Presidents Day Cyclone

A high temperatures of 67 yesterday, 49 today and 10 inches of total snow brewing on these days, 29 years ago.

The “Presidents Day Cyclone” of 1979 not only dropped a total of 10 inches of snow in Salisbury, Md., but it coated Washington, D.C. with 18.7 inches of snow, Baltimore, Md. with 20 inches of snow and Dover, Del. with 25 inches. Articles posted in papers in New York state had titles from “Sneak Storm Cripples City” to “Forecasted didn’t get the drift until too late.” Some forecasters only forecasted 3 to 5 inches of snow, while others forecasted two to four inches! It was a surprise to all.

The images above are a few graphics I found while researching this event. The first image is taken from http://www.extrememortman.com/washington-dc/happy-presidents-day/. It is an image of the snow that fell in Washington, D.C. I guess it is a good thing it was a holiday and everyone didn’t have to make it to work! The second image is a visible satellite image taken from: http://www.hurricanes-blizzards-noreasters.com/79blizzard.html. If you didn’t know what time of year this picture was taken, you may mistake it for a hurricane headed towards Delmarva and New Jersey with its distinct eye.

BUT: If you think the 10 inches of snow that fell the on these days in 1979 was a lot of snow, people in Algeria were seeing their first snow fall at the same time! Yes, on February 18, 1979, snow fell for a half-hour in the Saharan Desert.

Additional Sources:
http://www.theweathercompany.com/cgi-bin/wxnotebook.pl
“Freaks of the Storm” by Randy Cerveny