Thanks to my friend and former student Ross Ballantyne for sending me this link to Weather Underground: Weather Extremes : Winter Storm 'Nemo': A Historical Perspective. Excerpt:
There were many ways this storm was similar to the great Blizzard of March 1888. Both storms formed from similar synoptic situations; low pressure system/trough arriving from the west combined with low pressure center developing of the mid-Atlantic coast and then ‘bombing’ explosively south of Long Island and slowly tracking off to the northeast.
The big difference between the blizzard of 1888 and Nemo was the location of where the ‘bombogenesis’ took place. In 1888 the storm center ‘bombed’ about 100 miles further to the southeast than where Nemo did such. Also, the 1888 storm actually made a small loop south of Long Island, unlike Nemo. This resulted in a mostly rain event for eastern Massachusetts (Boston just had 7” of slushy snow) and Maine in 1888 with the core of the heaviest snow falling from New York City north to Albany and east though western Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut.
So, amazing as Nemo was for the residents of Connecticut, the Blizzard of 1888 was more severe in terms of snowfall accumulations and blizzard conditions.
For a detailed analysis of the Blizzard of 1888 see my blog on the subject posted last year.
It seems the highest snowfall report in Connecticut from Nemo has been 40” at Hamden. In 1888 the peak total was 50” at Middleton. Hartford received 36” during the Blizzard of 1888 (although the ‘official’ total was much lower since the observation site at that time was on a hill and the snow was mostly blown clear from the location). New Haven picked up 44.7” in 1888 versus 34” from Nemo.
An interesting aside, is the intensity of the snowfall rates reached during Nemo’s peak. A public report mentions an astonishing 12” of snow fell in one 90-minute period at Coventry, Connecticut Friday night.
