As we say goodbye to 2014, let’s review the top 5 most impressive and extreme weather events that occurred throughout the U.S this year in chronological order.
February 12 – 13, 2014 Northeast Snowstorm
The 2013 - 2014 winter season ranks among the the coldest and snowiest winter seasons on record in the Northeast. Out of all the snow events this year, the bookend nor’easter around Valentine's Day that buried everyone from Maine to northern Virginia in 1 – 2 feet of snow certainly stands out on top. The first phase of the storm dumped heavy, fluffy snow throughout the region with a period of incredible snow rates of 2 – 3 inches per hour. While those from Hartford down to Philly woke up to a widespread 7 – 14 inches, those in the Mid Atlantic were hardest hit where 12 – 20 inches blanketed the Baltimore and D.C metro areas by the morning rush. The break in the snow that followed brought freezing rain and sleet coating surfaces in 0.10 – 0.25 inches of ice. Then, the back end of the storm brought a second round of snow adding another 2 – 5 inches. Considering this was a 36 - 48 hour snow and ice event, it is one few will forget.
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August 2014 Islip, NY Flash Flooding Event
During an August that produced flash flooding in Maryland and New Jersey, central Long Island experienced a 1 in 1000 year rain event that surpassed rainfall totals set during even the wettest tropical cyclones in New York State history. The early morning hours of August 13, 2014 featured a seemingly never ending conveyor belt of torrential rainfall that bombarded central Long Island. After 8 hours of incredible rainfall rates, including 9.71 inches recorded between 5 AM and 7 AM, Islip, NY finished the day with an astounding 13.51 inches! This preliminarily ranks as the highest 24 hour rainfall total for the State of New York.
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Record Cold and Snowy November 2014
After the historic Super Typhoon Nuri reached record breaking strength in the Bering Sea, it spawned an intense ridge over Alaska that expanded all the way into the high latitudes. This in turn helped "break down" the Polar Vortex and allowed some of the coldest air in the Northern Hemisphere to plunge right into the U.S., giving many one of the coldest and snowiest Novembers on record. Who can forget widespread overnight lows plummeting into the single, and even negative, digits throughout the Rockies and the Great Plains, with even teens and 20s up and down the I – 95 corridor around Thanksgiving? These teeth chatting temperatures smashed records, with even a few setting new all - time coldest November readings. Of course, the frigid blast arrived just in time to combine with plenty of storm systems leading to many widespread snowfalls across the country. By November 17th, just over 50% of the lower 48 was snow covered (as seen below) which is one of highest snow cover extents on record to occur so early in the season.
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Historic Buffalo Lake Event Snow Event
Folks residing around the Great Lakes are certainly accustomed to lake effect snow, which often produces high snowfall rates over a small area; however, the historic lake effect event south of Buffalo, NY from November 18th – 21st was a once in a lifetime experience. The bone chilling temperatures that swept out of the Arctic during the second half of November traveled over the still warm Great Lakes and spawned incredibly strong, yet narrow snow bands that pummeled the area with double digit totals for consecutive days. When all was said and done, places like West Seneca, NY and Hamburg, NY were buried in nearly 80 inches of snow! Needless to say, this crushed records across the board, including marking November 2014 one of the all-time snowiest months on record for this region. To put this into perspective, this is nearly double the normal amount of snowfall seen in Hartford, CT over an entire winter!
Unprecedented California Drought
For California, 2014 featured an intensification of a drought that began during the 2011 – 2012 water year. Deficits rapidly increased over the year, which led to a period from August to December 2014 where the U.S Drought Monitor classified 55% of the state in an exceptional drought, the most severe drought classification. Climatologist even rank this one of the worst droughts in California's 163 recording history. Despite the intense and record breaking rainfall from mid-December 2014 that dumped 5 – 10+ inches across the state, it put just a small dent in this historic drought. California needs many more events of this caliber to start replenishing the multi trillion gallon water deficit accumulated over the previous three years.
