Weather History

It was hard to believe it was the month of February the last couple days with highs in the 70's, but it is still Winter any I'm sure many of you are still thinking snow. I got an email today about a couple historical snowstorms from Ken, a former weather watcher for WMDT who has moved from Ridgely, MD to Cumberland MD. Ken did his research and talks about this year being the 50th Anniversary of the Twin Snowstorms of 1958. I'm sure some of you remember these storms. Ken, remember being off from school for a week for each storm. I'm sure he had no complaints from that.

The first storm occurred on Feb. 15-17, 1958. The original forecast for Baltimore called for 1-3 inches but a band of 15-20 inches fell from D.C. through Baltimore county. On Delmarva, the lower shore only saw a trace of snow with an inch of rain, but the Upper Shore (Easton) and parts of Delaware received a foot of snow. This sounds like a classic snowstorm for Delmarva, highest amounts to the North with lower amounts as you go South. Blizzard conditions occurred causing numerous wind damage and drifts up to 8ft reported in Talbot County. Damages were estimated at 500million dollars in Maryland, Delaware, and D.C. This just shows that Nor'easters can be extrememely dangerous and destructive, like Hurricanes.

The 2nd big Nor'easter occurred March 19-21, 1958. Again the hardest hit area was the Baltimore area with amounts over two feet. There was a report of 33 inches in Carroll County, MD. On Delmarva, the Lower Shore had 3 inches with the Northern areas getting hit hard such as 13 inches in Denton, MD (Caroline County). This storm had damages totaling up to 10 million dollars in MD with 8 deaths in MD.

Sounds like some classic storms to be remembered and I'm not surprised they occurred in those time periods. A lot of the historical Nor'easters have occurred around Valentines Day, Presidents' Day, and in March.

Thank you Ken for sending information on what sounds to me like two amazing Northern mid-Atlantic snowstorms.

Sources
Baltimore Sun
Denton Journal
Maryland Winters by Barbara Watson
Climates of the United States by John L. Baldwin
Department of Commerce, NOAA, the National Weather Service
Ken's 1983 Weather and Climate For 1872-1982