List of Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale winter storms

The Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS) is a scale used to categorize winter storms in the Northeast United States.[1] The scale was developed by meteorologists Paul Kocin and Louis Uccellini, and ranks snowstorms from Category 1 ("notable") to Category 5 ("extreme"). Only two historical blizzards, the 1993 Storm of the Century and the North American blizzard of 1996 are rated in the 5 "extreme" category. The scale differs from the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale and Fujita Scale, which are used to classify tropical cyclones and tornadoes, respectively, in that it takes into account the number of people affected by the storm.[2] The scale, as devised, is intended chiefly to assess past storms rather than assist in forecasts.[3]

Description of the NESIS scale

List

Satellite image of the 1993 Storm of the Century, the highest-ranking NESIS storm
Snow drifts from the North American blizzard of 1996
A car almost completely buried in snow following the January 2016 United States blizzard
Snowfall from the North American blizzard of 2007 in Vermont

There are two available values for NESIS. The original values that Paul Kocin and Louis Uccellini computed for storms in their original 2004 work "A Snowfall Impact Scale Derived From Northeast Storm Snowfall Distributions" and the NESIS storm values recomputed using some different data and differing methods by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in 2005 to productionize their work for assigning values to future storm storms beyond Kocin/Uccellini work. Kocin/Uccellini originally computed NESIS values for 70 storms from 1888 to 2003. The NCDC recomputed NESIS values for 30 of the same storms and has since for newer storms beyond 2003.

Storms pre-2005 use the Kocin/Uccellini rating and description. Storms 2005 and onward use the NCDC rating and description. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information publishes a list of storms with ratings and other information, starting with the March 1956 storm.

Date Original NESIS NCDC NESIS Category Description
March 1114, 1888 08.34 - 4 Crippling
February 1114, 1899 08.11 - 4 Crippling
December 2627, 1947 03.50 - 2 Significant
February 1617, 1952 02.17 - 1 Notable
March 1617, 1956 02.93 - 2 Significant
March 1819, 1956 02.23 01.87 1 Notable
December 35, 1957 01.32 - 1 Notable
February 1417, 1958 05.98 06.25 3 Major
March 1821, 1958 03.92 03.51 2 Significant
March 1213, 1959 03.64 - 2 Significant
February 1415, 1960 04.17 - 3 Major
March 25, 1960 07.63 08.77 4 Crippling
December 1113, 1960 04.47 04.53 3 Major
January 1821, 1961 03.47 04.04 2 Significant
February 25, 1961 06.24 07.06 4 Crippling
December 2325, 1961 01.37 - 1 Notable
February 1415, 1962 01.59 - 1 Notable
March 67, 1962 02.76 - 4 Crippling
December 2223, 1963 03.17 - 2 Significant
January 1114, 1964 05.74 06.91 3 Major
February 1920, 1964 02.39 - 1 Notable
January 1617, 1965 01.95 - 1 Notable
January 2223, 1966 04.45 - 3 Major
January 2931, 1966 05.19 05.93 4 Crippling
December 2325, 1966 03.79 03.81 2 Significant
February 57, 1967 03.82 03.50 2 Significant
March 2122, 1967 01.20 - 2 Significant
February 810, 1969 03.34 03.51 2 Significant
February 2228, 1969 04.01 04.29 3 Major
December 2527, 1969 05.19 06.29 3 Major
December 31, 1970January 1, 1971 02.10 - 1 Notable
March 35, 1971 03.73 - 2 Significant
November 2527, 1971 02.33 - 1 Notable
February 1820, 1972 04.19 04.77 3 Major
January 1618, 1978 04.10 - 3 Major
January 1921, 1978 05.90 06.53 4 Crippling
February 57, 1978 06.25 05.78 3 Major
February 1719, 1979 04.42 04.77 3 Major
January 1315, 1982 03.08 - 2 Significant
April 67, 1982 03.75 03.35 2 Significant
February 1012, 1983 06.28 06.25 4 Crippling
March 89, 1984 01.29 - 1 Notable
March 2829, 1984 01.86 - 1 Notable
January 12, 1987 02.26 - 1 Notable
January 2123, 1987 04.93 05.40 3 Major
January 2526, 1987 01.70 01.19 1 Notable
February 2223, 1987 01.46 01.46 1 Notable
January 78, 1988 04.85 - 3 Major
December 2627, 1990 01.56 - 1 Notable
December 1012, 1990 03.10 - 2 Significant
March 1214, 1993 12.52 13.20 5 Extreme
January 35, 1994 02.87 - 2 Significant
February 812, 1994 04.81 05.39 3 Major
March 24, 1994 03.46 - 2 Significant
February 24, 1995 03.51 01.43 2 Significant
December 1920, 1995 03.32 - 2 Significant
January 68, 1996 11.54 11.78 5 Extreme
February 24, 1996 02.03 - 1 Notable
February 1617, 1996 01.65 - 1 Notable
March 31April 1, 1997 02.37 02.29 1 Notable
March 1415, 1999 02.20 - 1 Notable
January 2426, 2000 03.14 02.52 2 Significant
December 3031, 2000 02.48 02.37 1 Notable
March 35, 2001 03.53 - 2 Significant
December 45, 2002 01.99 - 1 Notable
December 2425, 2002 04.42 - 3 Major
January 34, 2003 02.65 - 2 Significant
February 67, 2003 01.18 - 1 Notable
February 1518, 2003 08.91 07.50 4 Crippling
January 2124, 2005 - 06.80 4 Crippling
February 1213, 2006 - 04.10 3 Major
February 1215, 2007 - 05.63 3 Major
March 1518, 2007 - 02.54 2 Significant
March 13, 2009 - 01.59 1 Notable
December 1821, 2009 - 03.99 2 Significant
February 47, 2010 - 04.38 3 Major
February 911, 2010 - 04.10 3 Major
February 2527, 2010 - 05.46 3 Major
December 2627, 2010 - 04.92 3 Major
January 913, 2011 05.31 3 Major
January 2627, 2011 - 02.17 1 Notable
February 13, 2011 - 05.30 3 Major
October 2830, 2011 - 01.75 1 Notable
February 710, 2013 - 04.35 3 Major
March 49, 2013 - 03.05 2 Significant
December 1316, 2013 - 02.95 2 Significant
December 30, 2013January 3, 2014 - 03.31 2 Significant
January 2022, 2014 - 01.26 1 Notable
January 29February 4, 2014 - 04.08 3 Major
February 1114, 2014 - 05.28 4 Crippling
November 2628, 2014 - 01.56 1 Notable
December 914, 2014 - 01.49 1 Notable
January 2528, 2015 - 02.62 3 Major
January 29February 3, 2015 - 05.42 3 Major
February 811, 2015 - 01.32 1 Notable
January 2224, 2016 - 07.66 4 Crippling
March 1215, 2017 - 05.03 3 Major
January 35, 2018 - 02.27 1 Notable
March 13, 2018 - 01.65 1 Notable
March 58, 2018 - 03.45 2 Significant
March 1115, 2018 - 03.16 2 Significant
March 2022, 2018 - 01.63 1 Notable
December 14–18, 2020 - 03.21 2 Significant
January 30–February 3, 2021 - 04.93 3 Major

See also

Footnotes

  1. Staff Writer (February 1, 2006). "Scientists devise new scale to rate snowstorms". The Reading Eagle. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  2. "The Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS)". National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  3. Kocin and Uccellini, pp. 269–270

References

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