February 2014 nor'easter
February 2014 nor'easter
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February 2014 nor'easter

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February 2014 nor'easter

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February 2014 nor'easter

The February 2014 nor'easter was a major nor'easter that produced a damaging snow and ice storm that affected the Southern United States and East Coast of the United States, bringing with it up to a foot of snow and crippling ice across parts of the South. Thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people were left in the dark for days, possibly even up to 2 weeks without power. Delta Air Lines canceled over 2,000 flights, and it was reported by 8:00 p.m. Thursday, February 13, that as many as 6,500 flights originating in or destined for the United States had been canceled. On that day 70 percent of flights were cancelled at airports in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte.

Approximately 1.2 million homes and businesses lost power as the storm moved from the South through the Northeast. By the evening of Thursday, February 13, about 550,000 customers remained in the dark, mostly in South Carolina and Georgia.

On February 11, a quick-moving area of low pressure moved across the Southeast, bringing rain and snow to areas like Atlanta, interacting with some of the cold air to the north of it. It then quickly moved offshore by roughly 3 p.m. This part of the storm was only the beginning of a crippling 2-day streak of winter nightmares across the South. Accumulations from this half of the winter storm ranged anywhere from 1–3 inches (2.5–7.6 cm) of snow and a glaze of icing across the South.

Later on February 11, another area of low pressure formed on the extreme southern edge of the Gulf Coast, near the TX–LA border. Drawing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, it was able to fire up a small area of showers and thunderstorms near the coastline. As it tracked eastward, it began to interact with the cold air above it, producing an area of ice and snow on its backside as it moved to the east. On February 12, the swath of ice exploded in size as the conditions for freezing rain began to come together. Areas from eastern Alabama, including Atlanta in Georgia to the Southeast coast and South Carolina were included in this swath of icy precipitation. Meanwhile, to the south, near the Gulf Coast, heavy showers and thunderstorms were consisted in a streak of rain stretching up to southern parts of Georgia. As the low moved east, it then dissipated as a new area of low pressure developed off the South Carolina coast late on February 12, and that began to strengthen as it tracked to the north, placing the Northeast in the fire zone for the winter storm.

Early on February 13, more snow began to develop on the northern side of the storm as the precipitation shield approached the New York metropolitan area in colder air. Heavy bands of snow set up as the system began its transition into a nor'easter, with some of these bands containing snowfall rates of up to 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm) per hour. At the same time, warmer air was beginning to funnel into the storm system, and as a result the rain/snow line slowly creeped up the state of New Jersey as the warm air began to further intrude into the winter storm. By 10 a.m, most of the precipitation had moved north of New York City, and began to reach into areas like Boston. Even though the area of low pressure, which had now deepened to 988 millibars (29.2 inHg) late on February 13, was offshore of the East Coast, little to no precipitation was falling as a result of dry air to funnel its way into the storm. Most of the snow totals in this areas ranged anywhere from 6–24 inches (15–61 cm), as a result.

The system then continued to depart from the East Coast, before finally dissipating on February 24 near Europe.

Four people died in traffic accidents in Texas due to ice, and in Round Rock on February 11, a single accident resulting from ice on a bridge affected 20 vehicles. Mississippi had two deaths attributed to the weather. Several tractor-trailers jackknifed on Interstate 65 in northeast Alabama.

After being caught unprepared by another storm two weeks earlier, officials in metro Atlanta were much better prepared for this storm, having put down so much sand and gravel that by the weekend residents were asking for street sweeping to clean up the dust and potentially windshield-cracking stones it left behind.[citation needed] Most businesses and all schools were closed, and few people were on the roads. Governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency, which he did not do two weeks earlier.

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