The February 1987 nor'easter was a significant

winter storm A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental and subarct ...

in the US that impacted the

Mid-Atlantic States The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the nation's Northeastern and Southeastern states. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virg ...

around the end of the month. It delivered 8–12 hours of heavy, wet snowfall to several states from

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

between February 22 and February 24. The storm was preceded by relatively warm temperatures and followed by a period of similar warmth,Kocin and Uccellini, p. 556 causing the snow to rapidly melt.Kocin and Uccellini, p. 557 The mild conditions were the result of a moderate

anticyclone A high-pressure area, high, or anticyclone, is an area near the surface of a planet where the atmospheric pressure is greater than the pressure in the surrounding regions. Highs are middle-scale meteorological features that result from interpl ...

over the region that deteriorated as the nor'easter approached.

Cold air damming Cold air damming, or CAD, is a meteorology, meteorological phenomenon that involves a high-pressure area, high-pressure system (anticyclone) accelerating equatorward east of a north-south oriented mountain range due to the formation of a barrier je ...

likely took place prior to the storm's formation. The nor'easter evolved from a complex series of low pressure areas. Eventually, the multiple center consolidated and a primary cyclone took hold along the Carolina coast. This low rapidly strengthened as it tracked northeastward. Upon reaching the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

coast, it turned more towards the east and intensified further to attain a minimum barometric pressure of 964

millibars The bar is a metric unit of pressure defined as 100,000 Pa (100 kPa), though not part of the International System of Units (SI). A pressure of 1 bar is slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea l ...

by 1800 UTC on February 23. The heaviest precipitation, occasionally accompanied by thunder and lightning, along with gusty winds, occurred between 0000 and 1800 UTC. Snowfall accumulations exceeding were reported across eastern West Virginia,

northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

, north-central Maryland, northern

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, southern

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, central and southern

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. Most of the interior Northeast was spared a substantial impact from the storm. However, lighter totals extended as far north as central

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. The weight of the wet snow caused extensive damage to trees and power lines, and hundreds of thousands were reportedly left without power. At

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, of snow fell, resulting in widespread effects. Limited states of emergency were declared in certain areas. MV ''Balsa 24'', a long freighter, was lost on February 25, 1987 after it capsized in the storm. Eighteen sailors were killed and there was 1 survivor, who was rescued by the nuclear submarine USS Scamp (SSN-588). Fishing vessel ''Delores Marie'' was also lost, killing 3.

References

* {{cite book, author=Paul J. Kocin and Louis W. Uccellini, title=Northeast Snowstorms, url=https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-978-1-878220-32-5, year=2004, publisher=

American Meteorological Society The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is a scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance the atmosph ...

, isbn=1-878220-64-0 Nor'easters 1987 meteorology 1987 natural disasters in the United States

See also

References