Northeast snowfall impact scale

[1] This helps to measure storms have on the economy and transportation throughout the major cities in the Northeastern United States as well as the country as a whole.

[2][3] The variables measured on the scale include area, amount of snowfall, and the number of people living in the path of the storm.

Only three historical storms—the 1993 Storm of the Century, the North American blizzard of 1996, and the January 2016 United States blizzard—are in the Category 5, with a NESIS value higher than 10.

The scale also allows for meteorologists to predict how long airport delays caused snowstorms will last and when things will become normal afterward.

It does not account for any of the following hazards associated with winter storms: A theoretical blizzard may only impact enough people with enough snow to rate a category 2 on NESIS, but bring winds of over 70 MPH, paralyzing the region for days as 5–10 foot drifts and windblown debris are removed.