From December 26–28, 2010, a historic and severe blizzard, known commonly as the Blizzard of 2010 or the Boxing Day Blizzard, affected the Northeastern United States with coastal flooding and heavy snowfall of up to just after Christmas Day. It was the first significant winter storm of the 2010–11 North American winter storm season and the fifth North American blizzard of 2010. The blizzard affected the northeast megalopolis, which includes major cities such as Norfolk, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, Hartford, Providence, and Boston. In some locations, it was the heaviest since the January 1996 blizzard.
The storm had many similarities to the North American blizzard of 2006. The storm also generated a rare meteorological phenomenon known as thundersnow in which thunder and lightning occur concurrently with the falling snow. Several synoptic factors contributed to the intensity of this blizzard."December 26-27th 2010 Blizzard" , National Weather Service, New York City At least 7 people were confirmed to have died from the blizzard, and damages are estimated to be around US$60 million.
Meteorological history
On December 25, a shortwave trough moved eastwards into the western Gulf of Mexico, generating a weak area of low pressure in its vicinity along the Texas coastline. Shortly afterward, the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) began issuing storm summary bulletins on the developing storm. The system continued eastwards towards the state of Florida, as another shortwave trough from Canada moved southeastwards, causing light-to-moderate snowfall to occur across the Midwestern United States and Ohio Valley. Later that night, as both disturbances gravitated towards each other and coalesced into one larger system, the winter storm crossed Florida emerging into the southwestern Atlantic, and began strengthening into the early morning hours of December 26 as it began moving northeastwards, becoming a nor'easter in the process.
Widespread snowfall, some heavy, was now occurring north to south from South Carolina to southern Maryland. Rapid strengthening ensued later that morning as the nor'easter moved nearly due north, as winds and snowfall spread into and increased along the Mid-Atlantic states. Blizzard conditions occurred as the day progressed into evening along the coastlines of states like New Jersey, and mesoscale features associated with a powerful jet caused heavy snowbands to develop and pivot towards the coastline, with rates of per hour occurring across eastern New Jersey during the evening hours; thundersnow was reported in New York City around this time. Early on December 27, as the forward speed of the system slowed, the blizzard reached its peak intensity of near Cape Cod, equal in pressure to that found in a Category 3 hurricane. The system gradually turned eastwards as snowfall slowly began tapering off west to east, before exiting on December 28. The low eventually weakened south of Atlantic Canada before dissipating as it was absorbed into a new storm on December 30.
Forecasting difficulties The storm was difficult to predict due to disagreements between models; it wasn't until about two days prior on December 24 when the most models anticipated a major snowstorm. The National Weather Service's HPC and many other private forecasters were skeptical of the storm impacting the Northeastern states until about 24 hours of the storm's arrival as well; although, some models depicted the storm delivering a full-blown blizzard to the New York City metropolitan area as early as a week in advance. The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center even issued a statement on Christmas Eve, 48 hours prior to the storm, that they suspected the American models of having model initialization errors; thus, they believed these errors may have forced the storm to be erroneously modeled to come up the Northeastern coast.
Preparations and impact
United States Southeastern United States Areas in eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia saw upwards of of snow. North Carolina North Carolina was one of six US states where a state of emergency was declared due to the storm. Snow totals in the state ranged from less than in the east, from in the central part of the state and along the I-95 corridor, and from in the west.
Mid-Atlantic states Late on December 25, WPVI-TV announced that the National Weather Service had issued blizzard warnings for northern and parts of central New Jersey, New York City, Long Island and coastal southern New England.WPVI-TV map showing counties affected by blizzard warning . Retrieved 2010-12-26. Amtrak's Acela Express and regular Northeast Regional service was shut down completely between Boston and New York. Areas to the east of New York City received 10 to 20 inches while 20 to 30 inches of snow fell across New York City, Northeast and Central New Jersey and the Lower Hudson Valley. Areas receiving the most snow are between Kendall Park and Elizabeth and between Brick and Atlantic City in New Jersey. This was because multiple convective bands of heavy snow fed in off the ocean into the large stationary very heavy snow band (with occasional lightning) over the areas that received 20 to 30 inches. These areas received snowfall totals over . A secondary heavy snow/rain band formed across Eastern Massachusetts the night of December 26. Southern New England including Boston saw more than of snow. Even areas of coastal Virginia saw more than of snow, and North Carolina received more than . WCAU-TV in Philadelphia forecast a snowfall of between in Philadelphia itself (which received ), while nearby Trenton, New Jersey and parts of southern New Jersey were expected to receive snowfalls of or more. Wind gusts were expected to reach between ."Heavy Snow Slams Region" . Retrieved December 26, 2010.
Delaware had declared a State of Emergency on Sunday evening.
Pennsylvania On December 26, several closures were announced on KYW-1060 (the all-news radio station in Philadelphia), including the Please Touch Museum and Independence National Historical Park.CBS Philadelphia page with closings. Retrieved 2010-12-26. Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter declared a snow emergency beginning at 2:00 p.m. local time."Nutter sets 2 p.m. snow emergency in Philly" . Delaware Online. Retrieved December 26, 2010. The NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, scheduled for Sunday, December 26, was postponed until Tuesday, December 28.Philadelphia Eagles home page . Retrieved 2010-12-26. Ironically, it was scheduled to be played Sunday afternoon, but flexed to the primetime slot, displacing the San Diego Chargers-Cincinnati Bengals game to the afternoon.Eagles-Vikings moves to primetime in Week 16, ProFootballTalk, December 13, 2010
Pittsburgh declared a State of Emergency Sunday afternoon with an expected accumulation of .
New York City The Greater New York area had sustained winds of 30–45 MPH with gusts to over 60 MPH during the afternoon and night of December 26. By the storm's end, weather stations in Central Park had recorded of snow. A combination of heavy snow and strong winds led to massive transportation lockdowns across the city. Nearly all roads in the city (with the exception of major arteries) were left impassable for many days because of the amount of snow. Hundreds of buses were stuck in the snow.NYTimes, Dec 29, 2010 Hundreds of buses stranded More than 400 passengers were stranded on the A train on the IND Rockaway Line for seven hours starting shortly before 1 a.m. One train did not open its doors when it stopped at the station. Dozens of LIRR trains were frozen onto the platforms. Hundreds of plows were on the road. NYC's major airports, Kennedy, Newark and LaGuardia were shut down until 6:00 p.m. Monday evening. The MTA ran on a limited schedule, even on Tuesday morning, with many above ground subway lines not functioning. By Wednesday, only the Sea Beach Line, Franklin Avenue Line, and Greenport Branch remained suspended. The subway resumed full service on Thursday, the LIRR Friday morning. Areas in and around New York City, which were most impacted by the storm, reported between of snowfall by Monday morning. Measurement was made difficult due to snow drifts caused by the winds. Central Park's reported of snow from the storm is the sixth-largest snowfall on record for that location.
Residents of the city were complaining to Mayor Michael Bloomberg about the slowness of the snowplows attempting to reach their areas. By the late afternoon on Tuesday, snowplows had reached the minor streets in Brooklyn. Many residents of Staten Island, however, had yet to see one. Many plows became stuck in the snow that had accumulated on the streets and several could not get through as many residents had simply abandoned their cars in the middle of roads once it became too hazardous or impossible to move. These cars became stuck as the snow accumulated around them, creating roadblocks for the plows. Both Mayor Bloomberg and the chief of the sanitation department were urging residents to stay indoors and not shovel snow back onto the streets that had already been plowed. State Senator Carl Kruger called the response a "Colossal Failure".
Multiple explanations have been proposed for the relatively slow response of the snow cleanup in the New York City metropolitan area. For example, the local media did not fully alert the general public until Christmas Day about the impending storm due to the complexity and lateness of the forecast models predicting the storm; thus, public awareness was delayed. Another possible cause was that Mayor Bloomberg had previously laid off 400 New York City Sanitation workers due to budget cuts; therefore, fewer plows were at work. In addition, some city workers who are responsible for managing the snow removal process had taken the day off from work during the storm due to the Christmas holiday. Also, a snow emergency was not declared, contributing to the number of abandoned cars on the streets.
On December 30, the New York Post reported that several sanitation workers confessed that cleanup was intentionally slowed down to protest the aforementioned budget cuts. On January 3, 2011, WCBS-TV reported that prosecutors had obtained a video of two sanitation trucks driving down 155th Street in Whitestone, Queens after the blizzard with their plows raised so as not to remove the snow. Allegations were also made that sanitation workers slept on the job, hung out at a doughnut shop for 11 straight hours while on the job, and drank beer for six or seven hours while on the job. Claims were also made that supervisors encouraged such work stoppages.Video Of Apparent Blizzard Clean-Up, Slow-Down Surfaces , WCBS-TV, January 3, 2011 However, a month later, The New York Times reported that the allegations of a slowdown remained unsubstantiated and that Councilman Daniel Halloran, who had originally reported the confessions, had not named his sources.Evidence Is Elusive on Charge of a Blizzard Slowdown, The New York Times, January 25, 2011
A man who attempted suicide by jumping from a ninth-story window was saved when he landed on a huge pile of garbage that had accumulated during the blizzard.Garbage breaks suicide jumper's fall, New York Post, January 2, 2011 Two casualties were reported as the result of emergency workers being unable to reach those in need: a newborn baby and an elderly woman.
New Jersey