‘We haven’t seen anything like this in years.’ A ‘bomb’ and a blizzard rock Philly and the Shore

What became a coastal “bomb cyclone” rivaled a hurricane in intensity, incited an all-out whiteout blizzard at the Shore on Friday night into Saturday, threw back several inches of snow across the Delaware River, and elevated the “Queen of Resorts” to kingly status in the realm of snow in the winter of 2021-22.

“We haven’t seen anything like this in years,” Scott Evans, Atlantic City’s fire chief, said Saturday when winds gusting to 50 mph stirred blinding clouds of snow. “Right now we’re just dealing with a lot of ambulances and police cars getting stuck.”

In a record January, the 16 inches measured officially at Atlantic City International Airport for the storm upped the seasonal total to 33 inches, surpassing the amount that has fallen upon Burlington this winter — that’s Burlington, Vt., not New Jersey. It also doubled the Albany, N.Y., total.

Officially 7.5 inches was recorded at Philadelphia International Airport, pushing the seasonal total to 14.5, 4 inches above normal for the date — and an inch better than what Albany has experienced.

Areas to the west of Philadelphia, places well away from the Atlantic coast such as Albany, did not remotely experience the fury of the storm endured by the Jersey Shore, Long Island, or eastern Massachusetts, where up to 2 feet of snow was reported and a hurricane-force 76-mph wind was recorded on the northeast coast.

» READ MORE: Just what is a bomb cyclone?

Given that the storm affected one of the nation’s densest population corridors, transportation issues were inevitable. More than 300 flights in and out of the Philadelphia airport were canceled, according to the website FlightAware.

Amtrak canceled all Acela trains between Washington and Boston, along with Keystone service between Philly and New York City. NJ Transit temporarily suspended bus, RiverLINE, and Access Link services.

When the snow shut off, winds gusting past 30 mph continued, sculpting drifts and blowing snow back atop cleared roads.

For all that, and the storm’s impressive meteorological pedigree — at 7 a.m. it had met the intensity requirements to become a “bomb cyclone,” said Randy Adkins, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. — it did not appear to be as disruptive to the region as some snowstorms past.

» READ MORE: Looking for consistency? You won't find it in a Philly winter

“Black ice” would remain a hazard, and winds might challenge power lines, said Vanessa Garrett Harley, the city’s acting managing director, but Philadelphia lifted its state of emergency at 5 p.m., and Peco was reporting only scattered outages.

Bread and milk were even available, reported ShopRite chain owner Jeff Brown, adding that his 10 stores were operating normally.

And come blizzard or high water, the storm appeared to have no dampening effect on the pursuits of gamblers at Atlantic City’s casinos.

Part of any blunting effect likely was related to timing. Light snow fell in much of the region during the day Friday; however, in the afternoon it was accumulating at the rate of about -0.1 inches an hour. The serious snow held off until after dark, and by midafternoon Saturday, it was over and the disc of the sun dared to reappear.

Another factor was the forecast. “We had so much notice,” Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron said. The storm “was not a surprise.”

“Don’t you hate it when the weatherman’s right?” he said. And for the most part they were.

For days computers were as disputatious as human beings, but in the end the humans did what appeared to be an impressive job of refereeing.

» READ MORE: Yes, they saw it coming ...

The official weather service forecast hadn’t changed much since it posted the first snow maps late Wednesday. Its last call was for 6 to 8 inches in Philly and more than a foot at the beaches.

First thing Friday it hoisted a blizzard warning for the Shore, and the criteria — winds 35 mph or higher and/or quarter-mile visibility for three consecutive hours — were realized.

The forecasts correctly foresaw that snow amounts would decrease from southeast to northwest as the storm migrated off the coast and that areas not far west of Philly wouldn’t see much of anything. As with any storm, not all the details were nailed.

“I was shoveling this morning,” said Jason Franklin, chief meteorologist at the weather service’s Mount Holly Office. “It was heavy.”

He said that the snowpack that people were contending with Saturday was something of a parfait. The bottom layer resulted from the daylong, somewhat soggy snow Friday that left 1 to 2 inches in some of Philly’s Pennsylvania suburbs and was a bit of a surprise. It was melting on paved surfaces but froze during the night, when temperatures dropped into the 20s.

As it got colder, the snow turned more powdery, but it was no pushover, said AccuWeather’s Adkins. The flakes that descended upon the immediate Philadelphia area were for the most part smaller and denser, as opposed to the bigger, fluffier dendrites that accumulate more efficiently and are more shovel-friendly.

Chances are those small flakes resulted from snow-crystal collisions caused by high winds in the upper atmosphere, Adkins said. The rapidly accumulating snow formed in bands over central Jersey and the Shore that had something to do with holding accumulations to the west, he added.

In short, melting.

Temperatures might not get out of the 20s on Sunday, but the sun is rapidly gaining power, and that will almost certainly lower the snowpack. But watch for refrozen melt after dark.

Readings will reach the mid-30s Monday and Tuesday, forecasters say; the 40s on Wednesday, Groundhog Day; and the 50s on Thursday. Another cooldown is expected next weekend, Adkins said.

On Saturday, in Atlantic City it might have been difficult to envision a landscape without snow.

» READ MORE: The magic and mystery of snow endures

Poking his head out of Chickie’s & Pete’s to check out the atmospheric mayhem playing out on the Boardwalk, Jamal Reid said he had hoped he might get a snow day from work.

But he was in at 8 a.m., after a “crazy morning” in which he had to help his cabdriver get his car unstuck from the snow. Still, he wasn’t too dismayed by the blizzard.

“Looks wonderful,” he said.

Staff writers Ryan Briggs and Diane Mastrull contributed to this article.