To say that 2011 featured dramatic swings and variety in weather throughout our area would be a tremendous understatement. The year began with historic snowfall in January, with two monster snowstorms whcih left our area firmly in winters grasp. After a wet spring, temperatures soared to a complete opposite extreme in the end of July. Newark, New Jersey recorded a record high temperature of 108 degrees which is almost unheard of for our area -- even in the summer. Three straight days of 100+ F temperatures took the summer heat to an entirely new level. An earthquake rocked the mid-Atlantic, and Hurricane Irene impacted our area later in August with tropical storm to weak-hurricane force winds. Had enough? We weren't done yet. In late October, old man winter reminded us that he was on his way. And it was enough to win the Weather Event of the Year in 2011. Pictured right: NAM model's forecast track of the October 28-29th, 2011 snowstorm a few days before it impacted our area.

The historic early-season snowstorm on October 28-29, 2011 was voted the #1 NYC Weather Event of 2011 by our readers. This doesn't come as much of a surprise to us, though, as this system arguably had the greatest impact on our area. The powerful Nor'Easter developed on October 28-29 and moved up the east coast to a point just off the coast of New Jersey and southeast of Long Island. Unseasonably cold air and very strong winter-like dynamics produced a heavy, wet snowfall for much of the area especially over the interior. Some areas in New Jersey and Connecticut receieved nearly 20 inches of snow -- unheard of for the month of October. The combination of the heavy snow and the still leafed trees was a disaster. Trees and branches feel throughout the entire area--knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people. The power remained out for days, while many cleaned up the damage to houses, cars, property, etc.

There were 10 storm related deaths in Connecticut, 8 in New Jersey, and 3 in New York. In total, 1,830,000 people in our area lost power at some point as a result of the storm system.  Thousands in Connecticut did not have power restored for well over a week. To put the storm in a bit of perspective, New York City's total October snowfall (in history) prior to the October 28-29, 2011 system was under 2.0". The October 28-29, 2011 storm itself produced over 5.0" of snow for New York City. The historic nature, and dramatic impact of the storm system made this a very good choice for the top weather event of the year. Pictured left: NAM model showing forecast surface temperatures (left) and precipitation in 3 hours (right). The image shows the intense precipitation and cooling of temperatures that allowed for snow to fall at such an unusual date.

Over the next week or two, as promised, our forecasting team will work on an official case study on the event. It will then be published to the blog for you all to read. We hope you enjoyed voting and interacting with us on the Top NYC Weather Event of 2011, and we are looking forward to an exciting (but safe) 2012 in weather!