Monday, February 16, 2015

Some snowfall records fall, others in sight

Some snowfall records fall, others in sight
By George Barnes TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
george.barnes@telegram.com

 
If you feel like there has been a crazy amount of snow this winter, you are not far off.

Records in Worcester and Boston were set by the time the latest storm ended Sunday, and more snow is coming.

Property owner Tom Bui Thap is visible through the middle of a huge snowbank on Canterbury Street in Worcester Sunday. He was ticketed by the city earlier in the day for not clearing a path.
((T&G Staff/CHRISTINE PETERSON))


National Weather Service meteorologist Eleanor Valliere-Talbot said that only two weeks into the month, Worcester has set a February record for snowfall dating back to 1904. With the 10.1 inches that fell Saturday and Sunday, the weather station at Worcester Regional Airport recorded 47.8 inches. The previous record of 45.2 inches was set in 1962 and 1966.

Boston also smashed both its snowiest February and its snowiest month in general with 58.5 inches. Previous monthly record for the city was 43.3 inches set in January 2005.

"It's been crazy," Ms. Valliere-Talbot said. "And there is more coming."

Ms. Valliere-Talbot said some snow may fall on Tuesday, but the low is expected to slide off the coast leaving only a couple of inches. A little more snow is possible Wednesday, and she said the state could get hit with another storm late Saturday and Sunday.

Whatever falls will only add to the February record totals, but also push both cities toward records for their snowiest winters. Worcester has seen 103 inches fall this winter. It is officially the fifth snowiest winter in the city's history. To break the record of 132.9 inches set in the winter of 1995-96, it will need another 29.9 inches of snow.

Boston is getting closer to its winter record as well. It has seen 95.7 inches fall as of Sunday afternoon. Its record is 107.6 inches set in the winter of 1995-1996.

Although Worcester has piled up more snow over the winter than Boston, Ms. Valliere-Talbot said February weather has been more active to the east, especially in Boston and Essex County.

"We've been getting a lot of those coastal lows," she said.

The storm Saturday and Sunday dropped about 16 inches on Boston and 22 inches in parts of Essex County compared to 10. inches in Worcester.

Contact George Barnes at george.barnes@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgebarnesTG


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