[h=2]Storm This Week Versus '62 Ash Wednesday Storm
[h=6]By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist [h=5]March 03, 2013; 3:08 PM
Weather Expert Evan Myers and Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams discuss the current cold and the impending storm next week.
No two storms are ever exactly alike, and the case with the storm on the East Coast in March 6-7, 2013, will be no exception to this rule. However, there may be similarities to other storms over the past and particularly one that occurred in 1962 on the same date.
The Ash Wednesday Storm, as it was called, caused everything from feet of snow to high winds and extensive coastal flooding.
The storm which formed on February 5, 1962, stalled along the mid-Atlantic coast and blasted areas with heavy precipitation, gales and storm surge for days. Over 40 people were killed, over 1,000 others were injured and damage reached $200 million 1962 dollars.
Chief Meteorologist Elliot Abrams and the majority of AccuWeather.com meteorologists concur that the storm of 1962 and the storm during the middle of this week bear similarities on the historical weather maps.
This surface and upper atmosphere weather map from March 6, 1962 appears from the archives of the U.S. Department of Commerce. We apologize for the faded appearance. Note the Omega Block setup with the jet stream in the lower left panel.
The storm of 1962 caused extensive damage to boardwalks and beaches and flooding in communities from North Carolina to Long Island with beach erosion as far north as Maine.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), during the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962, part of Steel Pier at Atlantic City, N.J., was destroyed and NASA's Wallops Island facility sustained extensive damage. Chincoteague and Assateague islands were completely submerged. Winds reached 70 mph and offshore seas approached 40 feet. Two feet of snow fell from Charlottesville to Winchester, Va., with 18 inches of snow falling as far north as the middle of Pennsylvania. Snow fell as far south as Alabama.
The keys to the storm for during the middle of this week in terms of impact are how strong it becomes, how long it lingers along the mid-Atlantic coast and so being how far north it turns.
Odds are against a storm lingering for three or four days like the '62 Ash Wednesday Storm, so damage and flooding are likely to be far less severe.
However, next week's storm could slow down, as the storm strengthens near the coast. If it does this, there could be problems on the coast in terms of strong wind and coastal flooding.
Based on new information, the setup should provide the storm with enough forward momentum, legs if you will, so that the period of strong winds and rough surf conditions are limited to several hours. As a result we are not likely to push a great deal of water toward the coast, when compared to the '62 storm.
In addition, less impact is likely with the storm this week in areas hit hardest by Sandy from northern New Jersey to Long Island. The latest indications are that this storm will be centered farther south.
"The storm in '62 hit at a time of high astronomical tides; There was a new moon on March 6, 1962," according to Elliot Abrams, "Fortunately, the storm next week will be occurring multiple days well away from the new and full moon."
Abrams is not dismissing the potential for coastal flooding, due to onshore flow for a day or two, but suggesting that at least it would not be made worse by the phase of the moon.
The greatest impact from water-level rise would occur around the high tide cycles each day.
The storm is likely to produce a swath of heavy snow from the mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland to part of the mid-Atlantic Coast. It gets tricky near the coast, due to warm air issues bringing rain instead of snow or at least rain during part of the storm.
The storm next week is scheduled to occur about a week ahead of the 20th anniversary of the "Storm of the Century," otherwise known as the "Blizzard of '93."
That mid-March storm developed over the Gulf of Mexico and turned northeastward riding up the Appalachians and Atlantic Seaboard with great damage and coastal flooding, high winds and feet of snow and did so at most locations for a mere 24 hours.
While completely different storms in terms of track and/or origination, the storm next week has the potential to deliver disruptive consequences for a heavily populated part of the nation, just as the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 and the Blizzard of 1993.
Photos.com images and thumbnail.
The storm of 1962 and 1993 were meteorological monsters and the storm next week has the potential to be the same from the impact of heavy snow alone. There is the potential for this storm to deliver one to two feet of snow at its most intense phase with just the right atmospheric conditions.
Moderate to strong nor'easter storm conditions from eastern New Carolina to southeastern Virginia, the Delmarva Peninsula and the southern part of New Jersey.
This story was published on Fri., Mar. 1, 2013 and has been updated at 9:00 a.m. EST, Sun., Mar 3, 2013.