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
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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
Surface weather analysis of the Great Blizzard of 1888 on March 12
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 11–14, 1888 08.34 - 4 Crippling
February 11–14, 1899 08.11 - 4 Crippling
December 26–27, 1947 03.50 - 2 Significant
February 16–17, 1952 02.17 - 1 Notable
March 16–17, 1956 02.93 - 2 Significant
March 18–19, 1956 02.23 01.87 1 Notable
December 3–5, 1957 01.32 - 1 Notable
February 14–17, 1958 05.98 06.25 3 Major
March 18–21, 1958 03.92 03.51 2 Significant
March 12–13, 1959 03.64 - 2 Significant
February 14–15, 1960 04.17 - 3 Major
March 2–5, 1960 07.63 08.77 4 Crippling
December 11–13, 1960 04.47 04.53 3 Major
January 18–21, 1961 03.47 - 2 Significant
February 2–5, 1961 06.24 07.06 4 Crippling
December 23–25, 1961 01.37 - 1 Notable
February 14–15, 1962 01.59 - 1 Notable
March 6–7, 1962 02.76 - 4 Crippling
December 22–23, 1963 03.17 - 2 Significant
January 11–14, 1964 05.74 06.91 3 Major
February 19–20, 1964 02.39 - 1 Notable
January 16–17, 1965 01.95 - 1 Notable
January 22–23, 1966 04.45 - 3 Major
January 29–31, 1966 05.19 05.93 4 Crippling
December 23–25, 1966 03.79 03.81 2 Significant
February 5–7, 1967 03.82 03.50 2 Significant
March 21–22, 1967 01.20 - 2 Significant
February 8–10, 1969 03.34 03.51 2 Significant
February 22–28, 1969 04.01 04.29 3 Major
December 25–27, 1969 05.19 06.29 3 Major
December 31, 1970–January 1, 1971 02.10 - 1 Notable
March 3–5, 1971 03.73 - 2 Significant
November 25–27, 1971 02.33 - 1 Notable
February 18–20, 1972 04.19 04.77 3 Major
January 16–18, 1978 04.10 - 3 Major
January 19–21, 1978 05.90 06.53 4 Crippling
February 5–7, 1978 06.25 05.78 3 Major
February 17–19, 1979 04.42 04.77 3 Major
January 13–15, 1982 03.08 - 2 Significant
April 6–7, 1982 03.75 03.35 2 Significant
February 10–12, 1983 06.28 06.25 4 Crippling
March 8–9, 1984 01.29 - 1 Notable
March 28–29, 1984 01.86 - 1 Notable
January 1–2, 1987 02.26 - 1 Notable
January 21–23, 1987 04.93 05.40 3 Major
January 25–26, 1987 01.70 01.19 1 Notable
February 22–23, 1987 01.46 01.46 1 Notable
January 7–8, 1988 04.85 - 3 Major
December 26–27, 1990 01.56 - 1 Notable
December 10–12, 1990 03.10 - 2 Significant
March 12–14, 1993 12.52 13.20 5 Extreme
January 3–5, 1994 02.87 - 2 Significant
February 8–12, 1994 04.81 05.39 3 Major
March 2–4, 1994 03.46 - 2 Significant
February 2–4, 1995 03.51 01.43 2 Significant
December 19–20, 1995 03.32 - 2 Significant
January 6–8, 1996 11.54 11.78 5 Extreme
February 2–4, 1996 02.03 - 1 Notable
February 16–17, 1996 01.65 - 1 Notable
March 31–April 1, 1997 02.37 02.29 1 Notable
March 14–15, 1999 02.20 - 1 Notable
January 24–26, 2000 03.14 02.52 2 Significant
December 30–31, 2000 02.48 02.37 1 Notable
March 3–5, 2001 03.53 - 2 Significant
December 4–5, 2002 01.99 - 1 Notable
December 24–25, 2002 04.42 - 3 Major
January 3–4, 2003 02.65 - 2 Significant
February 6–7, 2003 01.18 - 1 Notable
February 15–18, 2003 08.91 07.50 4 Crippling
January 21–24, 2005 - 06.80 4 Crippling
February 12–13, 2006 - 04.10 3 Major
February 12–15, 2007 - 05.63 3 Major
March 15–18, 2007 - 02.54 2 Significant
March 1–3, 2009 - 01.59 1 Notable
December 18–21, 2009 - 03.99 2 Significant
February 4–7, 2010 - 04.38 3 Major
February 9–11, 2010 - 04.10 3 Major
February 25–27, 2010 - 05.46 3 Major
December 26–27, 2010 - 04.92 3 Major
January 9–13, 2011 05.31 3 Major
January 26–27, 2011 - 02.17 1 Notable
February 1–3, 2011 - 05.30 3 Major
October 28–30, 2011 - 01.75 1 Notable
February 7–10, 2013 - 04.35 3 Major
March 4–9, 2013 - 03.05 2 Significant
December 13–16, 2013 - 02.95 2 Significant
December 30, 2013–January 3, 2014 - 03.31 2 Significant
January 20–22, 2014 - 01.26 1 Notable
January 29–February 4, 2014 - 04.08 3 Major
February 11–14, 2014 - 05.28 4 Crippling
November 26–28, 2014 - 01.56 1 Notable
December 9–14, 2014 - 01.49 1 Notable
January 25–28, 2015 - 02.62 3 Major
January 29–February 3, 2015 - 05.42 3 Major
February 8–11, 2015 - 01.32 1 Notable
January 22–24, 2016 - 07.66 4 Crippling
March 12–15, 2017 - 05.03 3 Major
January 3–5, 2018 - 01.71 1 Notable
March 5–8, 2018 - 03.45 2 Significant

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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