Blizzard in Newport, Rhode Island

The Newport Airport ASOS (KUUU) reported blizzard criteria from 725 AM EST to 453 PM EST. The max gust from KUUU was 70 mph at 101 PM EST. Winds generally gusted 50 to 65 mph. Other max gusts were 64 mph in Tiverton at 953 AM EST and 59 mph on Rose Island at 104 PM EST. Snowfall ranged from 10 to 26 inches. The highest report was 26.5 inches in Middletown.

Explosive cyclogenesis of a low pressure center off the Mid Atlantic coast brought a strong winter storm with blizzard conditions to all of southern New England Saturday and Saturday night. The storm tracked from east of the Carolinas to the 70w/40n benchmark bringing extreme snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour and winds gusting to hurricane force along the coast and 50 to 60 mph inland. The heaviest snow, just under 30 inches, fell over southeast MA, and in RI up to 2 feet fell. Snow tapered off overnight Saturday with quiet weather to follow on Sunday.