Top 5 Weather Events in History for Me

On this rainy day, I thought I'd take a look back about some of my favorite weather events in history! (These are not in any particular order).

1. The 2011 Halloween nor'easter. In late October 2011, a nor'easter dropped up to 2 feet of snow in areas of CT, with Peru, Ma. receiving 32 inches of snow. This storm came less than 2 months after Hurricane Irene, and Halloween was cancelled in many places. I remember loosing power and school being canceled for a week! This was an incredible early-season snowfall.

2. The February 2013 blizzard. Around February 8, 2013, a multi-day blizzard struck the northeastern United States, dropping a maximum of 40 inches of snow in Hamden, CT. Here are snow totals from this storm.

February 2013 Blizzard snow totals (Brandon Vincent)

Notice how strong this storm was in southern New England. I remember skiing afterwards, and it was incredible!

3. Hurricane Irene. In late August 2011 this powerful hurricane struck eastern parts of the country causing crippling damage and many deaths. While a very tragic storm, for me it was exciting and interesting to see the sheer power of the weather.

4. Hurricane Sandy. Another absolutely tragic and crippling Atlantic hurricane in 2012. This one struck in late October, and I remember losing power and being out of school for a week. Peak wind speeds for this storm were 115 mph and the pressure dropped to 940 mbar.

Hurricane Sandy (Wikipedia)

5. MLK Snowstorm. This one was during my sophomore year at Middlebury college (winter 2019), and it began on the day before MLK day and continued into the holiday. While totals were not anything outrageous (they were around 2 feet), the most impressive part of the storm was the intense winds and bitter cold that came along with it.

Those are my five favorite weather events that I've experienced - clearly they are very snow-centric. Comment some events that you remember particularly well!