Using normalized climatological anomalies to rank extreme synoptic-scale events objectively.

Top-10 rankings by month

Robert Hart and Richard Grumm

Updated 5 January 2004 to include events from 1948 through 2003.

[ Description | Top-20 All Time | Top-10 by variable | Top-10 by month | Case References | Recent Ranking Changes | Latest MRF Rarity Forecast ]

JAN

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	00Z09JAN1956	4.950	"The Great Atlantic Low"	Ludlum 1956
2	12Z15JAN1995	4.722	Deep Gulf of Mexico Storm
3	12Z11JAN1975	4.566	Severe Minnesota Blizzard
4	12Z08JAN1998	4.536	NE US/SE Canada Ice Storm	Gyakum and Sisson 1999; DeGaetano 2000
5	12Z08JAN1958	4.356	Intense Coastal Storm	Ludlum 1958a
6	12Z19JAN1977	4.340	Historic Florida Freeze	Schwartz 1977
7	12Z19JAN1996	4.307	NE US Flooding/Snowmelt	Leathers et al 1998
8	00Z10JAN1978	4.260	Deep NE U.S. Storm
9	12Z26JAN1978	4.179	The Cleveland Superbomb	Gaza and Bosart 1990; Hakim et al 1995,1996
10	12Z22JAN1959	4.176	Severe E. U.S. Snow/Ice Storm	Treidl 1959

FEB

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	00Z04FEB1970	4.201
2	00Z12FEB1981	4.041	Extr. amplitude E. U.S. trough
3	00Z12FEB1999	3.892	Record Mid. Atl./NE U.S. Heat Wave	Grumm and Hart 2001
4	12Z03FEB1998	3.863
5	00Z23FEB1981	3.788
6	12Z10FEB1966	3.728
7	12Z13FEB1962	3.710
8	12Z21FEB1953	3.701
9	00Z21FEB1955	3.598
10	00Z24FEB1989	3.571

MAR

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	00Z14MAR1993	4.576	Superstorm of 1993	Kocin et al 1995; Dickinson et al 1997
2	12Z17MAR1983	4.464	Low-latitude intense cyclone	Dickinson et al 1997
3	12Z11MAR1996	3.931
4	00Z16MAR1990	3.856	NE U.S. Heat/SE Flooding
5	12Z21MAR1958	3.789	Heavy NE Elevation Snowstorm	Ludlum 1958b
6	00Z07MAR1987	3.781	NC/NE U.S. Heat Wave
7	12Z04MAR1991	3.725
8	00Z18MAR1973	3.634
9	12Z05MAR1964	3.617
10	12Z23MAR1968	3.593

APR

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	12Z28APR1997	4.133
2	00Z01APR1987	3.911	SE U.S. Rec. Cold Outbreak
3	00Z30APR1953	3.904
4	12Z14APR1980	3.766
5	00Z29APR1992	3.731
6	12Z05APR1977	3.723
7	00Z17APR1984	3.721
8	00Z12APR1988	3.706	S. Appalachian Snowstorm
9	12Z18APR1983	3.680
10	12Z30APR1996	3.580

MAY

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	00Z28MAY1973	4.131
2	12Z15MAY1976	4.076
3	12Z07MAY1992	3.864
4	00Z07MAY1982	3.781
5	00Z26MAY1979	3.718
6	00Z13MAY1960	3.656
7	00Z06MAY1950	3.636
8	12Z20MAY1994	3.632
9	12Z17MAY1984	3.585
10	12Z29MAY1953	3.573

JUN

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	00Z13JUN1990	4.030
2	12Z29JUN1981	3.996
3	12Z27JUN1974	3.984	Transitioned subtrop. storm
4	12Z23JUN1972	3.974	Extratropical Agnes	DiMego & Bosart 1982a,b;Bosart & Dean 1991
5	00Z04JUN1955	3.957
6	12Z11JUN1955	3.914
7	00Z27JUN1985	3.775
8	12Z28JUN1957	3.664
9	12Z02JUN1984	3.641
10	12Z10JUN1977	3.582

JUL

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	12Z14JUL1990	3.906
2	12Z13JUL1975	3.653
3	00Z02JUL1988	3.622	NE U.S. Record July Cold
4	12Z28JUL1994	3.567
5	00Z12JUL1979	3.558
6	12Z20JUL1996	3.535	NE US Severe Outbreak	Pearce 1997
7	12Z15JUL1967	3.534
8	12Z10JUL1963	3.525
9	00Z06JUL1993	3.499
10	00Z11JUL1983	3.485

AUG

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	12Z22AUG1973	4.077	Deep Gulf of Mexico Storm
2	12Z03AUG1964	3.811
3	12Z07AUG1950	3.735
4	12Z17AUG1980	3.722
5	00Z08AUG2002	3.599	Pre-Gustav & deep E. Coast trough.
6	12Z13AUG2000	3.589	Deep cutoff & MidAtl Flood
7	12Z26AUG1951	3.528
8	12Z21AUG1961	3.505
9	12Z03AUG1989	3.497
10	12Z04AUG1956	3.496

SEP

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	12Z19SEP1981	3.793
2	12Z23SEP1989	3.598	Extratropical Hugo & Early Snow	Abraham et al 1991
3	00Z05SEP1997	3.588
4	12Z26SEP1982	3.562
5	00Z04SEP1998	3.546
6	00Z24SEP1994	3.516
7	12Z24SEP1975	3.514
8	12Z06SEP1988	3.436	3-Day Record Cold Wave
9	12Z22SEP1983	3.423
10	12Z13SEP1951	3.396

OCT

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	00Z16OCT1954	4.391	Extratropical Hazel	Knox 1955; Palmen 1958
2	12Z31OCT1993	4.232	E. U.S. Elevation Blizzard	Grumm and Nicosia 1997
3	00Z20OCT1989	4.179	SE U.S. Record Cold & Snow
4	12Z14OCT2001	3.966	Gulf Coast Severe Outbreak
5	12Z25OCT1959	3.915
6	12Z30OCT1991	3.856	"The Perfect Storm"	Cardone et al 1996
7	00Z06OCT1995	3.782	Extratropical Opal
8	12Z13OCT1997	3.699
9	12Z09OCT1952	3.631
10	00Z15OCT1955	3.598

NOV

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	00Z26NOV1953	4.396
2	12Z17NOV2002	4.185	Historic S/Central New England Ice Storm
3	12Z02NOV1966	4.145	Heavy C. Appal. Snowstorm
4	00Z21NOV1952	4.081
5	00Z17NOV1989	4.005	NE cold after severe outbreak	Ruscher and Condo 1996a,b
6	12Z12NOV1968	3.937	Severe coastal storm
7	12Z05NOV1950	3.895
8	00Z26NOV1950	3.850	Historic E US storm	Bristor 1951
9	12Z20NOV1954	3.790
10	00Z04NOV1951	3.787	E. U.S. Autumn Snowstorm	Ludlum 1951

DEC

Rank	Date	M_TOTAL	Description	References
1	12Z28DEC1980	4.469	Deep Carolina Coastal Low
2	12Z22DEC1972	4.199	Deep Gulf of Mexico Storm
3	12Z11DEC1950	4.192
4	00Z16DEC1992	4.101
5	12Z14DEC1997	4.084	Deep Gulf of Mexico Storm
6	12Z11DEC1967	3.985	Deep Gulf of Mexico Storm
7	00Z10DEC1957	3.926
8	00Z15DEC1953	3.923	Deep East Coast Storm	Reed 1955
9	00Z30DEC1997	3.922	Major NE Coastal Storm
10	00Z11DEC1981	3.804

Last updated: 5 January 2004

Robert Hart, PSU (hart@ems.psu.edu)
Richard Grumm, SOO, NWS CTP (rgrumm@supercel.met.psu.edu)