Category 4 "Crippling" (RSI: 10.148) | |
Type |
Extratropical cyclone Winter storm Nor'easter Blizzard |
---|---|
Formed | February 1, 2010 |
Dissipated | February 6, 2010 |
Lowest pressure | 978 mb (28.88 inHg) |
Maximum snowfall or ice accretion | 38.3 inches (97 cm) at Elkridge, Maryland |
Casualties | at least 41 fatalities (including at least 28 in Mexico and 13 in the US) |
Areas affected |
Midwest and East Coast of the United States (from Illinois to North Carolina to New York) New Mexico, Mexico, Eastern Canada |
Part of the 2009–10 North American winter |
The February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard, commonly referred to as Snowmageddon, was a paralyzing and crippling blizzard that had major and widespread impact in the Northeastern United States. The storm's center tracked from Baja California Sur on February 2nd, 2010 to the East coast on February 6, 2010, before heading east out into the Atlantic. Effects were felt to the north and west of this track in northern Mexico, California, and the Southwestern, Midwestern, Southeastern, and most notably Mid-Atlantic States. Severe weather, including extensive flooding and landslides in Mexico, and historic snowfall totals in every one of the Mid-Atlantic states, brought deaths to Mexico, New Mexico, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Most crippling was the widespread 20 to 35 in (50 to 90 cm) of snow accumulated across southern Pennsylvania, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, and southern New Jersey, bringing air and Interstate Highway travel to a halt. While rail service south and west of Washington, D.C. was suspended, rail travel between D.C. and Boston was available with limited service.Blizzard conditions were reported in a relatively small area of Maryland, but near-blizzard conditions occurred across much of the Mid-Atlantic region.