How New England and Boston’s Snow Measures Up In The Record Books
Jon Erdman
Published: February 22, 2015
An over three-week snow siege has buried parts of New England with feet of snow.
You may wonder if this extended snowy blitz is setting records. Below, we have a rundown of heaviest snowstorm, snowiest month and season lists for the hardest hit parts of New England. Click on each bolded city link for the latest forecast.
Boston
Winter Storms Juno and Marcus each made the top 10 heaviest Boston snowstorms, all-time.
1. Feb. 17-18, 2003: 27.6 inches
2. Feb. 6-7, 1978: 27.1 inches
3. Feb. 24-26, 1969: 25.8 inches
4. Mar. 31 – Apr. 1, 1997: 25.4 inches
5. Feb. 8-9, 2013 (Nemo): 24.9 inches
6. Jan. 26-28, 2015 (Juno): 24.6 inches
7. Feb. 7-10, 2015 (Marcus): 23.8 inches
8. Jan. 22-23, 2005: 22.5 inches
9. Jan. 20-21, 1978: 21.4 inches
10. Mar. 3-5, 1960: 19.8 inches
In just over two years, we’ve had three of the top seven heaviest snowstorms in Boston.
February has obliterated the previous snowiest month on record in Boston.
1. February 2015: 62.6 inches
2. January 2005: 43.3 inches
3. January 1945: 42.3 inches
4. February 2003: 41.6 inches
5. February 1969: 41.3 inches
For perspective, the average seasonal snowfall at Logan Airport is 43.5 inches.
Speaking of seasonal snowfall, 2014-2015 is now the second snowiest season on record. In the last 21 years, Boston has now had 4 of its top 5 snowiest seasons.
1. 1995-1996: 107.6 inches
2. 2014-2015: 99.8 inches
3. 1993-1994: 96.3 inches
4. 1947-1948: 89.2 inches
5. 2004-2005: 86.6 inches
6. 1977-1978: 85.1 inches
7. 1992-1993: 83.9 inches
8. 2010-2011: 81.0 inches
9. 1915-1916: 79.2 inches
10. 1919-1920: 73.4 inches
Other records Boston has set during this stretch include:
– Record 30-day snowfall: 90.8 inches from Jan. 19- Feb. 17, 2015, inclusive (previous record: 58.8 inches from Jan. 9 – Feb. 7, 1978). Incredibly, this 30-day total would be the third snowiest season!
– Record snow depth*: 37 inches on Feb. 9 (previous record: 31 inches on Jan. 11, 1996; * gaps in this dataset exist)
– Fastest six-foot snowfall: 72.5 inches in 18 days from Jan. 24 – Feb. 10, 2015 (previous record: 73 inches in 45 days from Dec. 29, 1993 to Feb. 11, 1994)
– Fastest 90-inch snowfall: 23 days from Jan. 24 – Feb. 15, 2015 (previous record: 78 days from Dec. 30, 1993 to Mar. 17, 1994)
– Four calendar days with at least 12 inches of snow, a first for any snow season (previously, only two seasons had as many as two such days, in 1977-1978 and 1960-1961 seasons)
– At least 0.5 inch of snow had fallen 6 straight days through Feb. 12, topping the previous such record stretch of 5 days in 1943. The record stretch of measurable snow (at least 0.1 inch) was 9 straight days ending on Mar. 10, 1916.
– Finally, the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts set an all-time snow depth record on the morning of February 15.
Worcester, Massachusetts
(Caveat: Except for the April Fools’ snowstorm in 1997, there is a gap in the period of record from 1997-2002)
Winter Storm Juno in late January set a snowstorm record for Worcester.
1. Jan. 26-27, 2015 (Juno): 34.5 inches
2. Mar. 31 – Apr. 1, 1997 (April Fools): 33.0 inches
3. Dec. 11-12, 1992: 32.1 inches
4. Feb. 8-9, 2013 (Nemo): 28.7 inches
5. Feb. 14-16, 1962: 24.8 inches
February 2015 is now their snowiest month, all-time. Incredibly, they’ve had 2 of their top 5 snowiest months back-to-back (highlighted below):
1. February 2015: 52.5 inches
2. January 2005: 50.9 inches
3. January 2011: 48.4 inches
4. January 1987: 46.8 inches
5. January 2015: 46.5 inches
Worcester has now chalked up a top 10 snowiest season.
1. 1995-1996: 132.9 inches
2. 1992-1993: 120.1 inches
3. 2004-2005: 114.3 inches
4. 2002-2003: 111.8 inches
5. 2014-2015: 107.7 inches
6. 2012-2013: 108.9 inches
7. 1960-1961: 104.3 inches
8. 1993-1994: 100.2 inches
9. 1971-1972: 99.3 inches
10. 1957-1958: 97.5 inches
Portland, Maine
Winter Storm Juno in late January was a top-five snowstorm for Portland.
1. Feb. 8-9, 2013 (Nemo): 31.9 inches
2. Jan. 17-18, 1979: 27.1 inches
3. Feb. 17-18, 1952: 25.3 inches
4. Jan. 27-28, 2015 (Juno): 23.8 inches
5. Jan. 23-24, 1935: 23.3 inches
Portland needs just over 18 inches of snow to reach their fifth snowiest month (50.9 inches in Feb. 1893). They also need 15.8 inches to reach their 10th snowiest season (103 inches).
Bangor, Maine
Bangor needs just over 9 inches of snow to reach their top five snowiest months.
1. February 1969: 58 inches
2. January 1966: 48.4 inches
3. December 1962: 47.5 inches
4. January 1987: 46.7 inches
5. December 2007: 42.3 inches
January 2015 just missed the top five, with 41.8 inches.
Bangor vaulted into their top five snowiest seasons on February 19.
1. 1962-1963: 181.9 inches
2. 1970-1971: 119.7 inches
3. 2010-2011: 115.1 inches
4. 1968-1969: 114.4 inches
5. 2014-2015: 107.8 inches
Bangor may near its all-time record snow depth (snow that’s on the ground at any one time) of 53 inches from Feb. 27 – Mar. 1, 1969.
Bangor and other Downeast Maine locations set several 7-to-10 day snowstorm records from late January to early February.
(MORE: Full writeup from NWS-Caribou, Maine)
One of those Downeast Maine locations, Eastport, has picked up over 9 feet (109 inches) of snow since January 25.
How New England and Boston’s Snow Measures Up In The Record Books | Weather Underground.