15 Years Ago: January 2011 Blizzard

Exactly 15 years ago today, Connecticut was experiencing one of the biggest snowstorms on record. The January 11-12th, 2011 blizzard was a powerful nor'easter that hit the state with heavy snow and whiteout conditions. While this was a record breaking storm in terms of snowfall totals, the impact the storm created wasn't nearly as bad as you might think. Storms like the Blizzard of '78 and '96 were much more devastating in nature. There were a few reasons for this, most notably the light fluffy nature of the snow and the bulk of it falling at night. Still, this much snow falling in relatively short duration caused structural damages to roofs and vehicles became stranded on I95.

The January 2011 Blizzard dumped a wide swath of 20-30"+ over Connecticut and up through Massachusetts. Across the Tri-State, snowfall totals were more conservative on the order of 6-18". Snowfall rates reached an incredible 2-4" per hour during the height of the storm which occurred during the overnight and early morning hours of the 12th. By mid-morning the system was wrapping up across the state and cleanup was underway.

Here are some key points:

• Large area of 20-30" across Connecticut and Massachusetts

• Moderate snowfall in NYC with 6-10"

• Windsor Locks (BDL) set an all-time snowfall record of 24"

• Highest Connecticut report: North Haven with 30.5"

• Highest report overall: Savoy, MA with 40.5"

If you would like to see more images and snowfall maps related to this event, check it out in our archive

January 11-12th, 2011 Blizzard

-JDJ