14 Years Ago: October Snow Bomb

On this date, fourteen years ago, the Northeast was bracing for an unprecedented early season snowstorm. For our area, snow before Halloween was very rare and a major snowstorm was basically unheard of. Winter Storm Warnings were up for most of Southern New England and the Tri-State Area with snowfall amounts expected to be at least 6"+ for most.

Snow began just after daybreak on the 29th and continued throughout the day with winds increasing. Despite a late October sun angle (equivalent to late February) snow began sticking on all surfaces including main roadways. Right along the shoreline and in New York City and Long Island it was a different story. Temperatures there were in the mid-30s and precipitation types flipped back and forth between snow and rain. As day turned into night snowfall rates picked up over one inch per hour and many areas flipped to all snow and began accumulating. The storm exited the region by daybreak on the 30th and left some with over two feet of snow in the higher elevations of western Massachusetts. There was a gradual gradient from near zero inches in SE Massachusetts and Long Island to 6-12" inland to 12"+ well inland and higher elevations.

After all was said and done, the storm cost billions in damages, left millions without power for over a week, and unfortunately cancelled Halloween. This was truly an unprecedented storm as most official records saw more snow that day than all the days of October for all the previous years combined!

Since the October 2011 snowstorm there hasn't been a winter storm even close to that magnitude (for the month of October). However, in 2020 another rare, early season winter storm hit the region one day later on October 30th. This system was less intense and impactful but did still manage a respectable 3-6" inland down to a trace of snow at the coast. For October, that is still a very notable event.

Beginning this winter season we will be doing an "On This Date" series, highlighting significant winter related events that occurred on that day in the past 30 years.

To see more weather related images and snowfall maps for the 2011 and 2020 snowstorms click here:

October 29-30th, 2011 Snowstorm

October 30th, 2020 Snow & Rain Storm

To view more snowstorms going back to the late 90s check our Winter Storm Archive and Snowfall Maps Archive.

-JDJ