Snowy April and May 2013

On April 3rd, a narrow band of cold air allowed accumulating snow to fall in central Oklahoma:

On April 9th, a storm ran warm 12C air at 850 mb over cold surface air with temps near freezing:

As a result, a convective squall line moving through central Kansas produced winter conditions at ground level. At 9:00 PM CDT, Concordia was under a severe thunderstorm warning while reporting freezing rain, a temperature of 30, a north wind at 24 mph, gusting to 35, and a wind chill of 16. Salina reported light snow, fog, a temperature of 33, wind northwest at 32, gusting to 38, and a wind chill of 19. Hutchinson reported a thunderstorm with a temperature of 32, fog, wind north at 16 gusting to 36, and a wind chill of 21. Radar from 9:11 CDT:

By 10:00 PM CDT, Hutchinson was reporting hail with a temperature of 32, fog, a north wind at 26 mph gusting to 37, and a wind chill of 18. Radar from 9:54 CDT:

Roads were coated with ice as far south as the Oklahoma-Texas border. Snowfall amounts from this storm include 28.5" at Lander, WY; 24" at Harrison, NE; 30.0" at Deadwood, SD; and a record shattering 28.2" at Rapid City, SD. The previous record from a single storm in Rapid City was 18.0" on April 22, 2001. Some wind gusts from the storm in mph are: 84 at Castaic Lake, CA; 78 at Dubuque, IA; 85 at Menominee, MI.

From April 16-19 this storm produced heavy snow from Colorado to Michigan:

Snowfall amounts: 20.0" at Great Basin National Park, NV; 9.5" at Denver, CO; 23.4" at Fort Collins, CO; 33.0" at Virginia Dale, CO; 36.0" at Centennial, WY; 17.3" at Cheyenne, WY; 17.7" at Duluth, MN; 8.1" at Minneapolis, MN; 22.0" at Cornucopia, WI. This storm also produced huge amounts of rain including 8.20" at Pella, IA and 7.34" at Naperville, IL.

Just a few days later, another surge of cold air allowed for snow to fall in Oklahoma and significant accumulations to occur across I-70 in Kansas:

For the morning of April 24th, a freeze warning was issued for Lubbock, TX, and a hard freeze warning for Amarillo, TX:

On April 25th, frost advisories were issued from extreme northern Texas to Tennessee:

On April 24th, low temperatures were 25 at Lubbock, and 20 at Amarillo. On the 25th, Nashville had a low of 36.

On April 26th, Fargo, ND had the latest 50 degree day on record, with the previous record being April 17th in 1881. April was the snowiest month of the 2012-2013 winter season in Fargo.

As of April 26th, the United States had the second coldest start to a spring on record.

On May 1st and 2nd, 850 temps as cold as -4C were reaching Texas:

 

 

 

By May 3rd, a freeze warning was issued for San Angelo, TX, and a winter weather advisory was active for northwest Arkansas:

Accumulating snow fell as far south as northeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas:

Up to 5" of snow fell in Arkansas. This is the first time snow has been recorded in Arkansas in the month of May. At Tulsa, OK, snow fell on May 2nd, breaking the previous latest snow on record of April 18th in 1953. Records in Tulsa go back to 1900.

Another surge of cold air prompted a frost advisory for Nashville on May 13th:

Record lows of 39 at Nashville and 33 at Crossville occurred on May 13th.

On May 14th, a blizzard hit the UK with 65 mph wind and power outages.

Snowy March 2013

On March 4-8 this storm produced heavy snow from the Northern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast:

 

Snowfall amounts included 29.8" at Milton, MA, 20.3" as far south as Fisherville, VA, and 10.0" at Chicago O'Hare Airport. A 64 mph wind gust was reported at Tuckerton, NJ.

One of the reasons for these late season snowstorms has been a persistently negative Arctic Oscillation, particularly from mid February to early April. The Arctic Oscillation for the month of March 2013 was -2.535, which is the lowest value since December 2010 which was -2.631. The Arctic Oscillation dropped below -5 on March 19th when a 1074 mb high developed over Greenland:

On March 23rd, another storm prompted winter storm watches/warnings from Colorado to Ohio:

This storm set a new all-time 24 hour snowfall record at Springfield, IL of 17.4" on the 24th-25th. The total at Springfield was 18.5". Other snowfall amounts are 19.4" at Beluh, CO; 11.6 at Denver International Airport; 15.0" at Goodland, KS; 15.1" at Harvester, MO; 16" at Redhouse, MD. Valdosta, GA recieved 4.80" of rain.

A 948 mb storm in the North Atlantic on March 28th:

February 2013

On February 1st, a 940 mb storm was located between Labrador and Greenland:

February was very active in the US. On February 8-9, this storm dumped 40 inches of snow on Hamden, CT, and hit Cuttyhunk, MA with 83 mph wind:

On February 8th, a 70+ knot easterly low level jet forced an intense band of snow to develop over Long Island:

Snowfall rates of 3-4 inches per hour were reported, with one report of 6 inches in one hour in Central Connecticut. Islip Airport reported 27.8" of snow and Upton 30.3". Boston had 24.9" of snow and a maximum wind of 76 mph. A record 31.9" fell at Portland, ME. Over 600,000 people lost power, and over 6,000 flights were cancelled. By the morning of February 9th, the storm had dropped to 970 mb about 200 miles east of Boston:

In the afternoon, the storm developed an eye:

On February 10th, just one day later, another storm ejected into the Midwest and hit Aberdeen, SD with 20.8" of snow and Hattiesburg, MS with a tornado:

The tornado produced EF-4 damage just west of Hattiesburg. 82 injuries were reported, but no fatalities. After looking at some new footage of the tornado, it is amazing that nobody was killed.

On February 17th, a polar air mass spread across Florida, producing a dewpoint of 7 at Daytona Beach and a temperature of 59 at Key West even during mid afternoon:

On February 21-22, this storm produced 22 inches of snow at Russell, KS and 3 inches of sleet at Fort Scott, KS:

On February 25th, a blizzard warning (red) was issued for Lubbock, TX, and winter storm watches/warnings from New Mexico to Ohio:

Some of the highlights of this storm include 17" of snow at Amarillo, TX; 21" of snow at Follett, TX; 8.02" of rain at Valdosta, GA; and 84 mph wind at El Paso, TX.