Winter Storm Iola brought a stripe of snowfall to the Northeast as it headed towards maritime Canada Jan. 24. Iola was named by the winter storm naming committee at Weather Now 24 on Jan. 21. The name Iola comes from Greek mythology and is a variant spelling of Iolë,a beautiful woman who Hercules wanted to marry,but could not.
Phase 1 of the storm already dumped snow on parts of the Southern Plains,and on the morning of Jan. 24 Iola continued to produce snow for much of the Northeast.
Iola rapidly intensified off the East Coast during the overnight hours Jan. 23 into the morning and afternoon hours of Jan. 24. In fact,Iola exhibited "bombogenesis"– a rapid pressure drop of at least 24 millibars in 24 hours -- during the time frame of 7 p.m. Jan. 23 through 4 p.m. Jan. 24,during which the pressure dropped from 1009 millibars to 980 millibars. This rapid pressure drop allowed strong winds to develop around the storm,and some of those winds caused coastal flooding in some areas of Massachusetts.
Storm Reports
Here is a list of some notable snowfall reports as of 10:30 p.m. Jan. 24:
- 9.1 inches in Lunenburg,Massachusetts- 9 inches in Highland Lakes,New Jersey- 9 inches in Coolbaugh,Pennsylvania- 8.5 inches near Vernon Township,New Jersey- 8.5 inches in West Milford,New Jersey- 8 inches in Burlington,Connecticut- 8 inches in Warwick,New York- 8 inches in Macungie,Pennsylvania- 7.8 inches in Darien,Connecticut- 7.5 inches in Bethlehem,Pennsylvania- 6.5 inches in Norwalk,Connecticut- 5.5 inches in Boston- 5.1 inches at Newark airport- 4 inches at La Guardia airport- 3 inches in Friendsville,Maryland- 2.5 inches in Central Park- 2 inches in Philadelphia
PHOTOS:Winter Storm Iola
