Box A: The Northeastern Snowfall Impact Scale

The Northeastern Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS), developed by Paul Kocin and Louis Uccellini of the National Weather Service, ranks storms in the Northeast Corridor by societal impact. The NESIS scores used in ranking account for the physical size of the area impacted, the amount of snow, and the number of people living in the path of the storm.

Storm scores are categorized as:

• extreme (10+)
• crippling (6.09.99)
• major (4.05.99)
• significant (2.53.99)
• notable (1.02.499)

For more information, see: http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/snow-and-ice/nesis.php, February 2010