page_title: January 31 – February 2, 2011 North American blizzard
hierarchical_section_title: January 31 – February 2, 2011 North American blizzard
caption_attribution_description: English: In a winter marked by several crippling storms, the storm of February&#160;1–2, 2011, stands out. Heavy snow, ice, freezing rain, and frigid wind battered about two thirds of the United States, making it “a winter storm of historic proportions,” said the National Weather Service. This animation—made with images from the NOAA-NASA GOES 13 satellite—shows the giant storm developing and moving across the country between January&#160;31 and February&#160;2. This image, a still taken from the animation, shows the storm at 2131&#160;UTC on February&#160;1. In the image, the storm measures about 2,000&#160;kilometers (1,240&#160;miles) from west to east. The storm formed when cold Arctic air pushed south from Canada while moist air streamed north from the Gulf of the Mexico. The animation shows clouds building over New Mexico and Texas early in the day. As the system develops and moves northeast, the storm grows and becomes more organized. By the end of February&#160;1, the storm was a sprawling comma that extended from the Midwest to New England. By 1300&#160;UTC on February&#160;2, the National Weather Service reported that 21&#160;states from New Mexico to New Hampshire had received at least 5&#160;inches (13&#160;centimeters) of snow. Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma declared states of emergency. According to news reports, one in three Americans were affected by the storm. The monster storm brought record snowfall to many areas, including Chicago, perhaps the hardest hit population center. The city received 20.2&#160;inches of snow, a record for February and the third biggest snowstorm for any date in Chicago. The record was set at 23&#160;inches (58.4&#160;cm) on January&#160;26–27, 1967. The storm left a solid swath of snow from New Mexico to New England.–Caption credit: Holli Riebeek (time converted to UTC)
context_page_description: The January 31 – February 2, 2011 North American winter storm, also called the 2011 Groundhog Day Blizzard, was a powerful and historic winter storm, situated around the United States and Canada on Groundhog Day. During the initial stages of the storm, some meteorologists predicted that the system would affect over 100 million people in the United States. The storm brought cold air, heavy snowfall, blowing snow, and mixed precipitation on a path from New Mexico and northern Texas to New England and Eastern Canada. The Chicago area saw 21.2 inches of snow and blizzard conditions, with winds of over 60 mph. With such continuous winds, the Blizzard continued to the north and affected Eastern and Atlantic Canada. The most notable area affected in Canada was Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. Blizzard conditions affected many other large cities along the storm's path, including Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, El Paso, Las Cruces, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis, Dayton, Cleveland, New York City, New York's Capital District, and Boston.
context_section_description: The January 31 – February 2, 2011 North American winter storm, also called the 2011 Groundhog Day Blizzard, was a powerful and historic winter storm, situated around the United States and Canada on Groundhog Day. During the initial stages of the storm, some meteorologists predicted that the system would affect over 100 million people in the United States. The storm brought cold air, heavy snowfall, blowing snow, and mixed precipitation on a path from New Mexico and northern Texas to New England and Eastern Canada. The Chicago area saw 21.2 inches (54 cm) of snow and blizzard conditions, with winds of over 60 mph (100 km/h). With such continuous winds, the Blizzard continued to the north and affected Eastern and Atlantic Canada. The most notable area affected in Canada was Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.  Blizzard conditions affected many other large cities along the storm's path, including Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, El Paso, Las Cruces, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Detroit, Indianapolis, Dayton, Cleveland, New York City, New York's Capital District, and Boston. Many other areas not normally used to extreme winter conditions, including Albuquerque, Dallas and Houston, experienced significant snowfall or ice accumulation. The central Illinois National Weather Service in Lincoln, Illinois issued only their fourth Blizzard Warning in the forecast office's 16-year history. Snowfall amounts of 20 to 28 inches (51 to 71 cm) were forecast for much of Northern and Western Illinois.
  An ice storm ahead of the winter storm's warm front also brought hazardous conditions to much of the American Midwest and New England, and many areas saw well over 1 in (2.5 cm) of ice accumulation. Numerous power outages, flight cancellations, airport closures, road closures, roof collapses, rail and bus cancellations, mail stoppages, and school, government, and business closures took place ahead of and after the storm; many of these disruptions lasted several days. Several tornado touchdowns were reported in Texas and a tornado watch was issued for parts of Alabama, ahead of the cold front in the warm sector of the storm. In addition, thundersnow was recorded at some locations, including downtown Chicago. At least 36 deaths were reported to be related to the storm, many of them in shoveling or auto-related incidents, and the total damages were US $1.8 billion.
caption: The extratropical cyclone responsible for the blizzard striking the Midwestern United States on the afternoon of February 1
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