map. The NWS in Chicago has an excellent writeup on the storm.
UPDATE 3 PM: The following fields below have been updated: Snow drifts (12 feet), wind chill (-61), snow (23.5"). Five roof collapses have been reported in Connecticut today. Here are snow amounts for the Northeast:
Woodford, VT: 22.0"
Georgetown, MA: 16.0"
Greenfield, NH: 16.0"
Sherman, ME: 14.0"
Gansevoort, NY: 11.5"*Enfield, CT: 10.7"
Heron Island, ME: 10.0"
Harrisville, RI: 8.0"
Tobyhanna, PA: 5.4"
Cashtown, PA also reported 1 inch of ice. *Peru, NY reported 20.5" of snow but it may have been lake-effect-enhanced. Below is a radar loop (download hi-res).
ORIGINAL REPORT: The Groundhog Day storm (no, he didn't see his shadow) is making its way out of New England today. Here's a summary of the most extreme weather reported in and behind the two weather systems that contributed. Most of these reports are from the Plains and Midwest; I'll add additional maps and information from the Northeast this afternoon. We got lots of nice photos of the storm from our AccuWeather.com Facebook Fans.
Tornadoes & Snow Drifts: An EF-1 tornado was confirmed in Oak Hill, Texas and 3-5 foot snow drifts were reported across many states but Altamont, Kansas and Owasso, Oklahoma both reported 6-foot drifts. Thundersnow was widely reported in Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana and Illinois. WREX-TV says that 12-foot drifts have stopped snowplows in their tracks in Rockford, Illinois. Here is a Texas radar loop from yesterday (click to download).
Extreme Temperatures:
Cow Creek, WY: -41 F
Laramie, WY: -61 (Wind Chill)
Snow:
Racine, WI: 23.5"
Addison, IL: 22.5"**
Calhoun, MO: 22.0"
Owasso, OK: 21.0"*
Lowden, IA: 17.3"
South Bend, IN: 14.5"
Multiple Locations, MI: 14.0"
Pittburgh, KS: 13.0"
*According to this page (which does not include data after 2001) the 21" amount will set this as the #3 snowstorm in Oklahoma. **Chicago got 20.2", their 3rd heaviest storm ever.
Sleet:
Greenville, OH: 3.0"
Clinton, IN: 4.0"
Newman, IL: 4.0"
Hillsborough, MO: 3.0*
Bellefontaine, OH: 3.0"
*A report of Chillicothe, Missouri receiving 10 inches of sleet was likely in error. For more information, see my blogs about record sleet totals.
Freezing Rain:
Columbus, OH: 0.9"
Moweaqua, IL: 0.75"
Greencastle, IN: 0.75"
High Winds:
Gatlinburg, TN: 78 mph
Cedar Bluff, VA: 70 mph
Lakefront Chicago, IL: 70 mph
Pflugerville, TX: 70 mph
Burns Harbor, IN: 68 mph
Weber, UT: 66 mph
Clinton, IA: 66 mph
Dorton, KY: 60 mph
Longville, LA: 60 mph
