Monday, December 27, 2010

Blizzard pounds New England

Satellite image from the NWS shows just how close the clouds and precipitation came to Montreal. The center of the storm can be seem swirling off the coast east of Cape Cod.

11:30am UPDATE: Low pressure is moving northward along the Maine coast and into Nova Scotia at this hour. Warm air on the east side of the storm has pushed temperatures to almost 10C in Halifax with steady rain expected. Meanwhile cold north winds have produced low wind chills and lots of snow and blowing snow on the west side of the storm. Some totals to 11am this morning include a trace at Montreal and Plattsburgh to 2.5" at Burlington and 18" at Wells River, Vermont, with up to 2 feet in New Jersey and metro New York. Airports in Boston, NYC and Newark remain closed.
An area of moderate snow has developed in the Champlain Valley at 11am and has nosed just northward into southern Quebec. It will coat the roads quickly so if you are travelling south of Montreal on Highway 15, I-89 or I-87, keep this in mind. It will taper off this afternoon, but remain very windy and cold with areas of blowing and drifting snow.
Strong low pressure located near Cape Cod continues to produce heavy snow and 40mph winds across much of Vermont and New Hampshire this morning southeast towards the coast. Montreal remained on the western edge of the cloud shield from the storm with high pressure in control. It is blustery and very cold this morning but the region has only had a few flurries. You have to go south of the border towards Burlington before travel problems with snow and low visibilities begin.

The snow has been very heavy across Vermont with reports of over a foot in the southern half of the state. Travel along the east coast is nearly impossible this morning with thousands of flights cancelled. The NFL game between Philadelphia and Minnesota was cancelled last evening due to the storm. Amtrack rail service has also been postponed between New York and Boston. Precipitation will taper off today as the storm moves towards Nova Scotia. Winds however will continue to produce biting cold, blowing snow and a pounding surf across a wide area of New England and eastern Canada. More coastal flooding is forecast in hard hit Atlantic Canada and eastern Quebec. The area has been hammered by several storms this December producing lots of flooding and damage to coastal infrastructure.

I am still digging around for snow totals, but one that impressed me late last night was 18 inches at Cape May, New Jersey, while less than 100 miles away, Philadelphia only had 4 inches. This storm, while being very intense, has a sharp cutoff in the snow as you move west away from the center. While locations in southern Vermont have had close to 20 inches of snow, Swanton on the Canadian border has had a trace.

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