January 2015 North American blizzard
| Category 3 "Major" (RSI: 6.16) | |
Satellite image of the blizzard near peak intensity at 06:45Z (1:45 a.m. EST) on January 27, 2015.
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| Type |
Extratropical cyclone Nor'easter Blizzard |
|---|---|
| Formed | January 23, 2015 |
| Dissipated | January 31, 2015 |
| Lowest pressure | 970 mbar (29 inHg) |
| Highest winds |
|
| Highest gust | 95 mph (153 km/h) |
| Maximum snowfall or ice accretion | 36.0 in (91 cm) in Lunenburg, Milford, Auburn, and Hudson, and Maynard, Massachusetts |
| Damage | Unknown |
| Casualties | 3 indirect fatalities |
| Areas affected | Pacific Northwest, Central United States, Eastern United States, Atlantic Canada, Southern Greenland, Portugal, Spain, France |
| Part of the 2014–15 North American winter | |
The January 2015 North American blizzard was a powerful nor'easter that affected Canada and the Central and Eastern United States, and eventually, parts of Southern Greenland and Western Europe. The nor'easter disrupted transportation, with snow emergencies declared in six states and travel bans enacted in four of these states – Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island – as well as in New York City. Most passenger rail service was suspended, and thousands of flights were cancelled. Schools and activities saw weather-related cancellations for one or more days. The storm was also given unofficial names, such as Blizzard of 2015, and Winter Storm Juno.
On January 23, a low-pressure area developed off the Pacific Northwest, before moving over the Canadian Prairies by January 24. The storm system quickly moved southeastward into the Upper Midwest during the evening of January 24, taking a path typical of an Alberta clipper. As it progressed southward, the storm intensified, with frontogenesis occurring the next day. By noon on January 25, the upper-level low was centered near the border between Iowa and Missouri in correlation with a weak shortwave trough. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico wrapped around the system from the south, resulting in widespread rainfall and snow over the Midwest. Throughout the day, the system traversed eastward along the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Snowfall remained concentrated along a cold front north of the Ohio River.
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