2009 North American Christmas blizzard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from 2009 Christmas Winter Storm)
Jump to: navigation, search
2009 Christmas Blizzard

The storm system on December 24.
Storm type Winter storm
Formed December 22, 2009
Dissipated December 28, 2009
Maximum amount 40.0 inches (102 cm) (Lead, South Dakota)[1]*
Lowest pressure 985 millibars (985 hPa)[1]
Fatalities 21[2]
Areas affected Midwest, Great Plains, Parts of Ontario, Eastern Seaboard
^* Maximum snowfall or ice accretion

The 2009 North American Christmas blizzard was a winter storm and severe weather event affecting the Midwestern United States, Great Plains, Southeastern United States, Eastern Seaboard and parts of Ontario. The storm started on December 22, was reported to have claimed at least 21 lives, and disrupted air travel during the Christmas travel season.[3] In the Southeastern and Central United States, there were 27 reported tornadoes on December 23-24.[4][5]

Contents

[edit] Impact

[edit] Snowfall

Snowfall varied across the United States. South Dakota may have received the most: 30.8 inches (78 cm).[1] In Minnesota, 26 inches (66 cm) was received near Pequaywan Lake on the state's North Shore.[6] Parts of Texas recorded snowfall as high as 9 inches (23 cm) at Post.[1] Snowfall in Nebraska caused six deaths.[7] In Oklahoma, a state of emergency was declared after blizzard conditions killed 3 people and dropped 19 inches of snow.[7] Iowa saw high snowfall as well.[8]

The storm was so intense that it wrapped warm air around the north and west side of it and cold air and snow blew in from the south. Rochester, Minnesota, in the northern half of the storm, saw rain with temperatures in the mid 30's Fahrenheit while snow was falling just to the west in a 1,300-mile (2,100 km) band stretching from Canada south to at least Dallas, Texas, giving that region its first "white Christmas" since 1929.[9] Interstate 29 was completely closed in North and South Dakota, and then in stretches into Missouri.[10][11]

[edit] Rain

Heavy rain in parts of the Midwest prompted the National Weather Service to issue Flood Warnings for many areas. The max rainfall amount recorded so far is 6.89 inches (17.5 cm) in Little Rock, Arkansas.[1] Freezing rain fell across Iowa and Illinois, affecting travel to and from O'Hare International Airport.[1] The Chicago area saw as much as ten inches of snow following the freezing rain and sleet.[12]

[edit] Tornadoes

Several houses were destroyed near Lafayette, Louisiana, possibly by a tornado.[13] Near Longview, Texas a EF-2 tornado left a path of destruction nearly one mile long.[14] Another tornado near Lufkin, Texas produced EF-3 damage.[15]

[edit] Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed
Total		 Confirmed
EF0		 Confirmed
EF1		 Confirmed
EF2		 Confirmed
EF3		 Confirmed
EF4		 Confirmed
EF5
15 8 4 2 1 0 0
List of reported tornadoes - Wednesday, February 18, 2009
EF#
Location
County
Time (UTC)
Path length
Damage
Louisiana
EF0 S of Martin Red River 2.76 miles (4.44 km)
EF0 S of Pleasant Hill Sabine 1.2 miles (1.9 km)
EF0 N of Many Sabine 2.6 miles (4.2 km)
EF1 W of Farmerville Union 6 miles (9.7 km)
Texas
EF0 W of Pineland Sabine 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
EF0 W of Fairmont Sabine 0.5 miles (0.80 km)
EF0 Recklaw area Rusk 0.1 miles (0.16 km)
EF2 Longview area Harrison 7 miles (11 km)
EF3 Lufkin area Angelina 4 miles (6.4 km)
EF0 Jacksonville area Cherokee 2 miles (3.2 km)
EF0 NE of New Summerfield Cherokee 3 miles (4.8 km)
EF1 SE of Atlanta area Cass, Miller (AR) 4 miles (6.4 km)
EF1 S of Avinger Cass 0.1 miles (0.16 km)
EF2 Timpson area Shelby, Panola 10 miles (16 km)
EF1 Garrison area Nacogdoches 0.5 miles (0.80 km)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Storm Summary Number 06 For Christmas 2009 Blizzard". HPC. December 24, 2009. http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/nfdscc1.html. Retrieved 25 December 2009. 
  2. ^ "Midwest US states face fresh blizzards". BBC. December 26, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8430977.stm. Retrieved 26 December 2009. 
  3. ^ "Deadly winter storm arrives in US Midwest". BBC News. December 24, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8429618.stm. Retrieved 24 December 2009. 
  4. ^ "091223's Storm Report (1200 UTC - 1159 UTC)". Storm Prediction Center. December 23, 2009. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/091223_rpts.html. Retrieved 25 December 2009. 
  5. ^ "Today's Storm Reports (1200 UTC - 1159 UTC)". Storm Prediction Center. December 24, 2009. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/091224_rpts.html. Retrieved 25 December 2009. 
  6. ^ http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/christmas_2009.htm
  7. ^ a b "U.S. storm turns deadly before Christmas". United Press International (UPI). http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/12/24/US-storm-turns-deadly-before-Christmas/UPI-29911261674684/. Retrieved 25 December 2009. 
  8. ^ "Iowa Environmental Mesonet". Iowa State University. December 24, 2009. http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/p.php?pid=200912251808-KOUN-NOUS44-PNSOUN. Retrieved 25 December 2009. 
  9. ^ "White Christmas Across South Central US". NASA MODIS Website. December 29, 2009. http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2009-12-29. Retrieved January 8, 2010. 
  10. ^ Liz Robbins (December 25, 2009). "Huge Storm Hobbles Middle of Nation". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/us/26snow.html. Retrieved January 8, 2010. 
  11. ^ "White Out Christmas, Best To Stay In". WOWT. December 25, 2009. http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/80107437.html. Retrieved January 8, 2010. 
  12. ^ Another 1 to 3 inches of snow expected, Chicago Sun Times, December 27, 2009
  13. ^ "1 Death Blamed on Storms in Louisiana". Associated Press (New York Times). December 24, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/24/us/AP-US-Louisiana-Weather.html. Retrieved 25 December 2009. [dead link]
  14. ^ Demarest, Janis. "Aerial tour of tornado damaged areas". Associated Press. KLTV. http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11729722. Retrieved 25 December 2009. 
  15. ^ Parker, Bill. "Public Information Statement, NWS Shreveport". http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=SHV&issuedby=SHV&product=PNS&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1. Retrieved 25 December 2009. 
Blizzards in the United States
19th century
1888 (Jan, Mar) • 1899
20th century
1913 • 1920 • 1922 • 1940 • 1947 • 1950 • 1966 • 1967 • 1969 • 1975 • 1977 • 1978 (Jan 25–27, Feb 6–7) • 1979 • 1991 • 1993 • 1996 • 1997 • 1999 • 2000
21st century
2003 • 2005 • 2006 (Feb 11–13, Nov, Dec) • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 (Dec 16–20, 22–28) • 2010 (Feb 5–6, 9–10, 25–27, Dec 26–27) • 2011 (Jan 8–13, 25–27, 31 – Feb 2, Oct 28 – 30)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2009_North_American_Christmas_blizzard&oldid=451964913"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export