February 2007 North American blizzard

February 2007 North America winter storm

Snow cover in Silver Spring, Maryland
Type	Winter storm
Formed	February 12 2007
Dissipated	Still active
Lowest pressure	Unknown
Maximum snowfall or ice accretion	107 cm/42 in (Adirondack Mountains, New York State)
Fatalities	At least 23
Damage	As yet unknown
Areas affected	Eastern North America, Gulf States

The February 2007 North America winter storm (otherwise referred to as the St. Valentine's Day Blizzard) was a massive winter storm that affected most of the eastern half of North America and started on February 12 2007 with the peak of the storm on Valentine's Day, February 14. The storm produced heavy snowfalls across the Midwestern United States from Nebraska to Ohio and produced similar conditions across the Northeastern United States, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. Significant ice fell across the southern Ohio Valley and affected portions of the East Coast of the United States including the cities of Boston and New York City. In the southern portion of the storm, it has produced severe thunderstorms with tornadoes. One tornado hit a subdivision of New Orleans which was still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina that hit the region in August 2005. In total, this storm system was responsible for 69 deaths across nine U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario.

Prior to the storm

Through much of January, in sharp contrast to the mostly mild weather in the first few weeks of winter, the eastern half of the continent was under the influence of cold temperatures. Numerous areas had substantial snowfall deficits before this storm. After several weak Alberta Clippers crossed the eastern half of the continent and brought occasional light snowfalls, a large dip in the Northern branch of the jet stream favored a more active pattern, which, as it connected with the southern branch, led to the development of the storm.

Storm track

On February 10 through 11, a low pressure system developed near the Rockies and moved towards the Great Plains of the United States. It later tracked across the Ohio Valley and merged with a new coastal low. It then moved over eastern Quebec on Valentine's Day.

It dumped over six inches of snow across numerous areas from Iowa to New Brunswick including major cities such as Akron, Cleveland, Chicago, Springfield, Peoria, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Dayton, Toledo, Detroit, London, Hamilton, the Niagara Region, Toronto, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Trois-Rivieres, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Rochester, Windsor, Syracuse, and Albany. This also includes areas such as Northern Oswego County, New York which received historic lake effect snowfall amounts.

In addition to the general snowfall, snow squalls coming from Lake Ontario gave local amounts of over 2 feet (60 cm) of snow near the Hamilton and Niagara regions where 1 foot of snow had already fallen on February 13.

Heavy ice amounts fell for locations along Interstate 95 from Maine to Virginia and west towards southern Ohio and Indiana. Ice was expected for parts of the Canadian Maritimes.

Impact

States of emergency and mobilizations

A NASA satellite image of the Great Lake states after the snowfall

Maine Governor John Baldacci declared a state of emergency in order to assure heating oil for residents of the state which was one of the hardest hit areas by the snowstorm.

Due to the additional heavy snowfall, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer called in the National Guard to assist in the snow removal efforts in the areas hit by the lake effect snow storm.

Essex, Warren and Clinton counties in New York state, which were affected by extensive snowfall from the storm had declared a state of emergency.

Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine declared a statewide emergency in advance of the storm, directing state agencies to help in the response to and recovery from the storm.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has declared a statewide disaster emergency in response to the poor road conditions and ensuing highway closings

Precipitation received

The storm left a mark on states like Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, which received heavy snow for over 24 hours, accumulating upwards of 18 inches (45.72 cm) in some areas. In Chicago, O'Hare International Airport received 10.2 inches (25.9 cm) of snow, while Midway Airport received 9.7 inches (24.6 cm). The Midway total was the largest amount of snow received in the month of February since records began to be kept in 1928.

Clearing ice from the steps in front of the Harrisburg Transportation Center

Areas of the Appalachian Mountains in northern New England and Quebec received accumulations of over 16 inches (40 cm) with local amount exceeding 3 feet (90 cm) in parts of Vermont and 42 inches (105 cm) in the Adirondacks in New York State. The City of Hamilton and the Niagara region received just over 18 inches (45 cm) due to snowsqualls off of Lake Ontario.

Approximately 5 inches (12.5 cm) of snow fell near Beekman, New York, while other areas were affected more significantly.

A notable feature of the system was its array of precipitation type. While the interior sections of the Northeast received mostly snow from the system, the Mid-Atlantic received snow, sleet, freezing rain and non-freezing rain. Due to the three-dimensional nature of the atmosphere, warm air was poised to overtake the cold air closer to the ground, causing precipitation to melt, then refreeze as either sleet or freezing rain. As temperatures hovered around freezing on the southern edge of the storm track, light snow accompanied freezing rain and sleet. The freezing rain coated all surfaces with thick layers of ice, including power lines and tree limbs which break under the additional weight.

Ice accumulations in Virginia and Maryland reached locally three-quarters of an inch (20 mm) while it reached 1 inch in central Ohio near Columbus and Xenia

Damage and travel disruptions

Blizzard conditions were reported across most of the Midwest from Illinois to Ohio. Numerous flights were canceled due to the snow and ice across various airports including in Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City, Montreal, Kansas City, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Cleveland, Boston and Cincinnati. 900 were canceled at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Lackawanna county in north-eastern Pennsylvania received so much snow that every highway was closed.

At New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, several empty JetBlue airplanes were actually frozen to the tarmac at the gates and incoming flights could not access the gates as a result, while outgoing flights already taxiing were ordered held on the runway due to weather conditions. Many planes filled with passengers, either landing or taking off, were held in the planes, eating peanuts and other snacks for as much as 10 hours before the decision was made to cancel the outgoing flights or a gate had opened for the inbound ones Several airports including Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport and John C. Munro International Airport in Hamilton were completely shut down for several hours. . GO Train in Toronto and Amtrak train service from Boston was also disrupted.

Strong winds also accompanied the storm but damage was minimal, though a radio tower pole was toppled by 40 mph winds in Ohio.

Road traveling was extensively slowed down and numerous accidents and pile-ups were reported across several states and in Ontario. One of the accidents on the Ohio Turnpike involved two tractor-trailers which fell several hundred feet. and another one on Highway 403 in Hamilton involved three tractor-trailers and five cars which forced the closure of the road. Numerous other major roads were also temporarily shutdown, including Highway 401 in Ontario due to a fatal accident in Napanee and Highways 20 and 132 in eastern Quebec between Quebec City and Rimouski.

Severe ice has caused a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania between Lebanon County and Wilkes-Barre to be shut down, stranding motorists for upwards of 21 hours and requiring the National Guard to be called in. . Other stretches of highway throughout Pennsylvania have been shut down, including Interstate 80 and 81

Deaths

Seventeen people were killed during the storm. Most of them were killed in accidents including one in Ontario, three in Nebraska, one in New York, two in New Jersey, two in Indiana, two in Delaware, one in New Hampshire, one in Missouri, one in Virginia and one in Ohio. A second Ohioan, a nine year old girl in Clermont County, was killed when hit by a fallen tree limb, and another person was killed by a tornado in New Orleans (see severe weather section below).

Closures and cancellations

Many towns in the path of the storm saw often unprecedented cancellations and closures of schools, universities, city governments, retail stores, etc, and transportation to those places.

Schools

The inclement weather caused many educational institutions, such as universities and secondary schools, to close. Among these were Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, Kent State University, the University at Albany, Georgetown University in Washington, DC, Cornell University, Purdue University,

Snowcover in a residential neighborhood of West Lafayette, Indiana near Purdue University.

• Dartmouth College shut down campus operations on February 14 at 6:39 am. Essential employees remained staffed, and classes were held at the professor's discretion. It was the first snow day for the college since the 70's, and its second in its 238-year history.
• ended classes early on February 13 at 4:00 pm, and remained closed through Valentine's Day.
• The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio closed its campus for two days, beginning at 1:30 pm on Tuesday, February 13. It was only the third time in 25 years that the university has been closed due to weather. The university resumed its regular schedule on February 15.
• Syracuse University canceled all classes after 12:45 PM on Wednesday, making it the first time in over 13 years they have closed due to weather.
• The University of Illinois canceled their classes for two consecutive days for the first time in at least twenty-seven years.
• Tulane University canceled classes at 11am on the 13th due to the nearby tornado damage.
• SUNY Geneseo canceled all classes for Wednesday, the 14th for the first time in 14 years.

An ice-covered mailbox in Fredericksburg, Virginia

• Ithaca College canceled all classes on February 14th. This was the first time the College has done so since 1994.
• University of Toledo closed at 12:30pm on February 13th and was closed through February 14th. The first time in about 22 years the school closed due to winter related conditions.

Other

Legislative meetings in Ohio and Pennsylvania were also affected due to the bad weather. In Pittsburgh, tourist sites such as the Zoo and Aquarium were closed, Duquesne University was closed from noon Tuesday and all day Wednesday and the University of Pittsburgh closed from Tuesday at 4 p.m. until Wednesday at noon, while in New Hampshire, presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R) was forced to cancel a campaign appearance.

Snow drifts in Hamilton, Ontario where they received approximately 60cm (23.6 inches) of snow.

Power outages

Localized but extensive power outages were reported across areas that were hit by significant amounts of ice. At the peak of the storm over 300,000 customers lost power across the United States. In the Cincinnati area, 122,000 were without power at one point with 52,000 still blacked out as of Wednesday Morning. About 7,500 customers in Indiana near the Indianapolis region were still without power on February 15, down from a peak of about 50,000 especially in the Bloomington area. Other states that reported outages included Kentucky (14,000), Maryland (at least 135,000, including 69,000 in Anne Arundel County), New Jersey (36,000), Pennsylvania (10,000 in the Pittsburgh region) Virginia (7,800) and New York (18,000) on Long Island. By 10 am Thursday, February 15, about 73,000 homes were without electricity in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Most of those outages were from an ice storm that hit areas from the southern Ohio Valley towards the Atlantic Coast.

Other disruptions

As the storm hit on the week of Valentine's Day, numerous deliveries were delayed significantly. The mayor of Covington, Kentucky, Butch Callery, postponed Valentine's Day until Saturday.

Precipitation by region

Storm Snow Totals Totals are for the main system only.
Stowe, Vermont	48 in
Stratford, NY	42 in (106.7 cm)
Kingfield, ME	31 in (78.7 cm)
Rochester, NY	28.0 in (71.1 cm)
Hamilton, ON	15.7-27.6 in (40.0-70.0 cm)
Burlington, VT	25.7 in (65.3 cm)
Sherbrooke, QC	21.7 in (55.0cm)
Niagara Region, ON	10.0-17.79 in (25.0-45.0 cm)
Lafayette, IN	17.0 in (43.2 cm)
Quebec City, QC	16.9 in (43 cm)
Albany, NY	16.8 in (42.7 cm)
Binghamton, NY	18.5 in (47 cm)
Ithaca, NY	16.8 in (42.7 cm)
Bloomington, IL	17.5.0 in (40.6 cm)
Paxton, IL	16.0 in (40.6 cm)
Cleveland, OH	15.0 in (31.8 cm)
Dover, NH	12.0 in (30.5 cm)
Scranton, PA	12.0 in (30.5 cm)
Springfield, IL	11.2 in (28.4 cm)
Chicago - O'Hare Airport	10.2 in (25.9 cm)
Detroit, Michigan	8.5 in (21.6 cm)
Indianapolis, IN	8.5 in (21.6 cm)
Auburn, NE	6.7 in (17.0 cm)
Ottawa, ON	5.9 in (15.0 cm)
Columbus, OH	5.9 in (15.0 cm)

Gulf States severe weather outbreak

South of the wintry precipitation zone, severe weather erupted across the Gulf States, where a tornado was reported on February 12 in the New Orleans area killing one person and injuring a dozen in the Gentilly neighborhood, one of the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Katrina due to the flood waters. The woman was inside a FEMA trailer when it was hit by the EF2 twister. In addition to significant structural damages to numerous buildings including a dozen destroyed, 20,000 residents lost power across the metropolitan area.

Severe weather was also reported south of Birmingham, Alabama, near Jackson, Mississippi as well as in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. 21 tornadoes in total were reported on February 12 and February 13 across Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama and 10 have been confirmed with no tornadoes stronger than EF2.

Confirmed tornadoes

EF#	Location	County/Parish	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Louisiana
EF1	Youngsville	Lafayette	0610	2 miles (3.2 km)	Roof damage reported to two homes, and a garage was destroyed.
EF2	SE of Breaux Bridge	St. Martin	0636	5 miles (8 km)	At least 26 homes were damaged, with structural damage reported to several homes. Three people suffered minor injuries.
EF0	New Iberia area	Iberia	0703	0.5 mile (800 m)	Brief tornado pushed a mobile home off its foundation.
EF2	West New Orleans	Jefferson, Orleans	0855	2 miles (3.2 km)	Tornado first touched down in Westwego before crossing the Mississippi River into New Orleans. Significant damage reported in the Avenue D and U.S. Route 90 Business area in Jefferson Parish, where structural damage was reported to several two-story buildings. Minor damage reported in the Uptown and Carrollton areas, primarily to trees. Nine people were injured.
EF2	East New Orleans	Orleans	0910	1.5 miles (2.4 km)	1 death - Tornado touched down in the Gentilly area of New Orleans. Several homes sustained significant damage with partially collapsed upper levels. Extensive damage to trees and power lines were reported before it lifted near the Industrial Canal. Damage was also reported to many FEMA trailers in this area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. 25 others were injured.
Mississippi
EF1	NE of Burns	Smith	0857	3.5 miles (5.5 km)	One home lost its roof. Many trees and power lines were knocked down.
EF0	E of Oak Vale	Jefferson Davis	0913	2.75 miles (4.5 km)	No buildings were affected, but extensive tree damage was reported.
Alabama
EF0	N of Newbern	Hale, Perry	2253	6 miles (9.6 km)	Several old barns damaged, as well as tree damage.
EF1	SW of Brierfield	Bibb	2347	unknown	Massive half-mile (800 m) wide tornado destroyed a metal barn structure. Many trees damaged. Path length was uncertain.
EF1	W of Autaugaville	Autauga	0041	1.2 miles (2 km)	Minor structural damage reported to a carport and shed.
Sources: SPC Storm Reports for 02/12, SPC Storm Reports for 02/13, Lake Charles office, New Orleans office, Jackson office, Birmingham office

Gallery

• 
  Icicles suspended from wires in Northern Virginia
• 
  A large amount of snow moved off of a road by snow plow in Northern Virginia
• 
  Cars unable to ascend a slope in Northern Virginia due to icy conditions
• 
  An ice covered tree in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• 
  Clearing ice from the steps in front of the Harrisburg Transportation Center
• 
  Tree branches like those of this Bradford pear were weighed down by heavy coatings of ice.
• Snow cover in Berlin, New Hampshire
  Snow cover in Berlin, New Hampshire
• 
  Four feet of snow cover in Monkton, Vermont
• 
  Snow cover in Ithaca, NY
• Car buried in snow in Parma, Ohio
  Car buried in snow in Parma, Ohio

See also

• Winter storms of 2006-07

References