In late February 2007 arctic cold had most of the western half of nation in its’ grip, at the same time warm and humid weather covered the eastern states. It was a classic set up of a clash of air masses, that usually results in a violent weather outcome. By the early morning of March 1st a powerful storm was organizing in the southern Rockies. That system would take a track across New Mexico and Oklahoma and then head toward the Ohio Valley. Snow began to fly in the central Rockies and then it headed out into the plans states. That strong storm brought blizzard conditions to Nebraska. Omaha had a foot a snow with 58 mph winds that reduced visibility to less than half a mile. Snowfall extended north and east with a foot and a half of the white stuff in parts of Iowa and a foot or more from Minnesota and South Dakota all the way to Michigan. Further south, where warm air held sway, severe thunderstorms brought hail and deadly tornadoes. Fifteen people were killed when a tornado hit Enterprise High School in Alabama, and two were killed when a tornado hit Americus, Georgia.

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For folks suffering in the throes of a harsh winter thoughts often turn to warmer climates and the dream of laying out on the beaches of Hawaii. In fact, the normal high temperature on February 27 is close to 80 in Honolulu. But there are high mountains on the Hawaiian Islands, 3 volcanic peaks extend well above 9,000 and because temperatures can drop as much as 5 ½ degrees for every 1000 feet of elevation that’s a difference from the ground at sea level to that 9,000-foot elevation of about 50 degrees. So that normal 80 for a high temperature can be 30 or even colder. When storms strike in the rainy, winter season from December to February, snow and ice can accumulate on the mountains and even though the snow doesn’t stay around too long it can certainly keep those peaks white. In fact, some adventurous Hawaiians even try their hand at skiing. Such a winter event occurred of February 27, 1997, when several inches of snow fell on the highest summits.

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The winter of 1645 had been relatively mild across New England. Population growth of European settlers in the region had been slow with only 3,000 living in the area in 1630. But by 1640 14,000 lived in the region and mild winter had encouraged more to come from England and other European lands and by 1645 close to 20,000 where spreading through the area. By February 26 some thought they might get through the winter with no real harsh weather. But it was not to be. A storm churning up the Atlantic seaboard dumped several feet of snow across the region on February 26, 1645. With little to help clean up the snow or for that matter pack down the snow, so sleighs and sleds could glide over the snow, it was reported that travel was virtually impossible for 3 weeks. Courts and public meetings where suspended to almost the end of March. That winter storm or other harsh winters did nothing to deter more settlers and by 1680 almost 70,000 Europeans or their descendants occupied New England.

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On February 23, 1802 a great snowstorm raged across New England, by nightfall when the snow stopped flying, drifts in places near Boston piled up to 4 feet high. In those early days of the republic how did people get around in cities? How were the streets cleaned? According to Marketplace.org; before the mid-1800s, there wasn’t really any effort to get snow off roads. Before 1862, people didn’t use snow plows, they used snow rollers. The way people travelled through snow was by attaching skis to their horse-drawn carts and carriages. Snow rollers were huge, horse-drawn wheels that would flatten out the snow, making it easier for the carts with skis to move on the winter roads. But by the mid-19th century, as cities were rapidly growing in population, city streets needed to be entirely clear of snow for the business of the city to continue. And with this, came snow plows, first used by the city of Milwaukee in 1862. Early snow plows were horse-drawn, and would deposit the compacted snow in huge piles on the city’s streets and sidewalks. Not all cities used plows though. Some just used shovels. In New York, clearing the snow was the responsibility of the Police Department and officers would have to shovel. On February 23, 1802 in Boston, people where then left to fend for themselves in dealing with a massive snowstorm and it took more than a week to literally dig out.

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Fog and low clouds have been the bane of travelers since the beginning of time. As more people travel in groups and because of modern technology those going from place to place sometimes find themselves at the mercy of the low clouds and fog with no way to escape. From the recent tragic helicopter crash involving Kobe Bryant and his companions to a pile up of cars on an interstate highways, low visibility or lack of visibility at all, contributes to the horrible outcome. Despite the best efforts of those involved and modern technology, sudden loss of visibility can, in an instant, turn clear skies to total lack of vision. Those traveling the interstates of the northeast near snow squall areas know this well when white-outs occur and lead to massive pile ups. This type of event can also happen on the seas and especially near the coastline. Such a tragedy struck on February 22 1901 when a Pacific mail steamer struck a rock in near San Francisco as it attempted to enter the bay during a dense fog, visibility was almost zero and those piloting the ship where unable to see where they were headed. The ship went down claiming 128 lives.

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The Pineapple Express is a non-technical term for a meteorological phenomenon characterized by a strong and persistent flow of moisture and associated with heavy rain and snow from the waters near the Hawaiian Islands and extending to locations along the Pacific coast of North America, mainly California. Such weather patterns set up every few years during the winter, the winter is the rainy season on the west coast of the US. In February of 1980 an extreme version of this pattern set up and lasted for almost a week reaching its height on February 19. Rain had been falling in Los Angles since February 13th, in the first in a series of storms pushed along by the Pineapple Express. Downtown L.A. recorded more than 12" of rain from the 13th to the 19th. In the mountains south of Monterey, more than 22 inches of rain totaled by the 19th. Unofficially, 19 deaths were attributed to the storms in Southern California alone, with more than $100 million in damage, $325 million in 2022 dollars. Estimates in Arizona indicate at least 4 storm related deaths and an additional $35 million in damage. There was also flooding in Arizona, especially in Phoenix. Shortly after 2:00 PM on February 19, 1980 a tornado touched down at the Fresno Airport, which broke the plate glass windows and damaged the roof at the terminal building. Trees were uprooted and cars overturned.

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A massive storm developed in Georgia, on February 18th, 2016 spreading snow up the Appalachians and into New England. Blizzard conditions developed in Pennsylvania by the 19th. These conditions forced a closing of Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania. Winds clocked at up to 50 mph during the storm shipped snow into drifts as deep as 20 feet in some sections of north Central Pennsylvania. Drifting snow stranded thousands of motorists, as radio stations remained at full power during the night relaying information and requesting help from 4-wheel drive vehicles and snowmobiles. Tides of 6-8' above normal caused severe flooding at coastal areas along the east coast north of Virginia. Thousands became homeless in New England due to coastal flooding. Breakers moved 8-ton concrete seawall blocks in across coastal roadways in Maine. Winds clocked to 110 mph at Eastham on Cape Cod. This massive storm said to have some hurricane characteristics, such as an eye.

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February 16, 1958 marked the end of a massive snowstorm that had developed in the lower Mississippi Valley a few days earlier. The system moved slowly eastward all day on the 14th gathering moisture from the Gulf of Mexico rain fell along the Gulf Coast with increasing intensity. Just as the storm was moving into position to turn up the eastern seaboard an injection of bitter arctic air moved out of eastern Canada and down the coast settling as far south and North Carolina. As the storm moved northward snow began falling on the 14th in southern Virginia and by the time night fell Washington DC was already shut down, by the morning of the 16th already more than a foot of snow was on the ground in DC.. 2’ pf snow clogged Boston by the evening of the 16 with an incredible 30-36” from the Catskills in New York to the White Mountains of New England. After the storm moved out to sea later that night the toll was staggering; 43 had died and more than $500 million dollars of destruction, more than $4.5 billion in today’s dollars was totaled.

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