Mid-Atlantic Ice Storm of 11-12 February 1994

This weekend marks the 18th anniversary of one of the worst ice storms in Mid-Atlantic history. The predominant weather pattern for the winter of 1993-94 proved to be fairly conducive for freezing rain and sleet storms. Two of note occurred on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, one in January and the other this weekend in 1994.

I particularly remember the Ice Storm of 11-12 February 1994 as it was the first, and still the only, time I witnessed 2" of ice accretion due to freezing rain and sleet. Here is an excerpt from the fantastic Maryland Winters web page, describing the winter of 1993-94 and in particular, the Ice Storm of 11-12 February 1994:

January-February, 1994  Cold and Ice: One storm seemed to come on top of another all dropping snow, sleet, and freezing rain across the state. The most devastating icestorm struck February 10-11. It left a coat of ice, one to three inches thick, from freezing rain and sleet! Meanwhile, across north-central Maryland 4 to 7 inches of sleet accumulated. By far, the hardest hit was an area was about a 50 mile wide band from near Fredericksburg, VA across southern Maryland (Charles, Calvert, St. Marys) up to Annapolis, across the Eastern Shore (Queen Annes, Caroline, and Talbot) and over Sussex and Kent Counties in Delaware. Some counties lost 10 to 20% of their trees from the heavy ice. Trees fell on homes and cars. Roads were blocked and impassable. Electric and phone lines were down with as much as 90 percent of the county's people without power. Outages and damage were so widespread that many people were without power for a week. A presidential disaster declaration was given and damages were estimated at near $100 million. There were numerous injuries from car accidents and people slipping.In Anne Arundel County alone, hospitals reported 104 weather related injuries in two days from the ice. This was likely the iciest winter Maryland has seen this century.

Great Hoarfrost of February 2012

Last week I experienced possibly the most spectacular hoarfrost event of my life. At approximately 6:30pm Thursday, 2/2/12, freezing fog developed here in Grand Forks. Fog continued until Friday afternoon when it briefly lifted for 2-3 hours. When I woke up Friday morning, the visibility was a dense 1/16 statute miles, or about 300-350 feet. A beautiful hoarfrost developed on vegetation, fences and signs. I took many pictures because I don't recall ever personally witnessing a hoarfrost of such magnitude.  Dense fog re-developed Friday evening, once again thickening to 1/8 statute miles or less. Finally on early Saturday morning, 2/4/12 the fog lifted. Sunshine had developed by mid-day and the hoarfrost melted away. Pretty substantial fog event, with approximately 33 hours of dense fog during a 36-hour stretch. Here is a sample of pictures from "The Great Hoarfrost of February 2012":

January 2012 Climate Summary

Day	High	Low	Dep.	Precip.	Snow
1	30	13	+15	Trace	0.0"
2	15	0	+1	Trace	Trace
3	41R	6	+17	0.00"	0.0"
4	38	13	+19	0.00"	0.0"
5	47R	14	+24	0.00"	0.0"
6	39	25	+25	0.01"	Trace
7	38	23	+24	0.00"	0.0"
8	38	17	+22	0.00"	0.0"
9	46	27	+31	0.00"	0.0"
10	44	29	+31	0.01"	Trace
11	35	5	+14	Trace	0.2"
12	6	-6	-6	Trace	0.5"
13	14	-10	-4	Trace	0.1"
14	32	14	+17	0.01"	0.3"
15	33	14	+18	0.00"	0.0"
16	14	-2	0	0.00"	0.0"
17	1	-10	-10	0.00"	0.0"
18	0	-16	-14	0.01"	0.5"
19	0	-17	-14	0.00"	0.0"
20	8	-12	-8	0.00"	0.0"
21	19	-11	-2	Trace	Trace
22	27	19	+17	0.03"	0.5"
23	23	3	+6	Trace	Trace
24	22	-4	+2	0.00"	0.0"
25	31	9	+13	Trace	Trace
26	38	14	+19	0.00"	0.0"
27	28	19	+17	0.16"	3.0"
28	23	6	+8	Trace	Trace
29	18	-12	-4	0.01"	0.4"
30	32	18	+17	0.01"	0.0"
31	32	17	+17	0.01"	0.0"
Jan. 2012	26.2	6.6	+9.7	0.26"	5.6"

Average High: 26.2°F [Departure from Normal: +9.7°F] 

Average Low: 6.6°F [Departure from Normal: +9.7°F] 

Mean Temperature: 16.4°F [Departure From Normal: +9.7°F] 

Total Precipitation: 0.26" [Departure from Normal: -0.29"; 47% of normal] 

Total Snowfall: 5.6" [Departure from Normal: -5.6"; 50% of normal] 

Seasonal Snowfall: 13.7" [Departure from Normal: -17.1"; 44% of normal]

The Coldest Day/Month Ever in Grand Forks, ND

With a morning low of -39° and an afternoon HIGH of -30°, the average temperature of -34.5° on January 22, 1936 was the coldest day ever recorded in Grand Forks, ND (1893-2010). The morning surface map above depicts a 1035mb high pressure nosing into the Red River Valley, behind an Arctic cold front located from the eastern Great Lakes, through the Ohio Valley, then westward to the central Plains. Aiding the cold temperatures was a snow albedo caused by a 15" snow depth on 1/22/1936, as shown below on the monthly weather record form.

There have been colder low temperatures than -39°, as temperatures have reached -40° or colder eleven times here in GFK. However, the high of -30° is an all-time record low maximum temperature. The next coldest high temperature recorded was on February 1st, 1996 with a high of -27°. The morning low that day was -40°, making it the second coldest day ever in Grand Forks.

An interesting footnote from the January 1936 monthly observation form; the weather observer noted this was the coldest month ever at Grand Forks. The average high that month was 0.4°, the average low was -20.6°, giving a mean monthly temperature of -10.1°. That record still stands (and by a wide margin for meteorological standards), as the next coldest January occurred in 1950, with a mean monthly temperature of -6.8°. I can not fathom having to endure a month like January 1936.

The Coldest Days of my Life

Wednesday, January 18th and Thursday January 19th are now the coldest days of my life, with average temperatures of -8° and -8.5°, respectively. The 18th felt colder thanks to a persistent wind chill of -30° to -35° (also a personal record). Those were also the first times in my life where the temperature failed to warm above zero. Today's high of 23° wasn't even worthy of zipping up my coat after last week's cold weather! Undoubtedly, the aforementioned records will be broken again this winter.

Breaking Records

The morning of Friday the 13th, I experienced my coldest temperature ever of -10°F. That broke the -9°F I experienced in Shawnee, KS on February 3rd, 2011. Without a doubt that record will be broken many more times this winter, now that real Dakota winter temperatures have arrived. It is currently 7°F and we will drop below zero this evening. It's quite possible we may not go back above zero for another four days! High temperatures the next three days are expected to be around zero, with overnight lows anywhere from -5 to -15. The coldest high temperature I have ever felt was 6°F on February 5th, 2007 in California, PA. So that record will be broken a couple times this week as well.

Dakota Downslope

Since my last post, we tied a record high on the 3rd, then shattered a record high by 5 degrees on the 5th. Impressive considering we have had a snow pack, but it goes to show what a strong enough downsloping wind out of the west can do. Most think of a southerly wind as a warming wind, and for the most part it is, but here in the Plains, a downsloping westerly wind is key to significant warming. Here is a good example from the 5th:

Through morning, winds were out of the west-southwest allowing for a much warmer than normal morning. Then for a brief period, winds switched to the south and the temperature dropped from 43° to 39° in an hour. Winds then switched back to the southwest and eventually west, allowing for warming once again to an eventual record high of 47°. Downslope winds were more prominent in western North Dakota, where some locations reached the low 60s for highs.