What do you consider a BIG snowstorm???

People love using the term "blizzard" or here in New England a "Nor'easter" for any storm despite size or direction of origin or movement. I'm routinely seeing 6"-8" storms called blizzards, 12" storms being called blockbusters and its a bit bothersome. LOL

To this Northern boy, (who may be the exception in that I actually still like snow ), despite living in a Northern climate my whole life. A blizzard isn't a 6" dusting.

What qualifies as a BIG storm in your book? To me anything under 6" is a tiny snow event, 6"-12" is an average storm/nothing special, 12"-18" is getting decent in size, 18"-24" is big, and 24" plus is where the term blockbuster storm or other similar names should be used. I'm still hopeful we get a once in a lifetime single storm event of 40"-50" here in New England this year. The kind that you still remember and talk about 50 years later like the blizzard of 78'.

 

I lived through the blizzard of '78.

To me, big is anything over 2feet.

 

Dusting - thin layer
anything less than an inch or two can be salted away.
4" (not too wet) is a great depth to plow and cover up the grass.
6-12" snow storm
12+ big snow storm.
Biggest one I was in started New Year's day 2000 (I think it was 2000, could be 1999 or 2001). Went to work plowing snow at 8am Saturday morning and didn't get home till Wednesday at 10pm. I think we got 24 to 36 inches

 

I too survived that one and still remember it. Was a young kid but we played outside for days in the snow , building snow forts and tunneling through the huge piles left behind at our intersection. Good times !

I would consider this last one big but not like the world was coming to an end big. We had 16 inches according to our local news and did have some big drifts but just had to deal with it. Got through it and waiting for the next one.

 

Biggest one in my recent memory was February of 2013. They was shortly after they started naming snow storms and Nemo dropped 31” at my house. This was after plowing for the state for about 40 hours straight. Plowing every few inches I didn’t realize how much we had got. I quickly realized when I got home!!!

 

I was 22. Working 2nd shift. I got to work and everyone was leaving. They soon came back. Local roads plugged. I stayed there for 3 days. Corporate building. Cafeteria was open. I finally walked home. About 3miles. Walked back the next day with my brother , to get my car. Roads were closed.

I actually put in OT work.

Good memories.

 

I don’t foresee there ever being another blizzard of 78’ type of storm. Maybe in amount of snow, but not in element of surprise or casualties. We have too much technology now to track the storms and it seems like everyone with a pickup has a plow.

 

I agree. Theres been bigger storms, but the timing and everyone trying to get home at the same time, was the beginning of it.

Now, along the coast was/is another story. That surf can be something to be feared for its power.

 

2 plus feet. A blizzard by definition is not measured by how much snow but any amount of snow with sustained high winds above a certain speed for so many hours. I’ve seen blizzards here that drop 6 inches of snow but blow 60-70 mph for 20 hours.

 

Yep 2 or 3 inches of snow and 60 mph winds and you have a blizzard, can't see your hand in front of your face. Great for the wood racks also, much of my wood is under snow now.

 

In south Jersey, a big storm would be a foot plus. Biggest we ever got was in '96 when we got 30". It's all relative though as some ski resorts in the Sierra Nevada's recently got 100" from one storm

 

Worcester MA, which is the largest city near me was on record for snowiest winter in 2015 I believe. They got about 119", and came runner up in 2013. Beating out perennial favorites Buffalo and Syracuse. I think they defined city as over 100,000 in population. Those are the winters I miss. Call me crazy, but I love seeing that white stuff fall.

 

Valentine’s Day storm think it was 2007 was 42-44”. I was helping a buddy plow. State sent plow guys home and they got stuck; couldn’t make it back in.. 1993 had a 40”. So over 3 feet

 

Anything up to your balls is deep snow, that’s why old men move to Florida!

 

I remember both those storms but I couldn’t remember the years! Thank you sir!

 

"Blizzard" is definitely way overused. I don't get the fascination with measuring the inches or predicting the inches of snow either...when I'm asked how many inches I say "depends on where you measure".

 

That 1993 storm had a snowmobile in back of Toyota. They shut down interstate. Backed truck up up to a snow bank and drove sled up interstate home. Picked up a trooper stuck in U turn dropped him off at barracks.. good memories. Then I got home and realized good snow shovel was in truck

 

Im going to share this with my dad that spends winter down there..

 

If you want to consider “bad” storms in 92 or 93 we had overnight snow probably a foot and a half, warmed up and rained all the next day. As soon as the sun went down the temp plummeted to the single digits and went back to snow. I was driving home from work at 15 mph and had a state trooper following me. That is until he turned sideways and blocked the road off so no more traffic could go through. State trucks off the road everywhere, stuck on hills, one was on its side. Temps never warmed above freezing for over a month. Put scarifier blades on plows and used graders to try to break up several inches of solid ice on the roads. All winter was like driving on washboard dirt roads.