Ghiorse: Monday AM Blizzard Juno Update

Monday, January 26, 2015

John Ghiorse, GoLocalWorcester Meteorologist

Most everything continues to be on track this afternoon. The center of the storm has started to intensify along the Mid-Atlantic coast and light snow and flurries are breaking out across much of the area. The snow will intensify throughout the late afternoon and evening as the storm center grows stronger and moves slowly offshore. Blizzard conditions will develop later tonight into tomorrow with near zero visibility and winds gusting to 50mph or higher during the peak of the storm.

I continue to think that the slow movement of the storm center and a potential delayed looping of the center is a key to the forecast. If that happens, it will cause an extended period of whiteout conditions that will leave 2 feet or more of snow before it's all over sometime early Wednesday. If the storm center does not slow, snow amounts will be lower but still in the 1-2 foot range. No matter what, this continues to be a storm with the potential of epic proportions and all preparations for the storm should be completed immediately.

Related Slideshow: The 10 Worst Blizzards in Central MA History

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#10 Blizzard of February 2006

Dates: February 11-13, 2006

Accumulation: Approximately 22 inches

This Nor'easter interrupted everybody's Valentine's Day plans, and resulted in coastal flooding and heavy snow.

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#9 Blizzard of December 2010

Dates: December 22-29, 2010

Accumulation: Approximately 24 inches

A State of Emergency was declared in Boston when this Christmas storm hit and kept families home for the holidays. Worcester saw two feet of snow during this white Christmas.

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#8 NEMO 2013

Dates: February 7-18, 2013

Accumulation: Approximately 25 inches

NEMO singlehandedly shut down every road in Worcester. Dropping more than two feet of snow in the city, a driving ban was put into effect.

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#7 Nor'Easter of '69

Dates: February 8-10, 1969

Accumulation: Approximately 26 inches

Bryan Adams didn't write a song about Nor'Easter of '69 because it would have been miserable to listen to. Even worse to experience.

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#6 Blizzard of February 2003

Dates: February 14-19, 2003

Accumulation: Approximately 27.5 inches

This storm interrupted both Valentine's Day and President's Day. Named 'President's Day Storm II,' this storm set a record in Boston with more than 27 inches.

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#5 Blizzard of January 1996

Dates: January 6-10, 1996

Accumulation: Approximately 30 inches

Not even a week into 1996, this storm blanketed parts of Massachusetts with upwards of 30 inches of snow. It is one of two blizzards to receive an “extreme” rating on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale.

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#4 Blizzard of February 1978

Dates: February 5-7, 1978

Accumulations: Approximately 32 inches

Many in the Worcester area argue that this is the worst storm the city has ever seen. 73 people in Massachusetts died because of this storm. At the time, it set a Boston record for 32 inches of snow over a 2 day period.

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#3 April Fool's Blizzard of 1997

Dates: March 30 - April 1, 1997

Accumulations: Approximately 33 inches

This storm wasn't messing around with anyone. Over three days, and ending on April Fool's Day, the storm dropped 33 inches of snow on Central MA.

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#2 Blizzard of January 2005

Dates: January 20-23, 2005

Accumulations: Approximately 40 inches

This three-day storm droppped nearly 40 inches of snow in Central Massachusetts over a 3 day period.

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#1 Great Blizzard of 1888

Dates: March 11-14, 1888

Accumulations: Approximately 50 inches

One of the most severe recorded blizzards in the history of the United States, this superstorm dumped as much as 50 inches of snow in parts of Massachusetts. It affected the entire country.

In New York City, they suffered so much damage to power lines and cables, that this storm single handedly is responsible for implementing running cable underground.