Monday, November 25, 2013

Top 10 November Snowfall Totals Pt. 1

The Great Thanksgiving Snowstorm of 1956 was one for the record books. The City of Erie was brought to its knees when  27" of snow fell from the sky.

I did some research and put together a chart showing the Top Ten November Snowfall Totals. Part 1, shown here, includes the years 1900 to 1950. The snowiest November, as it turns out, occurred in 1950, when Erie received a total of 46.9 inches of snow. That's just shy of four feet in thirty days, back when most people were clearing their sidewalk and driveway by hand, using a shovel instead of a snow blower. Talk about back-breaking work, especially after putting in a full day at the shop. Especially if he had to maneuver through the streets in one of those big old rear wheel drive cars with no chains on the wheels. 

Brutal storms whipped through the northeast on November 24, 1950. Pittsburgh was covered with 16 inches of snow. Meadville, PA got 18" and Erie received 15" and Buffalo was pelted with more than its share of heavy, wet snow. Cleveland was hit with one of its worst November blizzards to date.

Top 10 November Snowfall Totals, 1900-1950:
1.   1950  46.9"
2.   1947  35.1"
3.   1913  19.3"
4.   1927  16.6"
5.   1912  15.3"
6.   1910  14.4"
7.   1929  13.8"
8.   1936  13.4"
9.   1911  12.2" (tied with 1915)
10. 1930 11.2" (tied with 1933)

Enjoy more freezing factoids about Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie

2 comments:

  1. This is great information Debbie. Lots of great November Erie storms. 1950 affected the eastern U.S. with all kinds of records. 1956 was a more local, lake effect event. There was also one Nov. 25-26, 1947 with 20" in 2 days. We got some cool information for NWS Erie before they left the airport. Got some video of the 1950 event of the "blizzard bowl" between Michigan and Ohio State where the score was 9-3 and they started day at 5 degrees and 40 mph wind. Erie also had 27" from that storm. All the best, Tom A. JET-TV/FOX66

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    1. Hi Tom! Thanks for the kind words. I'm sure the weather here in Erie keeps you on your toes. An acquaintance recently got an echocardiogram recently, and I got to go into the exam room. I watched the screen and said, "It looks like a storm is coming in from Lake Michigan." The sonographer said it's interesting that I said that because it is also a Doppler system. I'd like to stop by the television station sometime and see the Doppler system that JET 24 uses to forecast the weather. I really like maps and statistics.

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