24 hours after it started, the Blizzard of 2016, aka Snowmageddon, aka Snowtorious B.I.G., is over.
Here we are on Sunday and some 85 million Americans did indeed get “slammed” under an epic blizzard which has now moved beyond the realm of the “potential” and now encapsulates an actual, GDP-sapping winter extravaganza.
"Winter Storm Jonas is the largest snowstorm on record for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Baltimore; and JFK Airport in New York City, with all of those locations receiving over 2 feet of snow,” the Weather Channel reports, adding that “snowfall totals from the storm topped out near 40 inches in parts of West Virginia and at least 14 states in total received more than a foot of snow from the storm.”
In short, the entire eastern seaboard is now free to report triple-adjusted Q1 GDP data thanks to the havoc Jonas will most assuredly wreak on comps for America’s “prosperous” retail and services sectors.
The result of the storm: some 25.1 inches of snow in New York City's Central Park, the National Weather Service said on Saturday, ranking it No.3 among the city's worst snow storms. The following are the five worst snowstorms to hit the largest city in the United States before this week, according to the NWS:
- 26.9 inches (68.3 cm), Feb. 11-12, 2006
- 25.8 inches (65.5 cm), Dec. 26-27, 1947
- 21.0 inches (53.3 cm), March 12-14, 1888
- 20.9 inches (53.1 cm), Feb. 25-26, 2010
- 20.2 inches (51.3 cm), Jan. 7-8, 1996
The deepest snowfall from the blizzard paralyzing the U.S. East Coast has been recorded at 40 inches (102 cm) in Glengary, West Virginia, the National Weather Service said. It said about 28.3 inches (72 cm) had fallen at Dulles International Airport, 26 miles (42 km) west of Washington as of Saturday evening, one of the capital's biggest storms.
Here are the latest images from the aftermath:
We smell some "residual seasonality" in America's future.