Ingredients “in the mix” to create the
Blizzard of ‘78
•Unusually
strong high pressure over central Canada with very cold air, and nearly stationary high pressure over Greenland
•Astronomical
high tides in early February 1978
–New
moon, moon in “perigee”, NE “fetch”
•Low
pressure at the surface and aloft moved out of the Great Lakes to the mid Atlantic
coast
•Cold
Canadian air to the north, low pressure to the south and relatively warm ocean air
mixed together
to form “The Blizzard”, which stalled off southern New England for nearly 36
hours