The snowstorm of November 27 to 29, 2009
A snowstorm NOAA ranked in 3 regions on its Regional Snowfall Index, strongest in the Northeast.
What the offices filed during it
Winter weather episodes east of the Rockies from the day before the storm began to the day after it ended, colored by kind.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The storm by region
Each region’s thresholds are its own, so the same depth of snow counts for more in the South than in the Northeast.
| Region | Index | Category | Area with snow (sq mi) | People under snow | Above the top threshold (sq mi) | People above it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast | 0.23 | Below category 1 | 122,325 | 15,401,406 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio Valley | 0.03 | Below category 1 | 70,095 | 13,037,282 | 0 | 0 |
| Upper Midwest | 0.00 | Below category 1 | 62,493 | 9,281,476 | 0 | 0 |
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.
The toll the offices filed
- Events
- 26
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Damage
- $551,000
- Episodes
- 7
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.
Episode by episode
- Winter Weather in West Virginia, November 27 to 28, 2009Northwest winds behind a cold front combined with the mountains to trigger snow across locations along and west of the Allegheny front. Snowfall amounts averaged between 4 and 6 inches.
- Winter Storm in New Hampshire, November 27 to 28, 2009Low pressure developing east of Cape Cod brought heavy rain to the entire State...which mixed with and then changed to heavy snow in the higher elevations of Coos County where as much as 19 inches fell from the two-day event.
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in New Mexico, November 28 to 30, 2009A strong upper level system brought snow to much of New Mexico over a four day period. Snow began over the northern mountains on the 28th and lingered through the morning hours of the 30th. Amounts were typically light - on the order of 4 inches or less.
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, November 28 to 30, 2009A major Bering sea storm and the associated front that extended to the Gulf of Alaska produced high winds across the Aleutians and blizzard conditions from the Pribilof Islands to the Bering Sea coast and high wind heavy snow and blizzard conditions across south central Alaska…
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Texas, November 29, 2009Accumulating snowfall occurred over the extreme southwestern Texas Panhandle during the daytime hours of the 29th. The snow was part of a powerful and slow moving winter storm that impacted the southwestern U.S.
- Winter Storm in Arizona, November 29 to 30, 2009A cold upper low moved just south of Arizona November 29th into 30th. This resulted in significant snowfall in the higher elevations of Graham and Cochise Counties.
- Winter Weather in Texas, November 30, 2009A strong upper level low moved over New Mexico, and along with a strong cold front, resulted in a mix of rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow across southeast New Mexico and west Texas from 11/30/09 to 12/01/09.
More
The snowstorm of November 12 to 17, 2009The snowstorm of December 5 to 6, 2009Snow nowEvery winter storm filed
Sources
NOAA NCEI Regional Snowfall Index, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.