October 2011 Nor’easter
‘Snowtober’ left New England residents buried in up to three feet of snow and millions without power. One of the most powerful storms in modern history, the road to recovery was bleak.
The storm spanned from the Virginias to Atlantic Canada, forming from concurrent weather events. A cold air mass from Canada and a cold front from the Ohio Valley moved eastward towards New England states, meeting northbound precipitation from the Carolinas. Two low-pressure areas formed: one off the coasts of New Jersey and Long Island, and one off the coast of Louisiana. The storm produced heavy snowfall in New England, precipitation in surrounding states, and high winds off the coasts of Maine and Cape Cod, ranging from 69 to 79 miles per hour.
Peru, Massachusetts held the maximum snowfall for the storm at 32 inches. New Hampshire trailed closely, seeing a maximum of 31.4 inches. Additionally, Connecticut saw up to 24 inches, Pennsylvania and Maine up to 20 inches, downstate New York up to 18 inches, Vermont up to 16 inches, Maryland up to 12 inches, West Virginia up to 14 inches, Virginia up to 9 inches, and Rhode Island up to 7 inches.
Connecticut was hit particularly hard by the storm. With upwards of 1 million power outages, and snowfall ranging from 8 inches to 24 inches, life was put on pause for residents. Halloween events were canceled, schools were closed, and millions were left in the dark. Generators were sold out in stores across the state, produce was left outside to maintain freshness, and many workers were unable to make the commute to work as their cars were buried, roads were blocked, and trains services were suspended.
Connecticut alone had over 1.3 million power outages, 807,228 of them occurring during the peak of the storm according to Eversource. Over the course of 11 days, power was slowly restored to residents. The storm beats tropical storms Isaias (2020) and Irene (2011), as well as superstorm Sandy (2012), for most outages in Connecticut.
Across New England, train, bus, and plane services were suspended or canceled altogether. Roads and highways were closed due to deep snow, floods, and downed trees. Connecticut saw 10 of the 39 deaths directly caused by the storm, the most in one state. Central Park and the New York Botanical Garden together saw 3200+ trees damaged or destroyed, with 2200+ from a historic old-growth forest. The storm caused 3.2 million power outages across 12 states, and the damage ranged between $1 billion and $3 billion.
