Dec. 22 Update: CNBC finds today that nationwide retail sales have increased, despite the weather:
Original post:
After pounding the Washington/Baltimore area with record-setting snowfall, the Super Saturday storm left massive amounts of snow on parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Long Island before departing out to sea. Nevertheless, a report from Bloomberg today indicates that last-minute shopping in the remaining days before Christmas may make up for lost sales over the weekend. Despite the reputation of "Black Friday", the maximum day for retail sales is usually "Super Saturday" on the weekend before Christmas. Overall, the 10 days before the holiday make up 40% of sales for the months of November and December, according to Bloomberg.
The NYT, on the other hand, was more cautious, pointing out that the region affected by the storm accounts for about 25% of a typical national retailer's total sales:
Storm on Big Weekend Raises Worries for Stores
The FT reported:
US retailers hope for last-minute gift buying
Some more records set by the storm:
On Long Island, the 26.3" of snow at the National Weather Service office in Upton set a new single storm record, breaking the old record of 23.0" in the blizzard of 1978.
Providence, RI set a new all-time December daily snowfall record with 14.3".
The storm total of 23.2" at Philadelphia is the second highest all-time storm total. The record is 30.7" in the blizzard of January 1996.
Many locations set individual daily records for December 19 or 20.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Seasonal Outlook
Latest seasonal forecast: Click here.
Latest 3-month temperature outlook from Climate Prediction Center/NWS/NOAA.
Latest 3-month temperature outlook from Climate Prediction Center/NWS/NOAA.
Posts
3 comments:
What was the equivalent of all the snow that hit the DC area in terms of water (inches)? I'm concerned because my area is prone to flooding.
The good news is that the water content was somewhat low for this area, since the temperatures were so cold. National reported 0.51", and Dulles had 0.77". With rain likely on Friday, however, that will still create a lot of runoff.
Thanks! You know, my rain gauge showed a little over .5 inches and I thought maybe it had clogged or something (I am S. arlington). I am about 3 miles from National Airport. Gotta trust that rain gauge:).
Post a Comment