If onion snow comes in late spring, is it pumpkin snow in York, Pa.’s October?
This photo tells the storm of Saturday, Oct. 29’s snowstorm. The York Daily Record/Sunday News’ Jason Plotkin captures Steve Smith walking down North George Street in York, Pa., Saturday. Also of interest: Check out all bad weather posts from the start.
Searching for a name for what came down from the sky Saturday.
In October. Almost November, but still October.
I’ll finally settle on pumpkin snow, a spinoff on the late spring onion snow that Mother Nature occasionally bestows on us. And it’s borrowed from another bad weather moment – the Pumpkin Flood of 1786.
I’m thinking that onion snows are occasional and pumpkin snows rare.
The Daily Record/Sunday News reported that the last measurable snow in October came in 1972. One wonders what went through the minds of York countians in those days. Just a few months before, floodwaters spawned by Tropical Storm Agnes had caused at least five deaths and millions in destruction.
Well, here’s a summary from the YDR/YSN of the Pumpkin Snow of 2011:
“Trick-or-treat events were canceled, and snowmen were built instead. And late Saturday night, the YWCA of York canceled the annual Halloween Parade. The combination of the winter weather and trees still full with autumn leaves caused difficulties on area roads and power outages throughout the county.
“Craig Evanego, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the snow followed the path of a ‘classic coastal storm.’
“The York area had been expected to get between 4 and 8 inches. By 10 p.m., Delta had received 2 inches of snow and Dillsburg was reporting 10 inches, according to the National Weather Service.”
And while we’re on the Pumpkin Snow of 2011, check out how Buffy Andrews over at Buffy’s World covered the event via Storify:
Also of interest
– Check out this long list of snow, other bad weather events, from York County’s past.
– Ice upon ice pic tells chilly tale of York County’s 1996 blizzard.
– Tropical Storm Agnes savaged York County with more than 15 inches of rain.
– A list of post of traumatic, painful incidents that rocked York County.
