_____The storm associated with this event, resulted in record snow amounts throughout the Mid Atlantic states during the period of the 18th to 19th of February 1979. This particular storm has been studied many times over as the operational models used to forecast completely missed this development. On the morning of the 19th in scattered areas from Washington DC to Baltimore snowfall rates approached 5 inches per hour, and the storm dumped more than 24 inches during it's lifetime on the streets of the capitol city. The storm occurred during the end of a massive cold weather outbreak that left a snow cover as far south as southern Georgia. A region extending from West Virginia to New Jersey was hit with 10 to 20+ inches of snow.

_____The cyclone that developed was preceded by a fairly large anticyclone that reached 1050 mb. This anticyclone coincided with record cold temperatures over much of the eastern half of the US. On the 18th, a very pronounced area of cold air damming occurred on the lee side of the Appalachians. Two lows were associated with this system, the first developed over Kentucky but showed no frontal characteristics as it deepened to 1024 mb. It did, however, produce light snow just south of the Great Lakes area. This low eventually disappeared as the second low began to form just off the East Coast. This second low intensified at a rapid rate just off the coast of Virginia and Maryland. The second cyclone found its development along a coastal front and was preceded by heavy snow and various other frozen precipitation in the southeast. Between 00Z on the 19th and 12Z the low deepened at rates near 2 to 3 mb/hour but the system only reached 995 mb, which was still enough for it to be considered a bomb event. Heavy snow fell across the Mid Atlantic region with the heaviest snows falling during the rapid development phase. The cyclone was also found by surface maps and satellite photos to only cover a small surface area.

_____Prior to the cyclogenesis event there was strong confluent flow across the northeast portion of the US. This was associated with the movement of the strong anticyclone from the Great Lakes region into New England. Surface cyclogenesis occurred with an open wave trough that never came to develop a closed center at the 500 mb level. Downstream diffluence became more noticeable during a twelve hour period beginning at 12Z on the 18th. The associated trough seemed to have a slight negative tilt by 12Z on the 19th, this occurred during the rapid deepening of the surface low off the East Coast.

_____A subtropical jet near the 200 mb level amplified just prior to the cyclogenesis event, this was also during the development of the heavy snow that fell on the southeast US. During a twenty-four hour period from 12Z on the 17th to 12Z on the 18th, the wind speeds associated with this jet increased from 60 m/s to 80 m/s. A weaker polar jet moved towards the East Coast from the Northern plains between 00Z on the 18th to 12Z on the 19th, at which point the strongest winds at the 200 mb level occurred. The explosive development of the precipitation across the Mid Atlantic states occurred within the exit region of this jet as it continued it's move towards the East Coast.