2009 North American Christmas blizzard

Not to be confused with December 2009 North American blizzard.

2009 Christmas Blizzard
Category 5 "Extreme" (RSI: 18.67)
Satellite image of the storm on Christmas Eve.
Type	Extratropical cyclone Blizzard Winter storm
Formed	December 22, 2009
Dissipated	December 28, 2009
Lowest pressure	985 millibars (985 hPa)^[1]
Maximum snowfall or ice accretion	40.0 inches (102 cm) (Lead, South Dakota)^[1]
Areas affected	Midwest, Great Plains, Parts of Ontario, Eastern Seaboard
Part of the 2009–10 North American winter

The 2009 North American Christmas blizzard was powerful winter storm and severe weather event that affected the Midwestern United States, Great Plains, Southeastern United States, the Eastern Seaboard, and parts of Ontario. The storm started on December 22, was reported to have claimed at least 21 lives, and disrupted air travel during the Christmas travel season.^[2] In the Southeastern and Central United States, there were 27 reported tornadoes on December 23–24.^[3]^[4] The storm, a Category 5 "Extreme" one on the Regional Snowfall Index, was the first winter weather event to rank as such since the Blizzard of '96.

Impact

Snowfall

Snowfall varied across the United States. South Dakota may have received the most: 30.8 inches (78 cm).^[1] In Minnesota, 26 inches (66 cm) was received near Pequaywan Lake on the state's North Shore.^[5] Parts of Texas recorded snowfall as high as 9 inches (23 cm) at Post.^[1] Snowfall in Nebraska caused six deaths.^[6] In Oklahoma, a state of emergency was declared after blizzard conditions killed 3 people and dropped 19 inches of snow.^[6] Iowa saw high snowfall as well.^[7]

The storm was so intense that it wrapped warm air around the north and west side of it and cold air and snow blew in from the south. Rochester, Minnesota, in the northern half of the storm, saw rain with temperatures in the mid 30's Fahrenheit while snow was falling just to the west in a 1,300-mile (2,100 km) band stretching from Canada south to at least Dallas, Texas, giving that region its first "White Christmas" since 1929.^[8] Interstate 29 was completely closed in North and South Dakota, and then in stretches into Missouri.^[9]^[10]

Rain

Heavy rain in parts of the Midwest prompted the National Weather Service to issue Flood Warnings for many areas. The max rainfall amount recorded so far is 6.89 inches (17.5 cm) in Little Rock, Arkansas.^[1] Freezing rain fell across Iowa and Illinois, affecting travel to and from O'Hare International Airport.^[1] The Chicago area saw as much as ten inches of snow following the freezing rain and sleet.^[11]

Tornadoes

Several houses were destroyed near Lafayette, Louisiana, possibly by a tornado.^[12] Near Longview, Texas a EF-2 tornado left a path of destruction nearly one mile long.^[13] Another tornado near Lufkin, Texas produced EF-3 damage.^[14]

Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita rating
EF0	EF1	EF2	EF3	EF4	EF5	Total
8	4	2	1	0	0	15

List of reported tornadoes – Wednesday, December 22, 2009
EF#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Louisiana
EF0	S of Martin	Red River		2.76 miles (4.44 km)
EF0	S of Pleasant Hill	Sabine		1.2 miles (1.9 km)
EF0	N of Many	Sabine		2.6 miles (4.2 km)
EF1	W of Farmerville	Union		6 miles (9.7 km)
Texas
EF0	W of Pineland	Sabine		1.5 miles (2.4 km)
EF0	W of Fairmont	Sabine		0.5 miles (0.80 km)
EF0	Recklaw area	Rusk		0.1 miles (0.16 km)
EF2	Longview area	Harrison		7 miles (11 km)
EF3	Lufkin area	Angelina		4 miles (6.4 km)
EF0	Jacksonville area	Cherokee		2 miles (3.2 km)
EF0	NE of New Summerfield	Cherokee		3 miles (4.8 km)
EF1	SE of Atlanta area	Cass, Miller (AR)		4 miles (6.4 km)
EF1	S of Avinger	Cass		0.1 miles (0.16 km)
EF2	Timpson area	Shelby, Panola		10 miles (16 km)
EF1	Garrison area	Nacogdoches		0.5 miles (0.80 km)

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 "Storm Summary Number 06 For Christmas 2009 Blizzard". HPC. December 24, 2009. Archived from the original on December 9, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
↑ "Deadly winter storm arrives in US Midwest". BBC News. December 24, 2009. Archived from the original on December 25, 2009. Retrieved December 24, 2009.
↑ "091223's Storm Report (1200 UTC – 1159 UTC)". Storm Prediction Center. December 23, 2009. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
↑ "Today's Storm Reports (1200 UTC – 1159 UTC)". Storm Prediction Center. December 24, 2009. Archived from the original on December 28, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 25, 2010. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
1 2 "U.S. storm turns deadly before Christmas". United Press International (UPI). Retrieved December 25, 2009.
↑ "Iowa Environmental Mesonet". Iowa State University. December 24, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
↑ "White Christmas Across South Central US". NASA MODIS Website. December 29, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
↑ Liz Robbins (December 25, 2009). "Huge Storm Hobbles Middle of Nation". New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
↑ "White Out Christmas, Best To Stay In". WOWT. December 25, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2010.
↑ Another 1 to 3 inches of snow expected, Chicago Sun Times, December 27, 2009
↑ "1 Death Blamed on Storms in Louisiana". New York Times. Associated Press. December 24, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
↑ Demarest, Janis. "Aerial tour of tornado damaged areas". KLTV. Associated Press. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
↑ Parker, Bill. "Public Information Statement, NWS Shreveport". Retrieved December 25, 2009.

Major snow and ice events in the United States

Pre-1900	1717 (Feb 27–Mar 7) 1886 (Jan 6–10) 1888 (Jan 12–13, Mar 11–14) 1899 (Feb 11–14)

20th century	1905 (Nov 27–28) 1913 (Nov 6–11) 1920 (Mar 15–18) 1922 (Jan 27–28) 1930 (Mar 25–26) 1931 (Mar 7–8) 1939 (Jan 30) 1940 (Nov 10–12) 1947 (Dec 25–26) 1950 (Nov 24–30) 1952 (Feb 17–18) 1956 (Mar 18–19) 1958 (Feb 14–18, Mar 18–21) 1960 (Dec 11–12) 1961 (Jan 11–13) 1966 (Jan 27–31) 1967 (Jan 26–27) 1969 (Feb 8–10, Mar 5–8, Dec 25–28) 1975 (Jan 9–12) 1976 (Feb 2) 1977 (Jan 28–Feb 1) 1978 (Jan 19–21, Jan 25–27, Feb 5–7 1979 (Jan 13–14) 1982 (Apr 6–8) 1983 (Feb 10–12) 1991 (Oct 31–Nov 3) 1992 (Dec 10–12) 1993 (Mar 12–15) 1995 (Feb 2–6) 1996 (Jan 6–10) 1997 (Mar 31–Apr 1, Oct 24–26) 1998 (Jan 4–10) 1999 (Jan 2–4, Jan 14–15)

2000s	2000 (Jan 18–30, Dec 27–31) 2002 (Jan 29–31, Feb 7, Dec 4–5) 2003 (Feb 14–19, Dec 5–8) 2004 (Dec 21–24, Dec 24–28) 2005 (Jan 20–23, Dec 14–16) 2006 (Feb 11–13, Oct 11–13, Nov 20–24, Nov 26–Dec 1, Dec 20–Jan 1) 2007 (Jan 11–24, Feb 12–20, Apr 13–17, Nov 29–Dec 5, Dec 8–18) 2008 (Jan 3–11, Mar 6–10, Dec 11–12, Dec 19–25) 2009 (Jan 25–30, Oct 13–20)

2009–10	2009 (Dec 16–20, Dec 22–28) 2010 (Feb 1–6, Feb 7–11, Feb 24–27, Mar 12–16)

2010–11	2010 (Oct 23–28, Dec 5–29) 2011 (Jan 8–13, Jan 24–28, Jan 29–Feb 3)

2011–12	2011 (Oct 28–Nov 1, Nov 8–10) 2012 (Jan 16–20)

2012–13	2012 (Oct 29–Nov 2, Nov 7–10, Dec 17–22, Dec 25–28) 2013 (Feb 7–18, Feb 22–Mar 5, Mar 1–10, Mar 18–24)

2013–14	2013 (Oct 3–5, Nov 25–28, Dec 19–23) 2014 (Dec 30, 2013–Jan 6, Jan 20–22, Jan 27–31, Feb 11–14, Feb 19–21, Feb 18–Apr 10)

2014–15	2014 (Nov 8–13, Nov 8–23, Nov 13–21, Dec 9–11, Dec 10–27) 2015 (Jan 23–30, Jan 31–Feb 2, Feb 12–17, Feb 20–Mar 1, Mar 1–6, Mar 20, May 9–11)

2015–16	2015 (Nov 24–27, Dec 26–30) 2016 (Jan 21–24, Jan 29–Feb 7, Feb 7–10, Feb 13–14, Feb 14–17, Feb 23–24, Mar 8–11, Mar 21–25, Apr 3–11, Apr 15–23)

2016–17	2016 (N/A)

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