Heavy snow and ice blanket portions of the interior Northeast and New England, US

Heavy rain, snow, and ice blanketed portions of the interior Northeast and New England on Friday and Saturday, March 22 and 23, 2024, causing widespread power outages, traffic chaos, and flight delays and cancellations.

The storm left more than 300 000 customers in Maine, New York and Hampshire without power. The worst affected was Maine with 200 000 customers without power (or about 800 000 people) and more than 100 000 in New York and New Hampshire. Early Monday morning, March 25, 103 000 customers were still without power in Maine, 23 000 in New Hampshire and 13 100 in New York.

On Saturday, March 23, rain-soaked highways and flooded underpasses led to numerous road-related issues, while the confluence of strong winds, heavy rain, fog, and slippery runways caused a substantial number of flight delays and cancellations at major airports, AccuWeather senior meteorologist, Alex Sosnowski, said.

“New York City experienced its third wettest March day on record last Saturday, receiving 93 mm (3.66 inches) of rain, with the majority falling within six hours,” stated AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Reneé Duff. “The record for the wettest March day in New York City’s Central Park stands at 108 mm (4.25 inches), set back on March 25, 1876.”

“With Saturday’s downpour included, New York City has accumulated 209 mm (8.24 inches) of rain this March, ranking it sixth on the list of all-time wettest Marches,” AccuWeather New York City Meteorologist and On-Air Radio Personality Matt Benz said.

Additionally, the torrential rain, impacting a broad area along the Interstate 95 corridor and extending into the central Appalachians, resulted in 78.5 mm (3.09 inches) of rainfall in both Philadelphia and Providence, Rhode Island, and 57.9 mm (2.28 inches) in Boston.

Selected preliminary peak wind gusts, as reported by NWS Weather Prediction Center:

State	Location	Peak wind gusts (km/h/mph)
Connecticut	New London Airport	71 / 44
Maryland	Mallops Flight	76 / 47
Maryland	Assateague Island	64 / 40
Massachusetts	Nantucket Memorial Airport	97 / 60
Massachusetts	New Bedford Regional Airport	82 / 51
Massachusetts	Otis Air National Guard	71 / 44
New Hampshire	Mount Washington	101 / 63
New York	Westchester County Airport	77 / 48
New York	Kennedy International Airport	76 / 47

Preliminary storm total snowfall:

State	Location	Snowfall (cm/inches)
Maine	Bryant Pond	63.5 / 25
	Fort Fairfield	61.0 / 24
	Lovell 1 NNE	57.15 / 22.5
	Hartford	45.72 / 18
	Dover-Foxcroft	38.1 / 15
	Norway	36.83 / 14.5
	Sweden 4 NNW	34.29 / 13.5
	Oxford 2 NE	33.02 / 13
	Westfield 2 NNW	31.75 / 12.5
	Enfield	29.21 / 11.5
	Greenville 4 E	29.21 / 11.5
	Livermore Falls 4 S	29.21 / 11.5
	Eustis 1 NNW	27.94 / 11
	Porter 3 N	27.94 / 11
	Caribou	19.81 / 7.8
	NWS Gray	14.48 / 5.7
New Hampshire	Lebanon 4 SSW	66.04 / 26
	Claremont 2 NNW	64.77 / 25.5
	Jackson 1 SE	54.61 / 21.5
	Woodsville 4 S	50.8 / 20
	Bradford 2 NNE	46.99 / 18.5
	Ellsworth 1 E	45.72 / 18
	Hanover	45.72 / 18
	Lebanon 3 W	45.72 / 18
	Waterville Valley 2 WNW	44.7 / 17.6
	Piermont 5 NE	43.18 / 17
	Campton 1 SSE	41.4 / 16.3
	Lincoln 2 NE	41.4 / 16.3
	Albany 3 SE	40.64 / 16
New York	Paulet	67.31 / 26.5
	Corinth	52.07 / 20.5
	Ganesvoort	51.31 / 20.2
	Lake Desolation	48.77 / 19.2
	Cossayuna	48.26 / 19
	Queensbury	46.99 / 18.5
	Glen Falls	46.74 / 18.4
	Ballston Spa	45.72 / 18
	Wilton	45.72 / 18
	Sarasota Springs	44.96 / 17.7
	Broadalbin	43.18 / 17
	Forest Park Mobile 2 N	43.18 / 17
	Fort Edward 1 NNW	43.18 / 17
	Granville	43.18 / 17
	Warrensburg	43.18 / 17
	Whitehall	41.91 / 16.5
	Loudonville	15.24 / 6
Vermont	West Windsor	83.82 / 33
	Landgrove	81.28 / 32
	Ludlow 3 S	69.34 / 27.3
	Shrewsbury	66.04 / 26
	Peru	60.96 / 24
	West Norwich 1 SE	58.93 / 23.2
	Windsor	58.42 / 23
	Quechee	55.88 / 22
	South Ryegate	55.88 / 22
	Taftsville	55.88 / 22
	West Rutland 1 SW	55.88 / 22
	White River Junction	54.1 / 21.3
	Woodstock	53.34 / 21
	East Thetford	50.8 / 20

Preliminary storm total freezing rain ice amounts:

State	Location	Freezing rain (mm/inches)
Connecticut	Pittsfield	7.11 / 0.28
	Norfolk	2.54 / 0.10
Maine	Kennebunk	12.7 / 0.50
	Old Orchard Beach	10.16 / 0.40
	Falmouth	7.62 / 0.30
	Yarmouth	6.35 / 0.25
	Wiscasset 4 SW	6.10 / 0.24
	East Surry	2.54 / 0.10
	Eastport	2.54 / 0.10
	North Berwick	2.54 / 0.10
	South Windham 3 E	2.54 / 0.10
	Falmouth 2 WSW	2.03 / 0.08
	Searsport 3 WNW	1.27 / 0.05
Massachusetts	Pittsfield Municipal Airport	7.11 / 0.28
	Alford	6.35 / 0.25
	Harriman and West Airport	2.54 / 0.10
New Hampshire	Concord 2 ESE	7.11 / 0.28
	Jaffrey 1 ESE	5.08 / 0.20
	Bennington 1 WSW	2.54 / 0.10
	Meredith 2 WSW	2.54 / 0.10
	Contoocook 1 NW	1.78 / 0.07
	Northwood 2 ENE	1.27 / 0.05
New Jersey	High Point	16 / 0.63
New York	Latham	19 / 0.75
	Albany 2 W	16.76 / 0.66
	Boght Corners	12.7 / 0.50
	North Greenbush 1 NNE	12.7 / 0.50
	Sycaway 1 N	12.7 / 0.50
	Niskayuna	10.16 / 0.40
	Floyd Bennett Memorial	7.11 / 0.28
	Westmere 1 NE	3.30 / 0.13
	Clifton Park Center 2 S	2.54 / 0.10
	Pine Bush 2 SSE	2.54 / 0.10
Pennsylvania	Pocono Mountains Muni	8.13 / 0.32
Vermont	Bennington State Air	6.35 / 0.25

At 10:00 EDT on March 24, the system was exiting the East Coast of the United States, with residual gusty winds forecasted throughout the Northeast. The system’s two central lows were identified in the Canadian Maritimes, recorded at pressures of 999 hPa and 993 hPa, following the passage of a cold front that introduced a cooler air mass into the region.

Flood watches were still in place for portions of the Northeast, alongside an avalanche warning for areas within the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Flood warnings have also been issued for scattered areas throughout the Northeast.

References:

¹ Storm Summary Number 3 for Northeast Winter Storm – NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD – 1100 AM EDT Sun Mar 24 2024

² Merging March storms wallop NYC, northeastern US on 1st weekend of spring – AccuWeather – March 24, 2024

Featured image credit: NOAA/GOES-East, RAMMB/CIRA, The Watchers. Acquired at 19:00 UTC on March 23, 2023