Weekend Coastal Storm Brings More Snow to Maine

January 16,2016

An offshore low intensified off the East Coast, but didn't deliver a wintry blow to the major coastal cities of the Northeast despite coming at what is typically the coldest time of year.
Mention "coastal storm" in January, and you're liable to induce some anxiety and dread. A record snow season fueled by several nor'easters in 2014-2015 is still fresh in the minds of many in parts of New England.
(MORE: Winter Storm Central)
As the storm begins to pull away, all winter storm warnings have been canceled across New England.
(INTERACTIVE: Winter Alerts)

Latest Radar

Snow Winds Down

Snow flurries will come to an end by midnight across Maine.
Some strong winds are possible near the eastern coast of New England, accompanied by some high surf.
However, the system's rapid movement have kept coastal impacts relatively limited.
Incidentally, the "Big Apple" is still looking for its first measurable snow of the season.
The record latest season's first snow at New York's Central Park was January 29, 1973, coincidentally also during a strong El Niño.
(MORE: Does El Niño Impact Seasonal Snow?)
The 1972-1973 season was also Central Park's least snowy season, with only 2.8 inches of snow that entire season.
This storm clearly isn't the same animal as last January's Winter Storm Juno.

The Setup

Low pressure is now deepening east of New England, but that doesn't mean this will necessarily be an impactful East Coast storm for two main reasons:

1) Lack of Cold Air

Despite a recent cold front, temperatures moderated, or became less cold, ahead of this system.
"It's a strange system from the point of view of the western low," said winter weather expert, Tom Niziol, referring to a second area of low pressure over the Great Lakes helped pump warmer air into the Northeast ahead of the developing offshore low.
Niziol says that western low blocked the flow of colder air southward from eastern Canada to New England.
"That is a big part of the ingredients for big Northeast snowstorms," says Niziol.
(MAPS: 10-day Forecast Highs/Lows)

2) A Fast-Mover

This system has raced from the eastern Carolinas to near Nova Scotia in just about 24 hours.
Even if the air mass was cold enough, that fast track wouldn't allow for prolonged periods of heavy snowfall in the Northeast, even for typically snowy northern New England.

"Right" Snow Track, Wrong Result?

Meteorologists refer to the 40/70 benchmark when watching for impactful Northeast snowstorms.
Namely, a meteorologist's rule-of-thumb is many major Northeast snowstorms track near 40 degrees North latitude and 70 degrees West longitude, about 90 miles south of Nantucket Island.
Despite this weekend's low will passing close to this benchmark, significant snow did not occur across the urban corridor from New York to Boston.

Location of 40 degrees north latitude, 70 degrees west longitude, the "40/70 benchmark" used by meteorologists as a rule-of-thumb for forecasting Northeast snowstorms.

As mentioned earlier, a lack of cold air with this setup was driven in part by another area of low pressure passing well inland, west of New York State.
So, despite this January storm taking a "classic" snowy track, the conditions were simply not cold enough to support widespread snow across the Northeast.

MORE: Great Lakes Snowfall Jan. 11-12 (PHOTOS)