The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday that last weekend's snowstorm ranks as the fourth-worst to hit the northeast United States since at least 1950.
WHAT WE KNOW:
- The agency gave the storm a rating of 7.66 on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale, which makes it a category 4 storm. That means its impacts were "crippling" but not "extreme."
- The scale is based on inches of snowfall, geographic reach and population affected. It doesn't include metrics such as death toll, economic impact or power outages. Nor does it rank a storm's severity in individual metropolitan areas.
- The Jan. 22-24 storm hit from Mississippi to Maine, affecting 102.8 million people in 26 states. Almost 24 million people saw more than 20 inches of snow and 1.5 million got more than 30 inches.
WHAT WE KNOW:
- The agency gave the storm a rating of 7.66 on the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale, which makes it a category 4 storm. That means its impacts were "crippling" but not "extreme."
- The scale is based on inches of snowfall, geographic reach and population affected. It doesn't include metrics such as death toll, economic impact or power outages. Nor does it rank a storm's severity in individual metropolitan areas.
- The Jan. 22-24 storm hit from Mississippi to Maine, affecting 102.8 million people in 26 states. Almost 24 million people saw more than 20 inches of snow and 1.5 million got more than 30 inches.
