Lowest pressure 958 mb (28.29 inHg) Dates 14 Feb 2015 – 15 Feb 2015 | Power outages 200,000 Number of casualties 6 | |
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Type Winter storm
Blizzard
Extratropical cyclone Formed February 12, 2015 (2015-02-12) Dissipated February 17, 2015 (2015-02-17) Maximum snowfall or ice accretion 27.4 in (70 cm) in Robbinston, Maine | ||
From February 14–15, 2015, a potent blizzard occurred in the Northeast United States. The storm dropped up to 25 inches (64 cm) of snow in the regions already hit hard with snow from the past 2 weeks. The storm system also brought some of the most coldest temperatures to the Northeast in its wake.
Contents
Meteorological history
The storm developed in a similar fashion to how the previous blizzard originated. On February 14, a clipper system moved off the East Coast and began to intensify rapidly. By midnight, it had gained most of the required criteria to meet blizzard conditions in eastern New England. As the system moved northeast on February 15, a persistent band of heavy snow from the winter storm set up near Boston, resulting in some snowfall rates of 2 inches (51 mm) per hour in the snowband. The system continued to intensify even after the storm had ended, with its pressure dropping to 958 millibars (28.3 inHg) by midnight February 16. The storm was then absorbed by another cyclone on February 17.
Aftermath and cold wave
The associated cold wave brought the coldest air recorded over portions of the eastern Great Lakes in decades on February 15, and possibly over the entire forecast record. Well below normal temperatures covered a large portion of the eastern United States and were expected to stay in place, with only slight moderation, through the rest of the month. Through February 21, primarily on February 16 and February 20, over 600 record low temperatures were recorded in the eastern U.S., including all-time record lows and record lows for February. As of February 15, Lake Erie had 94 percent ice cover while Lake Superior and Lake Huron were over 80 percent covered, and Lakes Michigan and Ontario were between 50 and 60 percent iced over.