Nor’easter KOs An Early Spring

By Andrew Gorosko

It was not a true blizzard, but nonetheless last Sunday’s major snowstorm dumped a considerable amount of dry, fluffy snow onto Newtown and environs, markedly altering the landscape and slowing the pace of life until residents could dig out from under the bright white accumulation.

On one property in central Newtown, residents measured a 19-inch accumulation of snow in the late afternoon. Thinking they had measured the depth of a snowdrift, they measured and measured yet again, only to confirm that 19 inches of snow had actually fallen everywhere. The drifts were even deeper.

Another report placed the snowfall accumulation in Newtown at 21 inches.

In its final unofficial compilation of snowfall accumulations in Fairfield County, the National Weather Service Forecast Office based in Upton, N.Y., listed snowfall accumulations as 28 inches in Redding, 27 inches at the Easton Reservoir Dam, 26 inches in Danbury, 25 inches in Ridgefield, 22.5 inches in Darien, 21 inches in Bethel, 18 inches in Fairfield, 17 inches in Brookfield, and 12 inches in Monroe.

Meteorologist Rob Eisenson, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Meteorology at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, termed the storm, “a very major nor’easter” that was “pretty significant.”

Such major storms track northward along the Atlantic Seaboard, drawing their power from the ocean and depositing heavy snowfall on the land.  

Mr Eisenson noted that the storm dropped the greatest amount of snowfall ever recorded in Central Park in Manhattan with a 26.9-inch accumulation there.

The snowfall in Newtown was so impressive, and potentially so troublesome for school bus traffic, that school officials on Sunday afternoon opted to call off school for the following day. Students returned to classes on Tuesday, which was Valentine’s Day.

Because the snowstorm occurred on a Sunday, most people were off work, and travel on area roads was minimal. Also, public officials urged that motorists stay off the streets to allow highway crews ample room to clear the roads for the start of the work week on Monday.

Newtown police said that Sunday was relatively uneventful, save for what could have been a serious sledding accident on Key Rock Road.

In that mishap, a 10-year-old boy, who was sledding in his yard, slid out onto Key Rock Road as a pickup truck approached. The unidentified sledder collided with the truck at low speed. The boy, who received minor injuries in the mishap, was treated and released from Danbury Hospital. (See related story.)

Other youths across town seized the opportunity for some snowy recreation, as they grabbed their sleds and slid down slippery slopes, seeking to wrench some kinetic glee from what otherwise had been a relatively mild winter with little snowfall.

Mr Eisenson said the nor’easter’s particular intensity may have been triggered by relatively warm Atlantic Ocean waters, which are now several degrees warmer than normal for this time of year.

The “snow banding” that occurred during the February 12 storm is typical in nor’easters, in which very intense localized bands of precipitation occur, dumping large amounts of snow in pockets, Mr Eisenson said. Those bands of heavy snowfall moved slowly, making for high accumulations in affected areas such as Fairfield County. New London County towns received less snowfall.

Snow falling at the rate of one inch per hour is considered significant, Mr Eisenson said. Two inches per hour is considered to be heavy snow, he added.

The February 12 storm dropped snow at a rate of up to three and one-half inches per hour in Fairfield County, he noted, making for intense snowfall, he said.

The dry, fluffy snow was very light and blew about easily, traveling horizontally as it fell, he said.

Winds in Danbury achieved 20 to 25-mile-per-hour gusts, Mr Eisenson said. The even higher wind speeds, which had been predicted for the storm, did not materialize, he noted.

Though intense, the weather conditions present did not constitute true blizzard conditions, he said.

A winter storm as intense as the February 12 nor’easter occurs about once every five to ten years in this area, Mr Eisenson said.