List of winter storms in the United States with Regional Snowfall Index Category 5
This list of winter storms in the United States with Regional Snowfall Index Category 5 names winter storms - mostly blizzards - for which the NOAA calculated the Regional Snowfall Index and which reached a value greater than 18.0. NOAA uses this index to assess and compare the impact of such storms on society. The index was introduced in 2005 to replace the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS) in order to be able to classify winter storms outside of the northeastern United States . Since the introduction of the index, the NCDC has calculated RSI values retrospectively up to 1900.
These storms are sorted into categories 1 to 5, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. The winter storms are classified into six different regions: the Northeast, the Northern Rockies and Great Plains, the Southern States, the Southeast, and the upper Midwest of the United States.
Of the more than 500 historical storms that have been taken into account since 1900, only 26 have an index value higher than 18.0 and thus achieved category 5. The Great Blizzard of 1978 reached the highest value with 39.07. The last winter storm in category 5 was the January 2016 blizzard, which reached the index value of 20.14.
List of events
| year | date | Max RSI | region | Ref (s). |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | April 14th to 18th | 20.84 | Northern Rockies and Plains | |
| 1921 | February 17th to 21st | 31.89 | south | |
| 1922 | January 25-29 | 18.53 | southeast | |
| 1927 | February 26th to March 2nd | 24.42 | southeast | |
| 1927 | April 4th to 10th | 34.20 | Northern Rockies and Plains | |
| 1929 | December 18-23 | 21.13 | south | |
| 1940 | January 20-23 | 18.14 | southeast | |
| 1943 | January 18th to 25th | 21.14 | Northern Rockies and Plains | |
| 1950 | November 11-21 | 34.69 | Ohio Valley | |
| 1966 | February 27th to March 5th | 20.38 | Northern Rockies and Plains | |
| 1967 | January 24th to 28th | 18.13 | Ohio Valley | |
| 1969 | February 21-27 | 34.03 | Northeast | |
| 1971 | February 18-23 | 19.36 | south | |
| 1978 | January 22nd to 27th | 39.07 | Upper Midwest | |
| 1978 | February 5-7 | 18.42 | Northeast | |
| 1984 | April 24-27 | 25.95 | Northern Rockies and Plains | |
| 1985 | February 6-14 | 27.06 | Upper Midwest | |
| 1985 | November 27th to December 1st | 22.19 | Upper Midwest | |
| 1988 | January 4th to 8th | 22.64 | south | |
| 1991 | October 30th to November 1st | 30.18 | Upper Midwest | |
| 1993 | March 11-14 | 24.63 | Ohio Valley | |
| 1993 | November 20th to 28th | 22.00 | Northern Rockies and Plains | |
| 1996 | January 5th to 8th | 26.37 | southeast | |
| 2009 | December 21-28 | 19.62 | Northern Rockies and Plains | |
| 2011 | January 31st to February 2nd | 21.99 | Ohio Valley | |
| 2016 | January 22nd to 24th | 20.14 | Northeast |
See also
supporting documents
- ↑ Regional Snowfall Index (RSI) ( English ) In: National Centers for Environmental Information . NOAA. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ^ Regional Snowfall Index and Societal Impacts . Retrieved November 18, 2014.
- ↑ NOAA Product Highlight: Regional Snowfall Index ( English ) Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved on November 18, 2014.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Michael Squires, Jay Lawrinmore, Richard Heim, David Robinson, Mathieu Gerbush, Thomas Estilow: The Regional Snowfall Index ( English ) American Meteorological Society. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ↑ Putting the January 22–24 Snowstorm in Historical Context ( English ) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . February 18, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2018.