The snowstorm of January 27 to 29, 1998

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

153

Deaths

5

Injuries

2

Damage

$16 million

Episodes

29

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.

• Lake-Effect Snow in Michigan, January 26, 19981 eventLake effect snow showers moved inland across Ottawa County during the afternoon and early evening hours of Sunday, January 26th. Although only around one inch of snow accumulated from the event, road conditions became icy and hazardous after sunset.
• Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 27 to 28, 1998$450,000 · 3 eventsHeavy wet snow developed during the early morning hours on the 27th and continued until around noon on the 28th. Total snowfall amounts were generally from 18 to 36 inches with maximum snow depths from14 to 24 inches.
• Heavy Snow in North Carolina, January 27 to 28, 199818 eventsA deep cut-off low drifted across western North Carolina, drawing abundant moisture into air just cold enough to support snow. A heavy wet snow began in the pre-dawn hours on the 28th and moved north across the mountains.
• Heavy Snow in South Carolina, January 27, 19983 eventsA deep, slow-moving low pressure system drew abundant moisture into air just cold enough to support snow. A heavy wet snow fell across the mountains of South Carolina, most of it in the morning and at elevations above 2500 feet.
• Winter Storm in North Carolina, January 27 to 29, 1998$600,000 · 17 eventsA major low pressure system off the southeast coast combined with a strong high pressure system over New England to produce gale force winds along the coast.
• Heavy Snow in Virginia, January 27 to 28, 19981 death · $100,000 · 10 eventsHeavy wet snow developed during the morning hours on the 27th and continued until the morning hours on the 28th. The snow mixed with sleet and rain at times during the evening hours on the 27th.
• Heavy Snow in West Virginia, January 27 to 28, 19982 deaths · 1 injured · $13 million · 8 eventsA surprise heavy wet snow fell over these mountainous counties. Since the environment was near the freezing mark, through a deep layer, a wide variation in snow depth was observed. The variation was based on elevation. Elevations above 2000 feet were impacted the most.
• Heavy Snow in West Virginia, January 27 to 28, 19981 death · 1 injured · $90,000 · 4 eventsHeavy snow developed during the morning hours on the 27th and continued until the morning hours on the 28th. Snowfall amounts were mainly from 20 to 40 inches with maximum snow depths mainly from 12 to 25 inches.
• Heavy Snow in Virginia, January 27 to 28, 19986 eventsHeavy wet snow developed during the morning hours on the 27th and continued until the morning hours on the 28th. The snow mixed with sleet and rain at times during the evening hours on the 27th.
• Heavy Snow in Virginia, January 27 to 28, 1998$1.5 million · 2 eventsA surprise heavy wet snow fell from the late morning hours of Tuesday the 27th, to the predawn hours of Wednesday the 28th. Since the environment was near near the freezing mark through a deep layer, a wide variation in snow depths were seen.
• Heavy Snow in Kentucky, January 27 to 28, 1998$20,000 · 3 eventsHeavy wet snow occured in the mountains near the Virginia border. Snowfall accumulations were elevation dependent, with locations below 1000 feet receiving less than 1 inch, while locations above 2500 feet received 8 to 22 inches.
• Heavy Snow in West Virginia, January 27 to 28, 19982 eventsA winter storm moved from the Carolinas to the Virginia coast and brought heavy snow to the mountains of West Virginia.
• Heavy Snow in Maryland, January 27 to 28, 19981 eventA winter storm moved from the Carolinas to the Virginia coast and brought heavy snow to western Maryland. Six to eight inch amounts were common across Garrett County. In Grantsville 7 inches fell, Deep Creek Lake State Park 8 inches, and in Oakland 6 inches.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in West Virginia, January 27 to 28, 1998$25,000 · 8 eventsA winter storm developed along the Georgia coast on the 27th, then intensified as it moved slowly northward along the eastern seaboard later on the 27th and 28th.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Virginia, January 27 to 28, 1998$22,000 · 8 eventsA winter storm developed along the Georgia coast on the 27th, then intensified as it moved slowly northward along the coast later on the 27th and 28th.
• Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Maryland, January 27 to 28, 1998$2,000 · 2 eventsA winter storm developed along the Georgia coast on the 27th, then intensified as it moved slowly northward along the coast later on the 27th and 28th.
• Winter Storm in Tennessee, January 27 to 28, 19981 death · $1.0 million · 15 eventsHeavy snow fell throughout most of northeast Tennessee. Most snowfall totals ranged from 5 to 10 inches. However, in the high mountain elevations of Johnson, Carter, Greene, Cocke, Sevier and Blount counties, as much as 2-3 feet of snow fell.
• Winter Storm in Virginia, January 27 to 28, 19985 eventsHeavy snow fell throughout southwest Virginia. Snowfall totals ranged from as little as 3-4 inches in the western part of Lee county to 2 feet in the high mountain elevations of Wise and Russell counties. The average was 10-18 inches.
• Ice Storm in Pennsylvania, January 28, 19983 eventsThe northern fringe of the precipitation associated with an intense northeaster that moved eastnortheast off the Virginia coast affected the northwest Philadelphia suburbs through the morning commute and most of the daylight hours on the 28th.
• Winter Weather in New Jersey, January 28, 19985 eventsThe northern fringe of the precipitation associated with an intense northeaster that moved eastnortheast off the Virginia coast affected most of West Central and Northwest New Jersey through the morning commute and most of the daylight hours on the 28th.
• Winter Weather in Pennsylvania, January 28, 19983 eventsThe northern fringe of the precipitation associated with an intense northeaster that moved eastnortheast off the Virginia coast affected Berks County and the Lehigh Valley through the morning commute and most of the daylight hours on the 28th.
• Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, January 28, 19983 eventsLow pressure moved up the east coast from the Gulf of Mexico and dumped 6 to 9 inches of snow on Bedford and Somerset counties. Higher elevations of Franklin County also experienced 6 to 7 inches of snow.
• Ice Storm in Pennsylvania, January 28, 19982 eventsLow pressure moved up the east coast from the Gulf of Mexico and dumped freezing rain on Lancaster and southern York counties. The ice brought down trees onto powerlines and was the cause of many auto accidents. More than 7,000 homes and businesses lost power.
• Cold in Alaska, January 28 to 31, 19981 eventModerate north weinds developed over an existing cold airmass resulting in Wind Chill values from 70 to 85 below.
• Heavy Snow in California, January 29 to 30, 19981 event13 inches of new snow at the higher elevations of the S.Sierra Nevada.
• Winter Weather in Maryland, January 29, 19985 eventsResidual moisture from rainfall of the previous evening combined with clear calm conditions to produce abundant black ice in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC and Baltimore during the morning commute.
• Winter Weather in Virginia, January 29, 19983 eventsResidual moisture from rainfall of the previous evening combined with clear calm conditions to produce abundant black ice in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, during the morning commute.
• Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 29, 19984 eventsNarrative...
• Heavy Snow in Utah, January 30, 1998$15,000 · 7 eventsA weak trough brought criteria snow to several spots. Snowbird received the most with 12".

The snowstorm of October 23 to 28, 1997The snowstorm of February 3 to 7, 1998Snow nowEvery winter storm filed

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