December 1992 nor'easter

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December 1992 nor'easter
Category 2 "Significant" (
NOAA: 4.88)
(IR) image of the nor'easter on December 12
TypeNor'easter
Blizzard
Winter storm
FormedDecember 10, 1992
DissipatedAfter December 12, 1992
Highest gust80 mph (130 km/h) at Cape May, New Jersey[1]
Lowest pressure985 mbar[2]
Maximum snowfall
or ice accretion
~4 ft (1.2 m) in
The Berkshires in western Massachusetts
Fatalities4 direct fatalities, 19 total
Damage$1–2 billion (1992 
Mid-Atlantic states, New England

The December 1992 nor'easter produced record high

Port Authority Trans-Hudson
systems were closed due to the storm. Throughout New Jersey, the nor'easter damaged about 3,200 homes and caused an estimated $750 million in damage (1992 USD).

The nor'easter increased tides across the northeastern United States for several days due to its slow movement. In New York City, tides reached 8.04 ft (2.45 m) at

The Berkshires. The high snow totals closed schools for a week in western Massachusetts. Overall, the storm caused between $1–2 billion in damage (1992 USD) and 19 deaths, of which four were directly related to the storm. In March of the following year, the Storm of the Century
caused worse damage across a larger region of the eastern United States.

Meteorological history

A storm complex moved eastward from the Texas coast into Georgia on December 9.

high pressure area north of Maine halting its motion. The interaction between the two systems produced strong easterly winds from Virginia to New England.[6] The nor'easter finally moved offshore on December 12,[5] and later that day passed to the southeast of Long Island.[4]

Impact

The storm affected a large region of the northeastern United States from West Virginia to Massachusetts with heavy snowfall, sleet, rain, and high winds.[1] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attributed four deaths to the nor'easter, but only included those directly related; the agency did not include storm-induced traffic accidents or heart attacks.[1] The National Climatic Data Center reported 19 deaths related to the nor'easter,[2] although news reports shortly after the storm reported 20 deaths.[7] Overall damage was estimated between $1–2 billion (1992 USD), mostly in New England.[8]

The storm's widespread snowfall ranked it as the equivalence of a Category 2, or "significant", on the Regional Snowfall Index scale.[9]

Mid-Atlantic

In the

Washington Metropolitan Area, the mixture of rain and snow caused hundreds of traffic accidents.[6]

The nor'easter struck about 14 months after the

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[13] High winds in the city broke the steeple of a church, and the resulting debris briefly closed the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.[10] Hurricane-force wind gusts left about 160,000 residents without power.[6] Heavy snowfall spread across the state, reaching 37 in (940 mm).[10] State College reported a total of 18.1 in (460 mm), which contributed to its snowiest December on record.[6]

In contrast to Delaware and Maryland, the strong northeast portion of the nor'easter affected New Jersey for several days,

Sustained winds were around 30 mph (48 km/h) in the region.[1] High winds in Atlantic City destroyed the windows of storefronts.[15] Along the Jersey coast, the nor'easter produced waves of up to 25 ft (7.6 m) in height.[1] About 25 mi (40 km) offshore Long Branch, waves reached heights of 44 ft (13 m).[16] In South Jersey, the storm surge struck the coast near low tide, which restricted flooding.[14] The highest tide in South Jersey was 7.89 ft (2.40 m) in Ocean City, which broke the previous record of 7.53 ft (2.30 m) set in 1984.[13] Further north, the surge coincided with several days of high tides and a lunar tide, causing significant flooding and beach erosion.[3][14] The highest tide was 10.4 ft (3.2 m) in Perth Amboy along the Raritan River, which broke the record set in 1960.[13] In many locations, the storm produced the highest tides since the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962. The storm also dropped rainfall across the state, peaking at 3.80 in (97 mm) in Morristown, along with gusts peaking at 58 mph (93 km/h) at Morristown Municipal Airport. The rainfall caused higher discharge rates along rivers.[14] The storm also produced high snowfall totals, including 14 in (360 mm) in Sussex County.[15] Throughout the coastline, the cost to replace the lost beach from erosion was estimated at $300 million (1992 USD).[3]

Most of the impact in New Jersey was from the high tides, which caused the worst flooding in 30 years in some locations.

New Jersey National Guard.[15] About 19,000 people were evacuated in six towns in Monmouth County.[3] Statewide, about 2,000 people in 20 towns had to be evacuated by helicopter or National Guard truck. The American Red Cross opened at least 30 shelters across the state, housing over 5,000 people affected by floods or lack of heat.[15] Damage in the state was less than the nor'easter of 1962 due to 30 years of disaster mitigation, including beach replenishment, dune construction, and improved building codes.[16]

New York and New England

Before the storm's circulation passed the New York area, its associated trough produced sustained easterly winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) along Long Island. Wind gusts reached 77 mph (124 km/h) at

Mamaroneck to the northeast of New York City, a man drowned after being swept away by floodwaters.[1] In the Albany area, where the storm was known as the Downslope Nor'easter, there was little snow accumulation during the storm's closest approach due to above freezing temperatures. After the storm moved by the region and the winds shifted to the north, about 6 in (150 mm) fell in the city. To the west of Albany in the Helderberg Escarpment and the Catskill Mountains, snowfall totals reached 39 in (990 mm).[21] Heavy snowfall spread across the state, including a total of 14 in (360 mm) in Niagara Falls.[10]

In Connecticut, local TV stations named the storm Beth. Across the region, the

The Berkshires, which created 10 ft (3.0 m) snow drifts.[1] The high accumulations closed schools for a week in the Berkshires, and the cities required National Guard assistance to remove the snow. To the west of the Berkshires, strong east winds prevented significant snow accumulation in valleys.[21] High tides extended as far north as Portland, Maine, which reported a peak of 7.71 ft (2.35 m).[5]

Aftermath

On December 17, President George H. W. Bush declared three Connecticut counties as disaster areas.[27] The next day, the president declared 12 New Jersey counties as disaster areas, including all of the counties along the Atlantic coast.[14][28] The declaration allowed for $46 million in relief for public damages and $265 million for insured damage in the state.[14] On December 21, the president declared 9 Massachusetts counties and 5 New York counties as disaster areas.[29][30] On January 15, 1993, Sussex County, Delaware was also declared a disaster area.[31] Across the nor'easter's path, 25,142 people received assistance from Federal Emergency Management Agency, equating to $346,150,356 in federal aid.[32] Only three months after the nor'easter struck, another nor'easter caused more severe damage across a larger region of the eastern United States. The March nor'easter, known as the Storm of the Century, killed 310 people and left over $1.5 billion in damage (1993 USD).[6]

See also

References

  1. ^
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  2. ^ a b c d e f "Storm Data December 1992" (PDF). 34 (12). National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved 2012-03-26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ .
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kelvin W. Ramsey; John H. Talley; Darlene V. Wells (February 1993). Summary Report: The Coastal Storm of December 10-14, 1992 Delaware and Maryland (PDF) (Report). Delaware Geological Survey. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  6. ^ . Retrieved 2012-03-16.
  7. ^ a b c "Storm Strikes Plains; East Coast Bails Out". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 1992-12-15. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  8. ^ Mark Lackey (2011-06-17). "Billion Dollar U.S. Weather/Climate Disasters". National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  9. ^ National Climatic Data Center. "Regional Snowfall Index: RSI and Societal Impacts". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Storm smashes into Northeast". The Albany Herald. Associated Press. 1992-12-12. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  11. ^ Barbara McNaught Watson (2007-01-08). "Maryland Winters". Baltimore/Washington National Weather Service. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  12. ^ "Snow and rain across Midwest". The Bryan Times. Associated Press. 1992-12-11. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  13. ^ a b c d Thomas P. Suro (2008-09-17). "Maximum tide elevations prior to and during December 11–12, 1992, in New Jersey" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thomas P. Suro (2008-09-17). "December 11-12, 1992, in New Jersey". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Joseph F. Sullivan (1992-12-12). "The Storm's Havoc: New Jersey; Swamped and Powerless, Thousands Flee Shoreline". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  16. ^ a b c Thomas O. Herrington. "New Jersey Sea Grant College Program Manual for Coastal Hazard Mitigation" (PDF). State of New Jersey. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  17. ^ a b Christopher E. Schubert and Ronald Busciolano. "Peak Storm-Tide Elevations Produced by the December 1992 Storm Along the Coast of Long Island, New York, with Historical Peak Storm-Tide Elevation" (PDF). State University of New York. Retrieved 2012-03-14. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. ^ John T. McQuiston (1992-12-15). "After the Storm; Fire Island Record Tides Are Toppling More Homes Into the Sea". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  19. ^ Jonathan Rabinovitz (1992-12-12). "The Storm's Havoc: Long Island; Degree of Ferocity Shocks a Place That Is Used to Storms". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  20. ^ a b John T. McQuiston (1992-12-14). "After the Storm; Long Island; Almost 3,000 Homeless In a North Shore Town". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  21. ^ a b "Major Winter Storms". Albany National Weather Service. 2011-02-15. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
  22. ^ "Northeast Utilities: Major Storm Comparison" (PDF). 2012-01-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  23. ^ Jeff McLaughlin (1992-12-13). "Tidal surges gouge beaches, destroy houses along Cape". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2012-05-12. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  24. ^ http://www.weatherknowledge.com/The_Great_NorEaster_of_Dec_1992.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  25. ^ "After the Storm; Flooding and Snow Stagger Massachusetts". New York Times. 1992-12-14. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  26. ^ "Whales Beached on Cape". Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Associated Press. 1992-12-13. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  27. ^ "Connecticut Coastal Flooding, Winter Storm: Major Disaster Declared December 17, 1992 (DR-972)". Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2004-10-18. Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  28. ^ "New Jersey Coastal Storm, High Tides, Heavy Rain, Flooding". Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2005-05-20. Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  29. ^ "Massachusetts Winter Coastal Storm: Major Disaster Declared December 21, 1992 (DR-975)". Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2004-10-18. Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  30. ^ "New York Coastal Storm, High Tides, Heavy Rain, Flooding: Major Disaster Declared December 21, 1992 (DR-974)". Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2005-05-20. Archived from the original on 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  31. ^ "Delaware Severe Coastal Storm, Flooding: Major Disaster Declared January 15, 1993 (DR-976)". Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2004-10-14. Archived from the original on 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  32. ^ "Significant Flood Events 1978 - January 31, 2012". Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2012-03-14. Archived from the original on 2008-02-01. Retrieved 2012-03-14.