Storm Brings Snow, But More Wind and Flooding

Dec 8, 2011; 10:56 AM ET

Terra Alta, West Virginia – a typical hot spot for large snowfalls – received a foot of snow last night. But only there and Oakland, MD saw amounts over 10 inches. At least half a foot fell in 9 states. The map below shows the sparsity of the NWS reports through 1 AM – generally a less wide axis than what was predicted. This map could change as additional reports come in.

The highest reports by state were as follows:

Terra Alta, WV: 12″

Oakland, MD: 10.5″

Grafton, NY: 8.8″

Presque Isle, ME: 8.5″

Sugarloaf ME, 7″

Hightown, VA: 7″

Smugglers Notch, VT: 6″

Pittsburg, NH: 6.5″

Somerset, PA: 6.5″

A bigger story may have been the winds, which gusted in the 50-70 mph range up and down the coast, and maxed out at 79 mph at Port Judith, RI. Power was knocked out in New England.

Reports of flooding were also common across Virginia and Maryland. Fort Pulaski, Georgia even had a “blow out tide” as winds forced a reverse storm surge, dropping the mid-level tide more than 2 feet below low tide.

This was caused by a large “fetch” of wind blowing perpendicular to the shore on the south side of the storm:

At my house, here in State College, PA, we picked up close to two inches, but I got some cool shots of the snow with Christmas decorations.

The snowflakes were very large, up to 1.5 inches across at one point, and some of the photos show the flakes and their shadows caused by my camera’s flash.

And then, there was this, taken by a Facebook Fan in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania: