Intro:
One of the more catastrophic winter storms in Boston history. Apparently numerical models (fairly new at the time) kind of botched recent predictions, but it did see a storm coming to SNE. When people woke up on the morning of the 6th, and saw it wasn't snowing, which most models predicted, they just went to work. They were later stuck in an all out blizzard on their way back home. It was long duration (>32 hours) but it was also insanely intense with hurricane force winds. Although there was accumulation of ~27 inches, the lack of preparation and dismissal of the forecast was the real kicker.
Meteorology:
Low had passed over SNE days earlier and cold air was in place. The storm stalled out just south of cape cod and whipped crazy winds into coastal Massachusetts for a longer-than-expected period of time.
An analysis by boston.com writer David Epstein:
"During the next two days the atmosphere would undergo a remarkable transformation as both pieces of the jet stream phased together allowing warm and moist air to be pulled into the storm with cold air still present. This moisture, when hitting the cold air in place, produced billions of snowflakes that would pile up to record amounts. As the jet streams merged and the warm air moved north, winds would increase at the surface and blow over hurricane force along the coast. The strength and intensity of the cold air to the north would basically block the storm and allow it to sit and spin for all those hours."
ENJOY!