The snowstorm of February 9 to 11, 2011

The Regional Snowfall Index is NOAA’s ranking of snowstorms east of the Rockies by how much snow fell, over how wide an area and on how many people, region by region: the area and the population above four snowfall thresholds set for each region, weighted against that region’s own history. A storm is scored in each region it reached, on a scale from 1, notable, to 5, extreme.

Events

880

Deaths

9

Injuries

106

Damage

$11 million

Episodes

80

Every winter weather episode the Weather Service filed east of the Rockies in these dates. A few may belong to another system on the same days. 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.

• Winter Weather in Nebraska, February 7 to 8, 20119 eventsStarting during the evening hours on Monday the 7th and lasting through the morning hours on Tuesday the 8th, a fairly widespread snowfall targeted primarily the southwest half of South Central Nebraska.
• Winter Weather in Vermont, February 7 to 8, 2011$95,000 · 16 eventsA weak surface low across the Great Lakes moved across New York and New England on the night of February 7th and morning of February 8th. At the same time, a coastal low that originated in the lower Mississippi, moved well southeast of Cape Cod.
• Winter Weather in Massachusetts, February 7 to 8, 20112 eventsThe combination of the passage of an arctic cold frontal boundary, and the development of a coastal low just off the mid Atlantic coast brought a moderate snowfall to the Berkshires. Snowfall reports ranged from 4 to 8 inches.
• Winter Weather in New Jersey, February 7 to 8, 20111 eventSnow showers that preceded and accompanied a cold front dropped one to two inches of snow over the higher terrain of Sussex County from the evening of the 7th until around sunrise on the 8th. Untreated roadways were hazardous.
• Blizzard and Winter Storm in Alaska, February 7 to 10, 201111 eventsA 988 mb low near the Alaska Peninsula at 1200AKST on the 8th moved north to near Unalakleet and weakened to 1001 mb by 0300AKST on the 9th. The low continued to weaken to 1004 mb and moved into northeast Alaska by 1500AKST on the 9th.
• Winter Weather in New York, February 7 to 8, 20111 eventThe combination of the passage of an arctic cold frontal boundary, and the development of a coastal low just of the mid Atlantic coast brought a moderate snowfall to the northern Taconics, eastern Rensselaer County. Snowfall reports ranged from 4 to 10 inches.
• Winter Weather in Vermont, February 7 to 8, 20111 eventThe combination of the passage of an arctic cold frontal boundary and the development of a coastal low just off the mid Atlantic coast brought a moderate to heavy snowfall to Bennington County.
• Cold in Nebraska, February 7 to 8, 201124 eventsArctic high pressure building south behind a storm system that affected parts of the western through southern plains brought subzero temperatures and dangerously cold wind chill values.
• Winter Weather in Kentucky, February 8, 20112 eventsOn February the 8th, a cold front moved through eastern Kentucky. The precipitation stayed as snow throughout the entire event. Most snowfall accumulations were light.
• Extreme Cold in North Dakota, February 8, 201132 eventsDangerous wind chill conditions developed across North Dakota the morning of February 8 as Arctic high pressure moved into the region. Winds up to 15 mph combined with subzero temperatures to result in wind chill temperatures of 40 below to near 50 below zero.
• Cold in Iowa, February 8, 20118 eventsArctic high pressure building south behind a storm system that affected parts of the western through southern plains brought subzero temperatures and dangerously cold wind chill values.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Kansas, February 8, 20116 eventsFor much of North Central Kansas, the heaviest snow event of the 2010-2011 winter season began during the evening hours on Monday the 7th, and lasted through much of the daytime and evening hours on Tuesday the 8th.
• Heavy Snow in Colorado, February 7 to 8, 20111 eventA winter storm brought widespread snow to the Tri-State area. Snow amounts of four to seven inches were common across the region.
• Heavy Snow in Kansas, February 8, 20114 eventsA winter storm brought widespread snow to the Tri-State area. Snow amounts of four to seven inches were common across the region. In northwest Kansas, the most significant snow fell along and south of Interstate 70.
• Heavy Snow in Kansas, February 8 to 9, 201113 eventsHeavy banded snow developed during the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday February 8th and continued through the day and into the overnight hours ending early on February 9th.
• Heavy Snow in Kansas, February 8 to 9, 201123 eventsEarly on Tuesday, February 8th, a strong, Arctic cold front plunged south through southwest Kansas as a strong upper system swept through New Mexico and eastward across Oklahoma. These two weather features resulted in cold air being overrun by abundant low level moisture.
• Extreme Cold in North Dakota, February 8, 201118 eventsSurface high pressure dropped through the western Dakotas, allowing wind speeds to hold up around 10 mph over eastern North Dakota.
• Extreme Cold in South Dakota, February 8, 201118 eventsArctic high pressure and north winds brought extreme wind chills from 35 below to 45 below zero across north central and northeast South Dakota from the early morning until around noon.
• Extreme Cold in Minnesota, February 8, 201110 eventsSurface high pressure dropped through the western Dakotas, allowing wind speeds to hold up around 10 mph over eastern North Dakota.
• Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Kansas, February 8 to 9, 201126 injured · $464,000 · 27 eventsA potent upper level low pressure area across the central Rockies moved east across Kansas and Oklahoma on Tuesday, February 8th. At the same time, frigid Arctic air settled south across the Central Plains.
• Extreme Cold in Minnesota, February 8, 20112 eventsArctic high pressure and north winds brought extreme wind chills of 35 below to 40 below zero across west central Minnesota from the early morning to around noon.
• Cold in Michigan, February 8 to 11, 20111 death · 2 eventsArctic air spreading over the region resulted in either bitter cold minimum temperatures or periods of wind chill readings to near 25 below zero over the far western interior of Upper Michigan from the 8th through the 11th.
• Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Texas, February 8 to 9, 20115 injured · 51 kt wind · 23 eventsAn upper level low moved east out of the four corners region and across the Texas Panhandle.
• Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, February 8 to 9, 20113 eventsAn upper level low moved east from the four corners region and across the Oklahoma Panhandle.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Oklahoma, February 8 to 9, 201136 eventsFresh on the heels of the record-setting blizzard that occurred a few days before, another significant winter storm affected the southern Plains.
• Heavy Snow in New Mexico, February 8 to 9, 201113 eventsAnother vigorous storm system plowed across New Mexico, dumping moderate to heavy snow over northern and central portions of the state. A foot or more of snow fell over the higher elevations of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
• Blizzard in Alaska, February 8, 20111 eventA strong storm centered in the Bristol Bay area produced strong wind and snow in Portage Valley. The combination of the wind and snow resulted in a highly localized blizzard at the head of Portage Valley.
• Winter Storm and Extreme Cold in Texas, February 8 to 9, 2011$260,000 · 32 eventsLess than a week after the coldest air to impact the South Plains of west Texas in more than a decade had weakened its grip on the region, a second arctic airmass invaded the central and southern U.S.
• Winter Storm in Arkansas, February 8 to 9, 20112 deaths · 7 eventsA strong upper level disturbance moved from the northwestern United States southeastward into the Southern Plains on the 8th and 9th. Snow developed across the region during the evening hours of the 8th and continued through the 9th.
• Winter Storm in Oklahoma, February 8 to 9, 20111 death · 24 eventsA strong upper level disturbance moved from the northwestern United States southeastward into the Southern Plains on the 8th and 9th. Snow developed across the region during the evening hours of the 8th and continued through the 9th.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Texas, February 8 to 9, 20118 eventsA strong surface high pressure developed south out of Canada into Kansas early on the 8th behind a cold front, that finally moved into northern Texas during the late afternoon hours.
• Extreme Cold in New Mexico, February 8 to 9, 20112 eventsFresh snow cover allowed for temperatures to rapidly drop over northern New Mexico during the late evening of the 8th and early morning hours of the 9th.
• Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, February 9 to 10, 20111 eventWest winds turned west-northwest in the pre-dawn hours on the 9th. That allowed pre-existing strong lake effect snow bands on Lake Superior to be brought onshore into western Chippewa County.
• Cold in New Mexico, February 9, 20111 death · 1 eventThe third exposure death of 2011 in the Gallup area occurred in a wind-swept field about 150 yards east of North Ninth Street on the 9th.
• Extreme Cold in Colorado, February 9, 20112 eventsAn Arctic high pressure area swept into the Tri-State area behind the winter storm on February 8th. The combination of cold air temperatures and strong wind resulted in wind chill values between 25 and 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
• Extreme Cold in Kansas, February 9, 20111 eventAn Arctic high pressure area swept into the Tri-State area behind the winter storm on February 8th. The combination of cold air temperatures and strong wind resulted in wind chill values between 25 and 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
• Extreme Cold in Texas, February 9, 20111 eventArctic air spilled south across the region on 2/9/11. Northeast winds of 30-40 mph combined with frigid temperatures to produce wind chill values of -15 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Arkansas, February 9 to 10, 201145 eventsA low pressure system tracking to the south of Arkansas combined its moisture with cold air over the state to produce widespread heavy snow. In the Little Rock County Warning Area, the largest snow totals were in Newton County, where accumulations reached as high as 20 inches.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Arkansas, February 9, 20119 eventsAn arctic cold front pushed through the Four State Region of Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Arkansas, Northeast Texas and Northern Louisiana during the daytime hours of March 9th.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Texas, February 9, 20116 eventsAn arctic cold front pushed through the Four State Region of Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Arkansas, Northeast Texas and Northern Louisiana during the daytime hours of March 9th.
• Winter Weather in Oklahoma, February 9, 20111 eventAn arctic cold front pushed through the Four State Region of Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Arkansas, Northeast Texas and Northern Louisiana during the daytime hours of March 9th.
• Winter Weather in Texas, February 9, 201110 eventsAn arctic cold front moved through South Central Texas during the early morning hours of February 9. This system produced freezing rain and sleet in the eastern half of the forecast area.
• Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Missouri, February 9, 20115 injured · 10 eventsA large area of snow occurred along and to the east of a well-defined surface low pressure trough. East of the surface trough, northeasterly surface winds kept cold air in place. Warmer air moving in aloft created conditions favorable for heavy snow.
• Winter Storm in Arkansas, February 9, 201112 eventsA low pressure system tracked along the Gulf Coast during the day on February 9th, 2011. Cold arctic air was already in place across the Mid-South thus the precipitation fell in the form of snow.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Missouri, February 9, 20112 eventsA low pressure system tracked along the Gulf Coast during the day on February 9th, 2011. Cold arctic air was already in place across the Mid-South thus the precipitation fell in the form of snow.
• Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Kentucky, February 9 to 10, 20111 death · 24 eventsA large area of snow occurred along and to the east of a well-defined surface low pressure trough. East of the surface trough, northeasterly surface winds kept cold air in place. Warmer air moving in aloft created conditions favorable for heavy snow.
• Winter Weather in Illinois, February 9, 20111 death · 12 eventsA large area of snow occurred along and to the east of a well-defined surface low pressure trough. East of the surface trough, northeasterly surface winds kept cold air in place. Warmer air moving in aloft created conditions favorable for snow.
• Winter Storm in Mississippi, February 9, 20111 injured · 22 eventsA low pressure system tracked along the Gulf Coast during the day on February 9th, 2011. Cold arctic air was already in place across the Mid-South thus the precipitation fell in the form of snow.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Tennessee, February 9, 201120 eventsA low pressure system tracked along the Gulf Coast during the day on February 9th, 2011. Cold arctic air was already in place across the Mid-South thus the precipitation fell in the form of snow.
• Lake-Effect Snow in New York, February 9, 2011$5,000 · 1 eventOn February 9th, a weak surface trough along with a broad west-southwest, cold cyclonic lower atmospheric flow across Lake Ontario accounted for a single lake effect snow band from Lake Ontario into portions of extreme southern St. Lawrence county.
• Ice Storm in Texas, February 9, 20111 eventFreezing rain was reported in several areas across Victoria County. Accumulations on some bridges reached 1/8.
• Heavy Snow in Mississippi, February 9 to 10, 2011$9.2 million · 28 eventsWinter precipitation struck the ArkLaMiss again for the second time in about a week. A continued cold airmass remained in place over the region thanks to several rounds of cold air intrusions over the ArkLaMiss.
• Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Tennessee, February 9, 201167 injured · 39 eventsWith temperatures from the afternoon through evening hours remaining in the 20s, there was enough moisture associated with a west to east moving cold frontal passage and southwesterly upper level flow aloft, across the mid state for a significant snowfall event to occur across…
• Heavy Snow in Arkansas, February 9, 2011$700,000 · 2 eventsWinter precipitation struck the ArkLaMiss again for the second time in about a week. A continued cold airmass remained in place over the region thanks to several rounds of cold air intrusions over the ArkLaMiss.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Kentucky, February 9 to 10, 2011$35,000 · 60 eventsOn February the 9th, a low pressure system developed in the lower Mississippi valley and moved northeast. Snow tracked from central Kentucky and Tennessee into eastern Kentucky and began to fall in eastern Kentucky by 2 PM.
• Heavy Snow in Louisiana, February 9, 2011$490,000 · 3 eventsWinter precipitation struck the ArkLaMiss again for the second time in about a week. A continued cold airmass remained in place over the region thanks to several rounds of cold air intrusions over the ArkLaMiss.
• Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Alabama, February 9 to 10, 201111 eventsA winter storm moved southeast from the southern Plains states during the morning and afternoon of the 9th. Although the storm weakened considerably as it approached north Alabama, a period of accumulating snow occurred behind the passage of an associated cold front.
• Winter Weather in Virginia, February 9 to 10, 20112 eventsBuchanan and Dickenson Counties were on the northern fringe of the deeper moisture associated with a southern storm track. Snow accumulated only 2 to 4 inches. However, air temperatures were well below freezing. Road surfaces were also cold.
• Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Alabama, February 9 to 10, 201123 eventsA low pressure system formed off the Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico during the overnight hours of Tuesday, February 8th.
• Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Georgia, February 9 to 10, 201170 eventsA deep full latitude trough was shifting from the central United States into the eastern United States during this period. Arctic air remained firmly entrenched across much of the central and eastern U.S., but was marginal across the southeast U.S.
• Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Tennessee, February 9 to 10, 20113 eventsA winter storm moved southeast from the southern Plains states into mid South and Tennessee Valley during the morning and afternoon of the 9th. Although the storm had weakened, a cold front interacted with moisture to produce a period of snowfall that lasted 3 to 5 hours.
• Winter Weather in Maryland, February 9 to 10, 20113 eventsLight snow fell across the southern Eastern Shore during the evening of the 9th. Accumulations were less than one inch. The below freezing temperatures coupled with the light snow made traveling treacherous, especially on untreated roads.
• Lake-Effect Snow in New York, February 9 to 10, 2011$125,000 · 3 eventsThis lake effect storm, as typical for late season, was restricted to Lake Ontario. Westerly winds began to produce lake effect snowbands during the early morning hours of the 9th across Oswego County.
• Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 9 to 10, 20117 eventsA weakening storm system brought light snow to portions of the western Carolinas during the evening. Total accumulations ranged from a dusting to an inch over the Piedmont to 1 to 2 inches across much of the mountains.
• Winter Weather in Georgia, February 9 to 10, 20115 eventsA weakening storm system brought light snow to portions of northeast Georgia during the evening. Total accumulations ranged from a dusting to an inch over the Piedmont to 1 to 2 inches across much of the mountains.
• Winter Weather in New Jersey, February 9 to 10, 20115 eventsLight snow fell across southeast New Jersey from the evening of the 9th overnight into the morning of the 10th in Cumberland, Atlantic and Cape May Counties. The snow lasted the longest in Cape May County (around six hours).
• Winter Weather in South Carolina, February 9 to 10, 20114 eventsA weakening storm system brought light snow to portions of the western Carolinas during the evening. Total accumulations ranged from a dusting to an inch over the Piedmont to 1 to 2 inches across much of the mountains.
• Winter Weather in Delaware, February 9 to 10, 20114 eventsLight snow fell across Delaware from the evening of the 9th overnight into the morning of the 10th in Kent and Sussex Counties. The snow lasted the longest in Sussex County (around five hours) and the least in New Castle County (around one hour).
• Winter Weather in Virginia, February 9 to 10, 20118 eventsLow pressure moving off the Southeast coast produced between one and four inches of snow across portions of southeast Virginia from Wednesday night, February 9th into Thursday morning, February 10th.
• Winter Storm in North Carolina, February 9 to 10, 20117 eventsLow pressure moving off the Southeast coast produced between two and four inches of snow across portions of northeast North Carolina from Wednesday night, February 9th into Thursday morning, February 10th.
• Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 9 to 10, 20113 eventsLow pressure moving off the Southeast coast produced between one and two inches of snow across portions of interior northeast North Carolina from Wednesday night, February 9th into Thursday morning, February 10th.
• Cold in Indiana, February 10, 20111 death · 1 eventTemperatures fell into the teens below zero during the overnight hours of February 10th. A 97 year old woman apparently fell on ice and sustained a head injury. Local officials determined that the cold weather was to blame for the woman's death.
• Cold in Kansas, February 10, 201110 eventsA extremely cold arctic airmass settled over the region in the aftermath of the snowstorm of February 8th and 9th.
• Heavy Snow in North Carolina, February 10, 20114 eventsLow pressure developed south of eastern North Carolina during the evening of March 9th, then lifted northeast offshore of the coast on March 10th. This low produced widespread precipitation over the area, with mostly snow north, to a mix to mostly rain south.
• Extreme Cold in Illinois, February 10, 20111 eventVery cold air spread across the area on February 8th and persisted into the morning hours of February 11th. Low temperatures dropped below zero at most locations with the exception of downtown Chicago, which dropped to 1 degree above zero on the morning of February 10th.
• Winter Storm in Alaska, February 10, 20111 eventSnow and Brief freezing rain hit the Misty Fiords area on 2/10 as the flow aloft became moist and switched to south over cold air. Hyder got nearly a foot on 2/10.
• Blizzard in Alaska, February 11, 20112 eventsA strong Gulf of Alaska storm produced snow followed by strong wind in the northern and western portions of Prince William Sound that resulted in blizzards in Whittier and Thompson Pass.
• Winter Weather in Minnesota, February 11, 20111 death · 2 injured · $8,000 · 1 eventOne person was killed and two others were injured in a four vehicle crash on February 11th. The accident occurred on an icy U.S. Highway 63 south of Spring Valley (Fillmore County).
• Blizzard and High Wind in Alaska, February 12 to 15, 2011$1,000 · 103 kt wind · 7 eventsA strong storm in the Gulf of Alaska produced strong northwest wind across the Alaska Peninsula along with snow showers. The combination of the strong northwest wind and snow resulted in localized blizzard conditions along the Alaska Peninsula and periods of High Winds.
• Heavy Snow in Washington, February 12 to 13, 20112 eventsA strong frontal system brought the first heavy snowfall episode to the Cascades in more than a month. Note that the lower first storm after a long break criteria were used.

The Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011The snowstorm of February 19 to 23, 2011Snow nowEvery winter storm filed

NOAA NCEI Regional Snowfall Index, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.