Michael A. Sawyers
CUMBERLAND — About 13 more inches and Cumberland will set a seasonal snowfall record, to the best of Tim Thomas’ knowledge.
Thomas, the veteran National Weather Service volunteer observer for the Queen City and its environs, said Friday that he has measured 61.2 inches of white stuff this season; 24.2 in December, 5.5 in January and 31.5 thus far in February.
“The greatest seasonal snowfall in the city that I can find in my research was 74.9 inches during the winter of 1960-61,” Thomas said.
Thomas said his records show that the single heaviest snow in Cumberland was in January 1996 when 26 inches fell.
Thomas said he places a flat snow board on the ground to provide a level surface upon which the snow falls.
“If you measure on grass, the grass itself can add a couple inches to the measurement,” he said.
After the month’s first snowstorm that began Feb. 6, Thomas measured 2 feet of snow.
“The snow compacted some and was down to 19 inches when I put another snow board on top of that. After the second snow, the one that started Tuesday, I measured another 6 inches,” he said.
Thomas pointed out that snow may have been deeper in other parts of the Queen City. “I measure in the same location so that provides accurate information for that one spot,” he said of his yard in South Cumberland.
Winter is not over, the weather observer points out. “We have the remainder of February to get through and then there is March,” he said.
A call to the National Weather Service confirmed to Thomas what he had already expected.
This large of a snowpack can create flooding.
“If we get a sudden melt it will be worse than the flooding of January 1996,” Thomas said. “The snowpack is larger than it was that year. In fact, the entire state is covered with snow.”
The ideal daytime temperature would be in the low 40s for a couple of weeks to provide a controlled melt, he said.
“We are keeping an eye on Monday,” Thomas said. “There is some snow forecast, but it doesn’t appear that this storm will have the southern jet stream to supply moisture like with the last two storms.
“Actually we got lucky on this last storm with only 6 inches. It was a lot worse to the east. Did you ever think you’d see the Ocean City boardwalk hidden by snow? These last two northeasters just exploded over the Delmarva.”
Contact Mike Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.
