Blizzard hits northeastern US

The worst winter in many decades for the northeastern US shows no sign of relaxing its grip as the region is hit by another major storm.

A snowstorm is developing across New England and will only add to the already record-breaking winter.

Up until February 13, Boston’s winter snowfall stood at an impressive 202cm, placing it eight on the all-time list, but still well behind the 1995-6 total of 273cm.

How far up that notorious league table Boston will climb is anyone’s guess, but there is every chance that that near 30 year record will tumble.

In terms of monthly records, February 2015 is going to take some beating. With 107cm of snow so far, it still stands behind January 2005’s 110cm, but Sunday’s expected blizzard, and the prospect of further storms next week, is likely to take this month into a clear lead.

Indeed, snow records have been smashed across the northeast of the US, and with parts of Maine and New Brunswick expected to be buried under a fresh fall of up to 75cm, February 2015 could set records that will be unmatched in any of our lifetimes.

The current storm originated as a fast-moving depression over central Canada, known as an ‘Alberta Clipper’. This system looked fairly innoucuous at first, but it interacted with a vigorous jetstream, blowing at more than 330kph, to rapidly deepen into a major low pressure centre.

As the storm heads across New Jersey and then northeastwards into the Atlantic, a strong northeasterly wind will develop, bringing blizzard condtions to many areas through Sunday. Wind gusts of 95kph are predicted and road, rail and air travel will be seriously disrupted during the day.

In addition, this Valentine’s Day storm will chill the warmest of hearts. It is expected that temperatures on Sunday or Monday will be the lowest in at least 20 years. Monday’s forecast maximum temperature for Boston is minus 8C.

Further snowstorms are likely in the coming days. Boston, for example, could see another 20 to 30cm of snow over coming weekend, with further snow showers early the following week. Temperatures throughout the next 10 days are likely to remain mostly below freezing.