Blizzard — Southwest Suffolk, New York

2013-02-08 to 2013-02-09 · Southwest Suffolk, New York

Event narrative

ASOS observations at MacArthur Airport (KISP) indicate that blizzard conditions were met for at least 3 consecutive hours. Snow began at 3:45 pm on February 8. Spotters reported an average snowfall of 6 inches by 8:15 pm. Total snowfall ranged from 10.3 inches in Shirley to 33.5 inches in Medford.

Precipitation changed from rain to very heavy snow from north to south in the afternoon. The snow accumulated at rates up to 6 inches per hour at the height of the blizzard, accompanied by lightning, thunder, and even small hail. The very heavy snow also stranded numerous motor vehicles.

Winds gusted up to 48 mph at MacArthur Airport.

Wider weather episode

Low pressure that formed along the northern Gulf coast by the morning of Thursday, February 7, 2013 moved northeast to near Cape Hatteras by the morning of Friday, February 8, 2013 . The low then rapidly intensified while moving northeast to a position east of Cape Cod by the morning of Saturday, February 9, 2013, producing very heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions across central and eastern Long Island on February 8th and 9th, and winter storm conditions across the rest of southeast New York.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 436908. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.