List of Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale winter storms


The Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale is a scale used to categorize winter storms in the Northeast United States. The scale was developed by meteorologists Paul Kocin and Louis Uccellini, and ranks snowstorms from Category 1 to Category 5. Only two historical blizzards, the 1993 Storm of the Century and the North American blizzard of 1996 are rated in the 5 "extreme" category. The scale differs from the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale and Fujita Scale, which are used to classify tropical cyclones and tornadoes, respectively, in that it takes into account the number of people affected by the storm. The scale, as devised, is intended chiefly to assess past storms rather than assist in forecasts.

List

There are two available values for NESIS. The original values that Paul Kocin and Louis Uccellini computed for storms in their original 2004 work "A Snowfall Impact Scale Derived From Northeast Storm Snowfall Distributions" and the NESIS storm values recomputed using some different data and differing methods by the National Climatic Data Center in 2005 to productionize their work for assigning values to future storm storms beyond Kocin/Uccellini work. Kocin/Uccellini originally computed NESIS values for 70 storms from 1888 to 2003. The NCDC recomputed NESIS values for 30 of the same storms and has since for newer storms beyond 2003.
Storms pre-2005 use the Kocin/Uccellini rating and description. Storms 2005 and onward use the NCDC rating and description. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information publishes a with ratings and other information, starting with the March 1956 storm.
DateOriginal NESISNCDC NESISCategoryDescription
08.34-4Crippling
08.11-4Crippling
03.50-2Significant
02.17-1Notable
02.93-2Significant
02.2301.871Notable
01.32-1Notable
05.9806.253Major
03.9203.512Significant
03.64-2Significant
04.17-3Major
07.6308.774Crippling
04.4704.533Major
03.47-2Significant
06.2407.064Crippling
01.37-1Notable
01.59-1Notable
02.76-4Crippling
03.17-2Significant
05.7406.913Major
02.39-1Notable
01.95-1Notable
04.45-3Major
05.1905.934Crippling
03.7903.812Significant
03.8203.502Significant
01.20-2Significant
03.3403.512Significant
04.0104.293Major
05.1906.293Major
02.10-1Notable
03.73-2Significant
02.33-1Notable
04.1904.773Major
04.10-3Major
05.9006.534Crippling
06.2505.783Major
04.4204.773Major
03.08-2Significant
03.7503.352Significant
06.2806.254Crippling
01.29-1Notable
01.86-1Notable
02.26-1Notable
04.9305.403Major
01.7001.191Notable
01.4601.461Notable
04.85-3Major
01.56-1Notable
03.10-2Significant
12.5213.205Extreme
02.87-2Significant
04.8105.393Major
03.46-2Significant
03.5101.432Significant
03.32-2Significant
11.5411.785Extreme
02.03-1Notable
01.65-1Notable
02.3702.291Notable
02.20-1Notable
03.1402.522Significant
02.4802.371Notable
03.53-2Significant
01.99-1Notable
04.42-3Major
02.65-2Significant
01.18-1Notable
08.9107.504Crippling
-06.804Crippling
-04.103Major
-05.633Major
-02.542Significant
-01.591Notable
-03.992Significant
-04.383Major
-04.103Major
-05.463Major
-04.923Major
05.313Major
-02.171Notable
-05.303Major
-01.751Notable
-04.353Major
-03.052Significant
-02.952Significant
-03.312Significant
-01.261Notable
-04.083Major
-05.284Crippling
-01.561Notable
-01.491Notable
-02.623Major
-05.423Major
-01.321Notable
-07.664Crippling
-05.033Major
-01.711Notable
-03.452Significant

Footnotes