Was the Christmas Blizzard of 2009 "Great"?

[Jeff Miller]

On a historical level, what defines a "Great Blizzard"?

For those of us winter weather buffs, "Great Blizzards" typically are reminiscent of the Blizzard of 1978. That phenomenal Blizzard produced winds sustained in the neighborhood of 50-70 MPH and gusts over 100 over the open waters of Lake Erie near Cleveland.

This storm was historical on many levels. This storm shattered records throughout the Plains. Sioux City, Iowa had it's snowiest Christmas ever and event totals are nearing or have topped 20". Oklahoma City had a record breaking 14+" of heavy snow. Tulsa was battered by a thunderstorm event with heavy sleet and snow as predominant precipitation. Travel was paralyzed, and lives were lost in the Plains, sadly.

Just a look at water vapor imagery and visual satellite is staggering. The effect of the massive low pressure system was almost CONUS-encompassing. Massive is a simple understatement.

How many of us would term the Blizzard "Great"? I have seen Micheal O'Keefe use the term and I did as well, at first sarcastically, now believing it.

What then is the historical terminology to define a Blizzard as Great? Does the Christmas Blizzard apply? Your thoughts.

PS: I have amazing photos of buried cars and massive snow drifts I need to get around to getting on here sometime.

 

[Mike Smith]

I have (on my blog) been calling it the "Christmas Eve Blizzard of 2009" because that is when the storm reached its height (60+ mph gusts with +SN in Oklahoma) but, perhaps, it should be renamed the "Christmas Blizzard" which I guess would encompass both days.

It is not "great" in the sense of the Feburary, 1971 blizzard (30 ft. drifts in the Oklahoma Panhandle) but this storm was "great" for its geographic size. When the same storm is setting records in both Oklahoma and South Dakota it is pretty amazing. This storm had a much longer path of heavy snow than the '71 storm.

My vote? Great.

 

[Steven Gliebe]

Since everything is relative, the "near blizzard" in North Texas that caused a rare White Christmas was "great" in my history book.

Video: http://www.stormspectator.com/video/149/White+Christmas+in+Texas
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sudste/sets/72157622940071119/

 

[MatthewCarman]

I would say this was a great winter storm because parts of Texas and Oklahoma saw alot of snow and broke records in areas that do not generally see alot of snow compared to the upper plains states. This system also produced tornadoes to the south and snow totals near 20" did occur in northwest Iowa I think. Many people lost power in that part of the state.

The last storm (not the east coast storm) was great. It only affected a much smaller area but it brought I think 100+ mph winds to the Rockies, 20" of snow to parts of CO and 16-17" of snow to parts of the Midwest. The last storm also brought 8+ foot drifts in areas.

I need to go to wikipedia and see what defines a great blizzard.

 

[rdale]

I need to go to wikipedia and see what defines a great blizzard.

An interesting commentary... Reminds me of Michael Scott when he used it for The Office staff. Those looking for a scientific definition are reminded about the "what is a veteran chaser" thread. A "great" blizzard is whatever you define it as.

 

[MatthewCarman]

Taken from Wikipedia this is what I define as a great blizzard:

The Great Blizzard of 1888 or Great Blizzard of '88 (March 11 – March 14, 1888) was one of the most severe blizzards in United States' recorded history. Snowfalls of 40-50 inches (102-127 cm) fell in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and sustained winds of over 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet (15.2 m). Railroads were shut down and people were confined to their houses for up to a week.[1]

 

[Jeff Miller]

As there is, I am well aware, no "official" definition as such, and my question was polling the Stormtrack readers as to their definition, please allow me to submit my definitions for a blizzard being a "Great Blizzard". They are as such:

A: Near Record-or Record Breaking Event
B: Life threatening conditions over a large region
C: Paralyzing metropolitan areas due to meteorological conditions
D: Duration longer than 30 hours.

Again, these are just "my" definitions as such. And as such, this storm has met all of them. So, as Rdale has said - a "great blizzard" is whatever you define it is. I submit my informal definitions.

However, with that said, if you look at what Matthew Carman has posted:

The Great Blizzard of 1888 or Great Blizzard of '88 (March 11 – March 14, 1888) was one of the most severe blizzards in United States' recorded history. Snowfalls of 40-50 inches (102-127 cm) fell in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and sustained winds of over 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) produced snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet (15.2 m). Railroads were shut down and people were confined to their houses for up to a week.[1]

Then is this storm even in the ballpark? Windwise, yes. Driftwise, I no. People confined to their houses up to a week? No. However, I believe with modern technology in snow removal and communications, as well as more structures to prevent such massive drifts - it's doubtful that that form of blizzard will occur quite at that dramatic intensity - though we haven't seen a 40-50" snowfall in a while as well.

I also submit:

The Great Blizzard of 1978 was a historic blizzard which struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes from January 25–27, 1978. The 28.28 inches (958 millibars) barometric pressure measurement recorded in Cleveland, Ohio remains the lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure ever recorded in the mainland United States.

So there IS precedent for proclaiming a blizzard "great", though official terminology is void.

 

[Kirt Smith]

Well this is one of the worst ones i have seen in my short 41yrs and it wont quit. Still snowing and blowing here. Here is info from Hastings WFO.

Christmas 2009 Snowfall Previous Record Christmas 2009 Precipitation Previous Record
Grand Island 7.8 inches 3.0 inches in 1941 0.51" 0.20" in 1941
Hastings 9.2 inches 9.0 inches in 1945 0.58" 1.00" in 1945 (record still stands)

Christmas Day Wind Gusts
Hastings Airport 58 mph
Aurora Airport 57 mph
Grand Island Airport 54 mph
Ord Airport 53 mph
Holdrege Airport 51 mph
Lexington Airport 50 mph
Kearney Airport 46 mph

 

[Michael O'Keeffe]

I stick with my term as a "great" blizzard as this storm just crippled the entire Plains from TX/LA with tornadoes to the blizzard conditions seen from Abilene, TX north through OKC, Tulsa, Kansas City, Omaha, Sioux Falls, and Rapid City among others. I consider it great when over 1,000 miles of highways are shutdown in the country due to the storm, I mean all of I90 in SD, all of I94 in ND, much of I29, I44 in Oklahoma, and I40 in Oklahoma. Not to mention the numerous US highways and state highways! Numerous records were broken from Dallas to North Dakota as well.

In Rapid City yesterday winds were sustained at 45-50MPH all day with gusts over 65MPH for over 8 hours! Pretty insane and snowfall totals in the northern Black Hills range from 30-50 inches!!! Not to mention the ice storm in Iowa and Illinois including Chicago.

Kansas City saw their first true blizzard in 27 years with a 53MPH wind gusts at the executive airport next to my house.

Millions of people were stranded and it ruined many holiday plans and even killed a number of people which is very sad to hear.

I just think it will be a while before any of us see another storm that affects so many people and so much real estate again. This is why the storm will be considered "great" in my book.

 

[Patrick Martin]

It only affected a much smaller area but it brought I think 100+ mph winds to the Rockies, 20" of snow to parts of CO

20" in CO...um...where? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not recall any reports from Boulder NWS of totals east of the foothills of over 12 inches (ElDorado Springs reported 11inches total). If you are referring to snow totals of 20" in the CO mtns, it's common. Seems like at least once a year there are 3'-4' reports.

For wind, at no point were there high wind warnings in the mountains, although New Raymer (on the plains) reported a gust to 72mph in the last 24 hours, which is the highest I've seen. In the northern/central mountains, I only recall WWA and no high wind warnings. And the occassional gust to over 100 on the higher passes is commonplance in the winter.

For CO, this system was run of the mill, and not "great" in any way.

 

[MatthewCarman]

As for the last winter storm to hit the Midwest the weather Chanel reported Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado received 20" of snow.

 

[Jeff Miller]

Obviously, a lot more people are terming this Blizzard as "great".

 

[Robert Dewey]

20" in CO...um...where? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not recall any reports from Boulder NWS of totals east of the foothills of over 12 inches (ElDorado Springs reported 11inches total). If you are referring to snow totals of 20" in the CO mtns, it's common. Seems like at least once a year there are 3'-4' reports.

For wind, at no point were there high wind warnings in the mountains, although New Raymer (on the plains) reported a gust to 72mph in the last 24 hours, which is the highest I've seen. In the northern/central mountains, I only recall WWA and no high wind warnings. And the occassional gust to over 100 on the higher passes is commonplance in the winter.

For CO, this system was run of the mill, and not "great" in any way.

The "last" storm (December 9th-ish, 2009) dropped a lot of snow (more than 20 inches). I think that's what Matthew was referring to. I can't comment on the rarity or noteworthiness as I'm not from that area. By my standards - given the area I'm accustomed to - that's certainly epic... but so is a 12 inch snowstorm!

http://blogs.powdermag.com/industry-news-and-events/colorado-reporting-heavy-snow-across-the-state/

 

[Patrick Martin]

As for the last winter storm to hit the Midwest the weather Chanel reported Wolf Creek Pass, Colorado received 20" of snow.

Wolf Creek Pass get's something like 450+ inches of snow per year. Precip totals and wind speeds are measured at the summit, which is at 10,863ft in elevation. A 20" inch accumulation is common.

Edit: Rob, agree, the last storm had a much bigger impact to CO, but was not epic either. And please don't get me wrong, I agree 101% that this blizzard for many many other areas was extraordinary. I'm just saying for CO, it was not.

 

[Kevin Walters]

Wow 50' drifts? That is unbelievable. The biggest snow drift I have ever seen in person was 20' back in Feb of 1979. It was huge, I can't imagine something more than twice as tall. There was still quite a bit of this drift left in late March on the same day when there were violent tornadoes in SW Iowa.