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North American blizzard of 2005
Category 4 "Crippling" (RSI/NOAA: 10.34)
Satellite image of the blizzard making its way across the Atlantic states.
TypeExtratropical cyclone
Blizzard
Winter storm
FormedJanuary 20, 2005
DissipatedJanuary 23, 2005
Maximum snowfall
or ice accretion		33.0 in Salem, Massachusetts
FatalitiesAt least 12 (including 3 Firefighters from NYC.)
DamageUnknown
Areas affectedUpper Midwest, Great Lakes Region, Northeastern United States, British Isles, Scandinavian Peninsula
Abandoned cars line Route 6A in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, one of the harder hit areas, receiving as much as 30.5 inches (77.5 cm) of snow during the blizzard.

The North American blizzard of 2005 was a three-day storm that affected large areas of the northern United States, dropping more than 3 feet (0.9 m) of snow in parts of southeastern Massachusetts, as well as much of the Boston metropolitan area. While this was by far the hardest hit region, it was also a significant snowstorm for the Philadelphia and New York City areas, which both suffered occasional blizzard conditions and 12–15 in (30–38 cm) snow accumulations.[1]

The storm began dropping snow on the upper Midwest on Thursday, January 20, 2005. It slowly moved eastward affecting the Great Lakes region and the Mid-Atlantic states on Friday and Saturday, January 21 and January 22, 2005. On Saturday evening the storm entered the Southern New England area. The strength of the storm, coupled with the extreme Arctic temperatures, created a light, fluffy snow which increased the snowfall totals.

The storm shut down Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts and T. F. Green Airport in Rhode Island, while also impairing travel throughout much of Massachusetts due to the high amount of snow covering the roads. Practically all schools in the Metrowest and South East regions of Massachusetts were closed for at least two days. Cape Cod Community College, as well as all public schools on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket were closed for up to a week.

After traveling across the Atlantic Ocean, the storm system hit parts of Great Britain and Ireland and the Scandinavian peninsula, causing even more widespread blackouts and a small number of deaths in the region.

Conditions

Conditions throughout much of eastern Massachusetts were near-whiteout and, in some cases, were whiteout. State Police in both Dartmouth and Middleborough suggested that residents travel as little as possible. Major highways, such as Route 24, Route 6 and Route 140, could not be properly cleared because of the heavy snowfall and high winds. Secondary highways, such as Route 79 were nearly impassable in some areas.

Many Boston-area newscasters credit the New England Patriots football game on January 23 for keeping most travellers indoors, avoiding the pile-ups and endless lines of stuck cars that were the hallmark of the Blizzard of 1978. The fact that the storm fell on a weekend when many people did not have to go to work or school also helped to this effect.

Aftermath

With much of the snow cleared from the roads by the evening of January 24, snowpiles on street corners were in excess of ten feet high in some locations. Roads were severely narrowed in most congested areas, due to parked cars that were not towed and instead simply plowed in. Most schools in eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island remained closed for an extended period of time to allow for clean-up of the road debris.

Storm totals

Location - storm total - time/date - comments - snowfall measurement

Connecticut

Litchfield County

Hartford County

Tolland County

Windham County

Massachusetts

Barnstable County

Bristol County

Dukes County

Essex County

Franklin County

Hampden County

Hampshire County

Middlesex County

Nantucket County

Norfolk County

Plymouth County

Suffolk County

Worcester County

New Hampshire

Cheshire County

Hillsborough County

Rockingham County

New York

Ulster County

Rhode Island

Bristol County

Kent County

Providence County

Washington County

Pennsylvania

Berks County

Bucks County

Carbon County

Chester County

Delaware County

Lehigh County

Monroe County

Montgomery County

Northampton County

Philadelphia

References

  1. ^ "Blizzard in U.S. ranked among century's worst". The New York Times. 25 January 2005. Retrieved 12 February 2024.

See also

External links

Major snow and ice events in the United States
Categories