Vermont, 2001

Winter Storm in Vermont, February 5 to 6, 2001

February 5 to 6, 2001 · NWS ALY · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Two areas of low pressure, one centered over the Ohio valley and the other over Florida, merged into one storm off the North Carolina coast by early Feburary 5th. This potent storm further intensified as it moved up the eastern seaboard to become the season's second major nor'easter.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS ALY wrote it up.

Two areas of low pressure, one centered over the Ohio valley and the other over Florida, merged into one storm off the North Carolina coast by early Feburary 5th. This potent storm further intensified as it moved up the eastern seaboard to become the season's second major nor'easter. The low center was to the east of Cape Cod by the early morning hours of the 6th. The air was cold enough for all snow across southern Vermont. A swath of heavy snowfall, accumulating of a foot or more fell across the region with the heaviest amounts reported in Windham county. In Bennington county, specific accumulations included 12 inches in the city of Bennington, 14 at Pownal Center and 9.6 in Sunderland. In Windham county, 15 inches of snow accumulated at Ball Mountain, 19 at Townshend Lake and 21 at West Wardsboro. Besides the usual school and some business closings, there were no unusual problems reported to the National Weather Service with this storm. Temperatures rising above the freezing the following day made for an easier snow removal.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 5, 4:05 AM EST, 9 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 4:05 AM EST, 9 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
405 AM EST MON FEB 5 2001

.DISC...MDLS ARE IN MCH CLSR AGRMNT TNGHT ON SFC LOW TRCK AND RAPID
DEEPENING. H5 TROF FTRS WITH EXTRMELY SHRP NEG TILT TROF AXIS THRU
SRN NJ AT 00Z TUE ALSO IN AGRMNT. MAIN AREA OF DIFFERENCE IS IN QPF
AMTS WITH MESO ETA AND ETA STL HAVG THE MST PCPN ACRS FA WITH AVN
LEAST AND NGM SLGHTLY MOR THAN AVN. ETA QPF LOOKS SLIGHTLY OVERDONE
AND CONTS TO PUSH AXIS OF HEAVIEST PCPN TOO FAR TO N AND W. GEM ONC
AGAIN HAS THE BST TIMING...AS WITH THE DEC 30TH STORM. SNW EXPANDING
VRY RAPIDLY N AND WILL RCH NRN PTN OF FA ARND DAYBREAK...GEM IS THE ONLY
MDL THIS FST ALTHOUGH GEM QPF LWR THAN YSTRDY. BOTTOM LN IS PREFER
GEM TIMING AND SLIGHTLY UNDR ETA QPFS. THANKS TO ALL WFOS FOR COOR.

.SHORT TERM...FCST SPECIFICS HEAVIEST SNW WL BE FM LATE MRNG THRU
ERLY EVNG WITH SNOW MICROPHYSICS BASED ON BUFKIT SNDGS FVRG ARND A
13 TO 1 RATIO WITH A PERIOD OF 1 TO 2 INCH PER HR SNOWFALL AMTS DURG
THE AFT. HEAVIEST AXIS OF SNOW SHLD RUN FM ERN CATSKLS AND MID
HUDSON VLY UP THRU GTR CAP DSTRCT...TACONICS AND BERKS INTO SRN VT.
WL PUT HIGHEST ACCUMULATIONS IN SRN VT...TACOINICS AND BERKS DUE TO
SOM UPSLOPE ENHANCEMENT...WITH 12 TO 18 INCHES AND 8 TO 16 INCHES
ACRS RMNDR OF HEAVIEST AXIS. WL THEN TAPER AMTS OFF QUICKLY TO THE N
AND W WITH ONLY AN ADVISORY WITH 3 TO 6 INCHES HERKIMER CTY.

.LONG TERM...WL TAPER SNW OFF ARND MIDNIGHT MCH OF FA...XCPT WL
LINGER SNW LONGER ACRS SRN VT WHERE SOM WRAP ARND MSTR MAY KEEP AT
LEAST MOD SNW GOING TIL ARND 400 AM. NO CHNGS TO EXTENDED AT THIS
TIME.

.ALY...WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING
       NYZ033-039>043-047>054-058>061-063>066-MAZ001-CTZ001
       WINTER STORM WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT
       VTZ013-014
       WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THROUGH THIS EVENING
       NYZ032-038

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Bennington

When
February 5, 2:00 PM EST to February 6, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Bennington forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
43.036, -73.093 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Windham

When
February 5, 3:00 PM EST to February 6, 1:00 AM EST
Where
Windham forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
42.991, -72.714 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Vermont in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Vermont, February 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5230172, 5230067.