March 19-21, 1958

[North MD]

One of the heaviest early spring storms in the DC/Baltimore area with amounts over 30 inches in places with a little elevation! Not sure of the effects further northeast, maybe weathafella and four seasons could fill us in.

From Maryland Winters Site:

March 19-21, 1958: A slow moving nor'easter struck rather late in the season in 1958 causing huge amounts of property damage. Over a foot of heavy wet snow took a heavy toll on trees, shrubs, television antennas, power and communication lines. Carroll, Baltimore and Harford Counties was hardest hit. In Baltimore City, the storm began as rain during the day of the 19th but changed to heavy wet snow for the slushy commute home. It also changed to snow quickly to the northwest as the ground gained in elevation and the temperature fall. The Mount Washington section of Baltimore received 24 to 30 inches of snow. This section is just a 100 feet higher than the rest of the city. On Parr Ridge in Mount Airy, Carroll County, a weather reporter measued 33 inches of snow from the storm (4.03 inches liquid equivalent). Other reports included 29 inches at Parkton, 24.5 inches at Bentley Springs, 23 inches at Conowingo Dam and in Delaware, 27 inches at Middletown. For Westminister, 30 inches from this storm combined with two snows earlier in the month for a March snow total of 42 inches! Hagerstown saw 16 inches with areas to the west receiving considerably less. The Lower Eastern Shore saw 3 inches with areas to the north like Denton receiveing 13 inches.
Thousands of homes were without heat, light, power, and telephone service. Up to a million homes lost phone service and 2000 poles came down. 300,000 homes lost electricity including the entire communities of Frederick, Annapolis, Aberdeen, Bel Air, and Havre De Grace. For many, it was over a week before power was restored. Baltimore Gas and Electric estimated the storm damage to be 3 times greater than that of Hurricane Hazel in 1954. Major arteries were blocked by abandoned cars and fallen trees and branches. Damage was $10 million in Maryland and there were 8 deaths in the state attributed to the storm.

[Guest]

WoW. Very impressive storm to say the least especially considering it was in MD and it was this late in March no less.

Heck of a way to welcome in spring huh!

[Chris the Weather Man]

That Storm dumped 50" of snow in PA

[Anonymous]

Definitely one of the biggest Mid Atlantic snows after March 15 of all time.

According to Kocin's book, here are some totals:

DCA: 4.8"
BWI: 8.4"
PHL: 11.4"
NYC: 11.7"
BOS: 6.7"
ABE: 20.3"
ILG: 19.0"
ORH: 18.8"
TTN: 17.8"
EWR: 14.8"

Morgantown PA: 50.0" (all-time state record for one storm)
Mt. Airy MD: 33.0"
Purcellville VA: 23.0"

[Colin]

Wow that was a big storm...20.3" in ABE! :o

[ColdFront77]

Definitely one of the biggest Mid Atlantic snows after March 15 of all time.

According to Kocin's book, here are some totals:

DCA: 4.8"
BWI: 8.4"
PHL: 11.4"
NYC: 11.7"
BOS: 6.7"
ABE: 20.3"
ILG: 19.0"
ORH: 18.8"
TTN: 17.8"
EWR: 14.8"

               

               DCA: Washington, DC
               BWI: Baltimore, MD (Baltimore-Washington International Airport)
               PHL: Philadelphia, PA
               NYC: New York City, NY
               BOS: Boston, MA
               ABE: Allentown, PA
               ILG: Wilmington, DE
               ORH: Worcester, MA
               TTN: Trenton, NJ
               EWR: Newark, NJ

[Chris the Weather Man]

Brett, You have the Kocin Book?? Wow....... I always wanted the book, but its rare.......

[Anonymous]

Brett, You have the Kocin Book?? Wow....... I always wanted the book, but its rare.......

Chris, it really isn't difficult to get one at all. I e-mailed Uccellini about it and he told me the only way to get one is through the AMS, and sure enough I went to their website and ordered it, and it arrived a few days later. Here's the URL:

http://www.ametsoc.org/pubs/books/

Shoot them an e-mail telling them you're interested in purchasing the Northeastern Snowstorms book (AMS Code MM44). It's $35.00, which isn't bad at all compared to the ridiculous prices the used ones are sold for on eBay and Amazon. Well worth it -- every MECS from 1955 to 1987 has its own section with surface/850mb/500mb maps, along with text analyses and a map of snowfall totals.

[Chris the Weather Man]

Brett, You have the Kocin Book?? Wow....... I always wanted the book, but its rare.......

Chris, it really isn't difficult to get one at all. I e-mailed Uccellini about it and he told me the only way to get one is through the AMS, and sure enough I went to their website and ordered it, and it arrived a few days later. Here's the URL:

http://www.ametsoc.org/pubs/books/

Shoot them an e-mail telling them you're interested in purchasing the Northeastern Snowstorms book (AMS Code MM44). It's $35.00, which isn't bad at all compared to the ridiculous prices the used ones are sold for on eBay and Amazon. Well worth it -- every MECS from 1955 to 1987 has its own section with surface/850mb/500mb maps, along with text analyses and a map of snowfall totals.

Thank You, Brett! You are the MAN! ( I thought Paul Kocin, had a newer version of it as well)

[Anonymous]

Thank You, Brett! You are the MAN! ( I thought Paul Kocin, had a newer version of it as well)

No problem! I think he is still working on the new edition (which with my luck will come out next year making my brand new copy of the original completely obsolete ).

[Chris the Weather Man]

Then, I better wait............. LoL.


Blizzard of 1996, 27.6 inches here ( My Hometown)

Maybe We will get ( Repeat) In 2006.Blizzard of 2006? 10 years.........

[Anonymous]

Then, I better wait............. LoL.

Chris,

Good news... I e-mailed Paul about the book and he says the new edition is already complete and should be out by October or November! Just hold off a few more months and you should be able to get a brand new copy. He says it will include all the big storms up to this winter (including Dec 5-6 2003) and also have "different kinds of storms." Oh well, I'll probably be the first in line to buy it even after spending 30 bucks on the old one a few months ago .

[Chris the Weather Man]

Thanks, Brett! I cannot wait to buy it..... And Tomorrow, I plan to buy the glossary of meteorology! From AMS

[pawxguy]

Definitely one of the biggest Mid Atlantic snows after March 15 of all time.

According to Kocin's book, here are some totals:

DCA: 4.8"
BWI: 8.4"
PHL: 11.4"
NYC: 11.7"
BOS: 6.7"
ABE: 20.3"
ILG: 19.0"
ORH: 18.8"
TTN: 17.8"
EWR: 14.8"

Morgantown PA: 50.0" (all-time state record for one storm)
Mt. Airy MD: 33.0"
Purcellville VA: 23.0"

My grandfather had some good stories about that storm as he got 'stuck' on the railroad in that storm near Morgantown. Of course, growing up, I never believed his tall tales of a 50 inch snowfall until I was researching this storm and many others for my senior thesis back in 1990. Must have been amazing to see that much snow fall. The most I have seen is 24"

[Anonymous]

My grandfather had some good stories about that storm as he got 'stuck' on the railroad in that storm near Morgantown. Of course, growing up, I never believed his tall tales of a 50 inch snowfall until I was researching this storm and many others for my senior thesis back in 1990. Must have been amazing to see that much snow fall. The most I have seen is 24"

Yeah really, I cannot even begin to picture what 50 inches of snowfall would be like... especially if it occured in the DC metro area . The most snow on the ground I have seen (by a wide margin) is my 22" total here at IAD from PD2 last year, but I was sick from midway through the storm till about 4 days later, so I didn't get to actually get outside and experience it firsthand until some of it had melted. What must've been even more incredible was the fact that the 50" was falling with less-than-impressive ratios, meaning it was probably a crippling heavy wet snow... not to mention that naturally, considering the time of year, there was probably some pretty rapid melting after the event passed.

Sure would love to see some pictures of this event from the MRB-ABE area if anyone knows where they can be found.

[Chris the Weather Man]

My grandfather had some good stories about that storm as he got 'stuck' on the railroad in that storm near Morgantown. Of course, growing up, I never believed his tall tales of a 50 inch snowfall until I was researching this storm and many others for my senior thesis back in 1990. Must have been amazing to see that much snow fall. The most I have seen is 24"

Yeah really, I cannot even begin to picture what 50 inches of snowfall would be like... especially if it occured in the DC metro area . The most snow on the ground I have seen (by a wide margin) is my 22" total here at IAD from PD2 last year, but I was sick from midway through the storm till about 4 days later, so I didn't get to actually get outside and experience it firsthand until some of it had melted. What must've been even more incredible was the fact that the 50" was falling with less-than-impressive ratios, meaning it was probably a crippling heavy wet snow... not to mention that naturally, considering the time of year, there was probably some pretty rapid melting after the event passed.

Sure would love to see some pictures of this event from the MRB-ABE area if anyone knows where they can be found.

Brett, How about in Buffalo, NY. In 2001, seeing over 82 inches of snow in 5-7 days!

My greatest snow depth, was over 27 inches, I believe my father told me, 27.6" of snow, from the Blizzard of 1996.... PD2 21.5" But it snowed the next day, which gave a snowdepth of 22.25" of snow!


Unless, You count, the snow on the ground, which was around 32-34" from 1996 snowstorms from that week..... 27.6" from the blizzard... With the following weekend, another 3-6 inches....... of snow

[nystate]

Brett, How about in Buffalo, NY. In 2001, seeing over 82 inches of snow in 5-7 days!

Montague, NY (and areas nearby) reported 120 inches (10 feet ) from the same storm...

The most snow I have ever seen would be the 60-70 inches that fell over Oswego county in a 3-5 day span this past winter. I took some pictures, and I would upload them if my flatbed scanner wasn't broken.

[Chris the Weather Man]

Brett, How about in Buffalo, NY. In 2001, seeing over 82 inches of snow in 5-7 days!

Montague, NY (and areas nearby) reported 120 inches (10 feet ) from the same storm...

The most snow I have ever seen would be the 60-70 inches that fell over Oswego county in a 3-5 day span this past winter. I took some pictures, and I would upload them if my flatbed scanner wasn't broken.

Montague, NY got 127 inches of snow!


Dang, I would love to see the pictures!!

[HuffWx]

I think at ILG 19 inches fell, but the W/E was closer to 3.5 inches. A few people I talked to growing up stated that 25+ fell but there was so much melting and compacting it never got above 22 inches.

Huff