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2. Description of the event
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A nice summary of the meteorological conditions during the storm can be found here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/01/25/the-12-best-meteorological-images-of-the-blizzard-of-2016/
The plots below show the 24-hour accumulated precipitation for 22 Jan 12z-23 Jan 12z (left) and 23 Jan 12z - 24 Jan 12z. Note the local differences around Washington DC and NYC.
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The development of the cyclone seems to be connected to a wave train triggered by a baroclinic wave six days before in the western North Pacific as we can seen from the Hovemoeller diagram for Z500 anomalies.
The plot below shows the projection of the flow on Kelvin wave mode on 19 January 00z at 150 hPa, with a strong westerly phase over Eastern Pacific, which might or might not be connected to the development of the cyclone. (from http://meteo.fmf.uni-lj.si/MODES/ )
3. Predictability
3.1 Data assimilation
3.2 HRES
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