Heavy Snow — Southeast Providence, Rhode Island
2013-02-08 to 2013-02-09 · Southeast Providence, Rhode Island
Event narrative
Seventeen to twenty-one inches of snow fell across southeastern Providence County. A Rhode Island man died from a heart attack while shoveling snow from the blizzard. No further details were available, including what city or town the man was from.
Wider weather episode
An historic winter storm deposited tremendous amounts of snow over all of southern New England, mainly from the mid-afternoon on Friday, February 8 and lasting into the daylight hours of Saturday, February 9. What made this an amazing storm was the widespread coverage of heavy snowfall. Most locations received 2 to 2.5 feet of snow! Isolated thunderstorms were common across the entire region during the height of the storm.
A low pressure system advancing from the Great Lakes region combined forces with a very moist low pressure system moving northeast from the Gulf Coast states. Explosive deepening took place Friday evening, February 8, as a low center moved from the North Carolina coast to south of Nantucket. Strong high pressure to the north of New England helped ensure that cold air remained in place over the area. Snowfall gained intensity during the afternoon, but during the night, 2 to 3 inch per hour amounts were common throughout the region. Snow ended in the morning in western and central MA, southwest NH, most of CT and RI, and in the early afternoon across eastern MA.
The Blizzard of 2013 also produced a prolonged period of very strong winds Friday night along the MA and RI coasts. Gusts exceeded hurricane force (74 mph) at a few locations. Gale force gusts (to 50 mph) continued on the MA coast through Saturday afternoon. The strong winds, combined with a wet snow, led to extensive power outages from downed trees and wires in southeast coastal MA and in southern RI. Elsewhere, farther inland, the snow became drier and did not cling to trees like it did along the south and southeast coast of New England. Some wind gusts included: 76 mph at Logan Int'l. Airport (Boston, MA), 75 mph at Bedford, MA, 77 mph at Hyannis, MA and 68 mph in Jamestown, RI. Damaging gusts to 60 mph were recorded as far west as Worcester County, MA. Wind gusts of 35 to 50 mph were common elsewhere in southern New England.
Minor tidal flooding occurred along the south coasts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island during times of high tide Friday night and Saturday morning.
The Providence Journal reported that almost 170 people sought treatment for storm-related heart attacks, falls, and other injuries related to the storm at Lifespan network hospitals (which includes 4 major Rhode Island hospitals). In addition 10 people were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning. No further information was available.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 435889. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.