The Final Snowfall Totals Are In From the Blizzard of '13...

...and Hamden, CT is the winner with a whopping 40 inches of snow!

The image below shows snow depth at 7am EST this morning across the Northeast.  The scale in inches is located at the bottom right:

...and here is the same data, with a tighter zoom on New England where the heaviest snow, with widespread amounts of 28-40 inches, fell:

Below is tabular data with some of the highest totals (in inches) by state across the region:

...CONNECTICUT...
HAMDEN 40.0 
MILFORD 38.0 
CLINTONVILLE 37.0
OXFORD 36.2
EAST HADDAM 35.5
FAIRFIELD 35.0
TOLLAND 35.0
NEW HAVEN 34.3
GLASTONBURY 33.5
NEW HARTFORD 33.0
STRATFORD 33.0
COVENTRY 32.5
HARTFORD 27.0

...MASSACHUSETTS...
SOUTHWICK 28.3
WORCESTER 28.0
BELMONT 27.0
SHREWSBURY 27.0
MELROSE 26.5
WRENTHAM 26.0
BLANDFORD 24.0
FALL RIVER 24.0
NORTHAMPTON 24.0
NORWOOD 24.0
BOSTON LOGAN ARPT 21.8
AMHERST 20.6

...MAINE...
GORHAM 35.5
BERWICK 32.0
PORTLAND JETPORT 31.9
WESTBROOK 30.0
SOUTH WINDHAM 1 ENE 28.0
SACO 2 NNW 27.0
RICHMOND 26.5
GRAY NWS OFFICE 26.4
KENNEBUNK 2 NE 26.0
WELLS 25.6
LEWISTON 2 E 25.5
OTISFIELD 1 W 24.0
TURNER 4 S 24.0

...NEW HAMPSHIRE...
SEABROOK 5 W 29.3
GOFFSTOWN 28.0
FARMINGTON 2 SSE 27.0
EAST HAMPSTEAD 1 S 26.0
NEW IPSWITCH 25.0
EAST WAKEFIELD 1.2 SE 24.5
HAMPTON 1 NNW 24.0
NASHUA 24.0
LACONIA 23.6
DERRY 3 ENE 22.0
CONCORD 20.3
WASHINGTON 1 ESE 19.0

...NEW JERSEY...
RIVERVALE 15.0
CHATHAM 14.0
HILLSDALE 14.0
VERONA 14.0
HIGHLAND LAKES 13.2
WEST MILFORD 13.2
TENAFLY 1.3 W 12.6
HAWTHORNE 1 SSE 12.4
SCOTCH PLAINS 12.0
NORTH ARLINGTON 0.7 WNW 11.0
NEWARK AIRPORT 5.9
JERSEY CITY 4.7
MORRISTOWN 4.3

...NEW YORK...
UPTON 30.3
COMMACK 29.1
EAST SETAUKET 28.5
ISLIP AIRPORT 27.8
ST. JAMES 27.5
STONY BROOK 27.5
BRONXVILLE 21.3
WASHINGTONVILLE 20.5
SCARSDALE 20.2
SUMMIT 20.0
LOCKPORT 1 NE 16.5
MOUNT VERNON 13.9
ROCHESTER INTL ARPT 12.4
NYC/LA GUARDIA 12.1
CENTRAL PARK 11.4
LONG BEACH 10.0
STATEN ISLAND 6.8

This storm will go down in the record books as one of the heaviest snow producers since records have been kept, rivaling the blizzard of 1978.  Some of the snowfall records that were broken at stations that have kept records are shown on the table below:

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Coming March 2013:  The Tornado Chronicles full website!

• Interactive tornado database back to 1950 (earlier years coming soon)

• Interactive radar with live warnings and street-level zoom

• Tornado safety, preparedness and education

• Daily tornado outlooks/threat index

• Photos, videos & more!

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One Winter Record Falls, Another Holds Strong for Chicago...

As of just before 8am CST this morning, the temperature at Chicago's O'Hare Airport fell to -1 degree F.  It had been 711 days since the temperature had fallen below zero in Chicago.

While the "heat wave" has ended, another winter related streak continues, and that's the lack of at least 1 inch of snow in the city, currently at 330 days.

A storm system will affect the region on Thursday night and at least early Friday, but computer models continue to suggest that the best chance of accumulating snow will be both to the North and South of the city.  The imag below is from the GFS model, valid at 6am CST on Friday morning, which suggests about 0.50 to 1.0 inch of snow for the Chicago area: 

This one will be a nail biter for weather trivia buffs, so stay tuned!

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Coming March 2013:  The Tornado Chronicles full website!

Including information on every U.S. tornado since 1950, tornado safety, preparedness and education as well as interactive radar, tornado outlooks, watches and warnings, and much more!  Please show your support and follow The Tornado Chronicles on twitter and on facebook for the latest updates on tornadoes and the upcoming website!

2012 Tornadoes in Review

The preliminary quality control work is now complete and the "final" 2012 tornado statistics are in.  While its wasn't the "record low" year that some were predicting in the fall, it was a below normal year indeed.  A total of 936 tornadoes took place throughout the year, which is about 80% of the "normal" of 1148.  The last time we had fewer tornadoes in a year was back in 2002, when 934 were reported.

The first tornado of 2012 took place at 8:45 a.m. CST on January 9th (EF-0 intensity near Mission Bend, Texas) and the last took place at 5pm EST on the day after Christmas (EF-1 intensity near Beaufort, North Carolina).

In total, the tornadoes were spread out over 170 days with the top 5 events being:

1.  April 14-15th:  98 tornadoes (view the Tornado Chronicles post)
2.  March 2-3rd:  75 tornadoes (view the Tornado Chronicles post)
3.  February 29:  44 tornadoes
4.  December 25th:  28 tornadoes (preliminary)
5.  January 22-23:  25 tornadoes

I've never seen a Christmas Day show up on the top 5 tornado event list for any year, which should give you an idea as to how unusual the trends were overall.  As the 2012 actual vs. normal chart shows below, the first quarter of the year started out abnormally active, which continued into April.  From May and beyond, the trend then reversed with below normal activity throughout the remainder of the year, with the exception of December (thanks in large part to the Christmas Day event):

There were 68 people killed by tornadoes in 2012 and while 68 deaths are 68 deaths too many, the fatality rate was below the 91 that we see in an average year.  The deadliest single tornado of 2012 was the Henryville, Indiana event of March 2nd, where 11 people were killed.

Henryville, IN Tornado - via Evan Bentley

While it is impossible to be sure what 2013 will bring as a whole, preliminary signs point toward an active start to the spring severe weather season.  I would encourage everyone to review severe weather safety, preparedness and sheltering tips ahead of time so that you're sure to be ready when the "regular" severe weather gets underway.  Watch for an update to the severe weather preparedness post next month.  While there won't be any significant changes made to the safety and sheltering tips, I will be making some new recommendations with regard to being prepared and receiving severe weather warnings and updates.

Also, stay tuned for an exciting new program coming this spring.  The popular "Tornado Chronicles" series here on the blog will be spinning-off (no pun intended), to its own website, including a searchable tornado database!  Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the site should be live on March 1.

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If you are in need of highly customized, site specific weather forecasts and/or storm warnings for your business, school or event, be sure visit my professional webpage at WeatherGuidance.com.

Brutal Heat in Oklahoma Yesterday - But "All Time" Record Stands...

The above map shows maximum temperatures recorded yesterday by the Oklahoma Mesonet, a network of 120 recording stations across the state.

As you can see, Kingfisher reached 115 degrees.  Not shown, FAA stations at Okmulgee and Chandler also reached 115 degrees yesterday.  Longtime blog follower and weather observer David Schweitzer also recorded 115 degrees at his place in western Canadian County.

Indeed, 115 seemed to be the "magic" number yesterday as far as high temperatures were concerned.  The inability for the mercury to rise any higher at official recording stations means that the state record of 120 degrees (set in Tipton on June 27, 1994) will remain intact for now.

Another 115-120 degree "bullseye" is forecast by computer models for this afternoon, this time centered near the Stillwater area (as shown by the darker purple shading on the image below):

Indeed, temperatures in that region and back to the Southwest toward Oklahoma City are currently running 2-3 degrees above where they were at this time yesterday:

The lighter blue shadings over the panhandle and far northern Oklahoma show where temperatures are currently running below where they were at this time yesterday, thanks to a shift to Northerly winds.  While temperatures will not be quite as hot in that part of the state today, another brutally hot day is instore for southwest, central and eastern parts of the state, where record or near record highs are likely once again.

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Tornado Near Mt. Evans, CO on 7/28/12 a New Record High Elevation?

A tornado touched down close to Lincoln Lake near Mt. Evans, CO on Saturday afternoon, July 28, 2012. Mt. Evans is located in the Arapaho National Forest and is about halfway between Breckenridge and Denver.  The elevation at the summit is 12,500 feet above sea level.

The following photo was posted on twitter by John Hallan, but it does not say who shot the photo.  The tornado was quite picturesque, and looks somewhat like a waterspout in the photo:

Here's another photo, this one taken by Trish and Dan Ferguson:

...and another by Karen Goodwin:

Some additional photos of the tornado, taken by Chris Kirby (and at a much closer vantage point), can be found on his flickr stream.  On a related twitter post, he commented that the outside temperature was 40 degrees F at the time the tornado took place.

The preliminary local storm report for this event is shown below:

While the storm report doesn't hint at this, if the 12,500 foot elevation stands, I believe that the tornado will go down in the record books as the highest known elevation tornado in the U.S.  The previous highest elevation tornado took place at Rockwell Pass, California on July 7, 2004.  The elevation of the pass is 11,600 feet, and it is estimated that the base of the tornado was at approximately 12,000 feet.

If the 12,500 foot elevation of yesterday's Mt. Evans tornado stands, then it should take the record.  I'm awaiting "official" comment from the National Weather Service (NWS) in Boulder, and will post that as soon as it becomes available.

***Update 7/29/12, 5pm:  The NWS in Boulder has not issued a revised or updated storm report or "public information statement" on the tornado, however a recent posting on their facebook page states that they used the photographer's position and extrapolated via Google Earth that the elevation of the base of the tornado was approximately 11,900 feet.  This would make it 100 feet short of the old record referenced above.  So, at the moment, the Rockwell Pass tornado record stands.

I have some personal reservations about a 100 foot difference being calculated via Google Earth, but "it is what it is..." I suppose.  I don't know exactly how the Rockwell Pass elevation was calculated back in 2004, as the available documentation states that they "estimated that the base of the tornado was at approximately 12,000 feet" so I think its safe to say both of these tornadoes were very, very close to one another insofar as elevation is concerned.

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