January 20–22, 2014 North American blizzard

January 20–22, 2014 North American blizzard

Category 1 "Notable" (RSI/NOAA: 1.30)
The winter storm developing off the Mid-Atlantic coast on January 21.
Type	Extratropical cyclone Winter storm Bomb cyclone Blizzard
Formed	January 19, 2014 (2014-01-19)
Dissipated	January 24, 2014 (2014-01-24)
Lowest pressure	962 mb (28.41 inHg)
Maximum snowfall or ice accretion	18.3 in (46 cm) in Norwell, Massachusetts
Areas affected	Eastern United States (especially the Mid-Atlantic states)
Part of the 2013–14 North American winter

The January 20–22, 2014 North American blizzard was a fast-moving but disruptive blizzard that moved through the Northeast, mainly the Mid-Atlantic states, dumping up to 1 foot (30 cm) in areas around the New York City area.^[1] The storm also brought cold temperatures behind it, similar to a snowstorm earlier that month.

Meteorological history[]

On January 19, a weak Alberta clipper exited out of Canada, and quickly moved through the Upper Midwest on January 20, dropping little to no accumulations of snowfall. As it moved eastward early on January 21, frontogenesis occurred, and precipitation expanded from Indiana to western Pennsylvania. At the same time though, an upper low was tracking through the area, and this was holding the clipper system along with it. Then, as it neared the coast, a new area of low pressure developed off the Outer Banks and began to move northwards, as snowfall expanded into parts of the Mid-Atlantic, reaching into areas like Connecticut. Most of the precipitation associated with this system was snowfall, due to an ongoing cold wave, which due to this made forecasting very easy. As the new low continued to move northwards, winds began to pick up along the coast, which at times led to blizzard conditions. The system also started to rapidly deepen as it started to pull away from the Northeast, dropping from 1,004 millibars (29.6 inHg) at 15:00 UTC January 21, to 979 millibars (28.9 inHg) at 15:00 UTC January 22, a drop of 25 millibars (0.74 inHg) in 24 hours.^[2][3] Snow from the system continued to linger into January 22–23 even as it continued to pull away from the New England coast. The system continued to intensify up to its peak intensity of 962 millibars (28.4 inHg), after which it gradually started to weaken before dissipating on January 24.

Impact[]

Snowfall in Sunnyside, Queens, New York City on January 21.

Snowfall totals[]

Below are a list of snowfall totals above 12 inches. Snowfall totals from the lake-effect snow that followed is not included.

Source:^[1]

See also[]

• Early January 2014 nor'easter – the previous winter storm that impacted similar areas.
• January 2015 North American blizzard – a stronger blizzard that impacted nearly the same areas with a very similar origin.
• January 2016 United States blizzard – crippling and historic blizzard that dropped up to 3 feet (36 in) in nearly the same exact areas.

References[]