This weekend’s nor’Easter blizzard has made the record books. New York City’s Central Park reported 26.9 inches of snow as of 4 PM, making it the snowiest day since records began being kept in 1869. The previous record of 26.4 inches was set almost 50 years ago, in 1947.

The storm is expected to move off of the the New England coast tonight, but it left blizzard conditions, blowing snow, thundersnow, and up to 4 foot drifts in its wake.

Here are some snowfall amounts reported through this afternoon:

Fairfax, VA: 14 inches
Baltimore, MD: 15 inches
Owings Mills, MD: 20 inches
Wilmington, DE: 14.4 inches
Allentown, PA: 15.2 inches
Philadelphia, PA: 1.5 inches
Lawrenceville, NJ: 18.7 inches
East Brunswick, NJ: 21 inches
Newark, NJ: 21.3 inches
Saddle Brook, NJ: 20 inches
La Guardia Airport, NY: 21.4 inches
Islip, Long Island: 19.9 inches
Fairfield, CT: 27.8 inches
Danbury, CT: 24.2 inches
Hyannis, MA: 10 inches
Cambridge, MA: 18.2 inches
Foxboro, MA: 14.5 inches
Boston Logan Airport: 13.5 inches
Nashua, NH: 11 inches
Londonderry, NH: 13.5 inches
Kennebunk. ME: 12 inches

Keep in mind that many of these readings were taking in mid-afternoon, with more snow to come. The good news is that much like the rest of the eastern half of the country, the affected areas are expected to warm above freezing over the next few days, which will allow some of the snow to melt. On the other hand, if you were planning to travel to one of these areas soon, you might be better off rethinking your plans.

The storm that passed through north Georgia on Saturday, and is now pounding the east coast could rival a storm that put 12 to 18 inches of snow in an area from Virginia to Massachusetts exactly 23 years ago, on February 11th and 12th, 1983.

This morning, the center of the storm is located off the New Jersey coast, moving northwest at about 20 MPH. Blizzard warnings are in effect from New York City to Maine, and snow advisories are in effect from North Carolina to Vermont. This storm’s impact could be even more powerful because the east coast hasn’t seen too much winter weather this year.

Early snow totals from the storm as of 7 AM include:

Washington, DC Reagan Airport: 8.1 inches
Baltimore/Washington Airport: 11.2 inches
Columbia, MD: 21.3 inches
Annandale, VA: 11.5 inches
Chester County PA: 11 inches
Edison, NJ: 9 inches
Ridgewood, NJ: 13.7 inches
Newark, NJ: 10.7 inches
Central Park, NY: 11.8 inches
Islip, Long Island: 8.4 inches
Danbury, CT: 12 inches
West Hartford, CT: 9 inches
Warwick, RI: 3.7 inches
Natick, MA: 7 inches

Other reports from yesterday include:
Clayton, GA: 1 inch
Mountain City, GA: 5 inches
Memphis, TN: 3 inches
Tunica, MS: 3 inches
Robbinsville, NC: 7.5 inches

Here in Atlanta, we saw only light snow flurries this morning. The storm totals are increasing rapidly in an area from Washington DC north. For example, Central Park went from reports of 4 inches at 4 AM to 11 inches at 7 AM.

While the winter storm remains a threat in the northeast, cold weather is likely to impact Florida tonight and tomorrow night. Freezing temperatures are predicted tonight, with a freeze warning issued as far south as Palm Beach, with temperatures as low as 29 degrees in interior south Florida. This, of course, will have a great impact on the Florida growing industry.

We’ll also be likely to see temperatures in the mid 20’s tonight and Monday night, before things warm up to normal or above normal temperatures for the rest of the work week. By next weekend though, another storm threatens to bring colder temperatures, and another chance of wintry weather.

Shortly after I got to Sugarloaf Country Club and the BellSouth Classic at 10:00 this morning, an unexpected round of sleet and snow passed over the course. Walking along the 12th fairway, conditions deteriorated rapidly, as rain and sleet began to fall.

Fortunately, a corporate hospitality “Sky Box” was at the 10th green, and its owners were kind enough to let the few spectators in the area in for the duration of the storm, which was about 20 minutes. The whole thing caused about an hour and a half delay of the tournament, although conditions improved (if 55 degrees and 30 MPH winds can be called an improvement).

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Metro Atlanta work up today to light snow flurries, which continue to fall as I write this.

A band of flurries passed across the area between 4 and 5 this morning, and additional light snow was reported through about 10 AM.

These two pictures show some light snow covering my yard, and the surrounding street. Although a few areas reported icy patches during the morning drive, all in all, the snow is not a problem, and won’t last, as the skies will clear during the day.

Overnight, we’ll see a hard freeze, with temperatures dropping to around 25, which may cause problems for the Bradford Pears that are preparing to bloom.

This light snow is just a touch of a major storm that is dumping lots of snow in the Northeast United States.

In Boston, they’ve had 8 1/2 inches of snow as of 8:30 this morning, while in Central Park, 7 1/2 inches fell. 9 inches fell in Newark, and 5 inches fell in Baltimore.

Continued snow is expected in the Northeast for the rest of the day, before tapering off this evening, with an additional foot expected in some areas.

The first major winter weather event of 2005 brought plenty of snow to the Mid-Atlantic states on Saturday. New snowfall records were set at Boston’s Logan Airport and Manhattan’s Central Park. Here are some 24 hour snowfall totals for selected cities, as of early late Saturday or early Sunday, January 23, 2005:

Philadelphia, PA - 11 inches as of 1:00 AM
Blue Bell, PA - 12 inches as of 2:00 AM
Allentown, PA - 8.3 inches as of 1:00 AM
Wilmington, DE - 8.0 inches as of 1:00 AM
Mount Holly, NJ - 9:0 inches as of 1:00 AM
Central Park, NY - 8.5 inches (a new record)
Darien, CT - 13.5 inches as of 11 PM
New Haven, CT - 10.0 inches as of 12 AM
Newark, NJ - 8.9 Inches as of 12 AM
Oyster Bay NY - 13.0 inches as of 1:15 AM
La Guardia Airport NY - 10.0 inches as of 12:00 AM
Boston Logan Airport, MA - 9.1 inches as of 12:00 AM
Hyannis, MA - 17.8 inches as of 4:10 AM
Peabody, MA - 24.0 inches as of 6:23 AM
Worcester, MA - 18.1 inches as of 5:38 AM
Amherst, NH - 18.0 inches as of 6:31 AM
West Warwick, RI - 14.0 inches as of 3:56 AM

The snow is expected to continue in New England until late this afternoon, with 10 to 16 inches expected in Portland, Maine and 28 to 38 inches expected in Boston. The situation is made worse, with high winds averaging 30 MPH.