The earliest snowstorm on record (from an accumulation standpoint) hit the northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. on October 29, 2011.
This area of the country usually doesn’t see measurable snow until late November or early December, so when the Halloween nor’easter hit, we all were taken by surprise. In fact, 20 cities saw record accumulations. The storm did massive damage to trees, since most hadn’t shed their canopies yet and the branches couldn’t hold the weight of the snow which collected in the leaves. And when the trees fell, they took power lines with them.
As far as my garden was concerned, it was naturally the end of the season and few plants remained, but leafy greens were wiped out and raspberry brambles, still covered with leaves, suffered heavy damage. Fortunately, all of my trees survived, but our Dogwood pictured below had a close call. Just after the storm, the weight of the wet snow bent some of its branches to the ground. We quickly cleared as much as we could reach with brooms and shovels.
Here’s what it looked like in my backyard in Pennsylvania. (click on any image for full-size view and caption)
