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January 2012 Storm Threats and Discussion


PhineasC

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I think a big cold shot for next weekend (14-16th) looks pretty good right now. Much like the one we're experiencing now, this coming blast has been consistently progged for a couple days already and based on the ensembles, seems like a pretty robust solution. Also worth keeping an eye on for snow chances in that time. Although the NAO is still lousy, the PNA ridge looks good and I think the chance for some clipper snow is probably fair to good with an outside chance at something more exciting on the coast.

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the D+11 from last night had 7 of the 10 dates getting measureable snow (more than an inch) within 4 days of the centered mean (jan 14) . That's way higher than any of the previous times this year suggesting that the pattern is indeed improving.

Very nice. I like those odds. I'll go out on a limb and say most of us will see our first inch of snow by the 17th. Not too skinny of a limb from a climo perspective, but that's what happens in Winter 11-12. Of course, some lucky folks already got that yesterday.

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Very nice. I like those odds. I'll go out on a limb and say most of us will see our first inch of snow by the 17th. Not too skinny of a limb from a climo perspective, but that's what happens in Winter 11-12. Of course, some lucky folks already got that yesterday.

I think the probabilities are probably still lower than 70% but probably are above the climo average despite the positive AO. it's the first time this season that I've gotten somewhat interested.

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the D+11 from last night had 7 of the 10 dates getting measureable snow (more than an inch) within 4 days of the centered mean (jan 14) . That's way higher than any of the previous times this year suggesting that the pattern is indeed improving.

Welcome to the party Wes, thanks for joining us :snowman: .

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Probably RodneyS can give us the exact values, but if you took a historical look at January 11-16, what are the odds of getting 1" of snow in our area? I'd say probably 40-50% for the 'burbs and maybe 30% for downtown DC? If you say just a trace of snow, probably 75% 'burbs and 50% DC?

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Probably RodneyS can give us the exact values, but if you took a historical look at January 11-16, what are the odds of getting 1" of snow in our area? I'd say probably 40-50% for the 'burbs and maybe 30% for downtown DC? If you say just a trace of snow, probably 75% 'burbs and 50% DC?

Recent January's haven't been so kind though

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Probably RodneyS can give us the exact values, but if you took a historical look at January 11-16, what are the odds of getting 1" of snow in our area? I'd say probably 40-50% for the 'burbs and maybe 30% for downtown DC? If you say just a trace of snow, probably 75% 'burbs and 50% DC?

i think i posted the daily values for dca in a thread.. giving rodney the climo sheet was a mistake now no one pays attention to me. ;)

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Probably RodneyS can give us the exact values, but if you took a historical look at January 11-16, what are the odds of getting 1" of snow in our area? I'd say probably 40-50% for the 'burbs and maybe 30% for downtown DC? If you say just a trace of snow, probably 75% 'burbs and 50% DC?

if you look at a nine day period centered on the mean Jan 14, the climo for an inch is around 47%. If you only look at 5 days it snowed an inch or more 26 times in 123 years 21%.

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this is a graph not counting last yr of 1" snow at dca by day.. we never get to 50% chance i dont think. i dont have the numbers on me they're at home but wes might have them handy.

snow_per_date_dc.gif

Graph showing number of times it has snowed 1" or more at D.C. on a given date, from 1888-2010 (the historical record period of snowfall).

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2010/12/the_december_5_coincidence.html

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Unless it's a rainstorm of historic proportions, like hr 180...

I don't see much hope prior to that rainstorm, then I'm semi hopeful though the GFS looks to be a roller coaster in terms of temps. The cross polar flow is the one nice aspect of the run. That pust some cold shots in play.

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I don't see much hope prior to that rainstorm, then I'm semi hopeful though the GFS looks to be a roller coaster in terms of temps. The cross polar flow is the one nice aspect of the run. That pust some cold shots in play.

To what extent is it the polar flow giving us cold shots vs the powerful 'wrap around' effect of the 980mb, 1,000-mile impact low shown at hr 192?

Good thing we don't have a snow pack. With that kind of storm, as depicted by the GFS, there would be a lot of flooding. Of course by 18z, the GFS may have this OTS.

About 300 miles east would be great, thanks...

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To what extent is it the polar flow giving us cold shots vs the powerful 'wrap around' effect of the 980mb, 1,000-mile impact low shown at hr 192?

I think they are linked together and beyond that storm we might have a chance since the models probably will be very different in handling shortwaves. The atlantic remains troublesome as the blocking remains too far east to do us much good.

About 300 miles east would be great, thanks...

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I think they are linked together and beyond that storm we might have a chance since the models probably will be very different in handling shortwaves. The atlantic remains troublesome as the blocking remains too far east to do us much good.

Thanks, very interesting. So you're saying that it's pretty straightforward (shower/potential inch- event, then back to boring) until Thursday night, then basically an 'event horizon' that we can't see beyond... :-)

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I know it's far out there but things are looking alot different in the lr. Pretty decent ridge pushing through the Bering sea into the Chukchi. Even the most modest -nao (east based even) would pretty much put us in the ice box. We need to fire up the 10,000 propane heaters over greenland and start building some darn heights over there. The models are showing some encouraging signs in the future but not all of the ingredients are coming together. Why can't it just be a simple ao tanking and a big west based -nao setting up shop for a month or so.

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Yeah, the pattern is certainly changing. Thing is, the new pattern, while an improvement, is still not an ideal one for us to get lots of snow...or even normal amounts of snow. We'll be going from a pattern that's above to well-above normal temps to one that is pretty much seasonable, so I'd rather take my odds with those kind of temps.

You're right...if we can get a quick transient -NAO, that would really boost our chances.

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DCA will have snow between January 24th-26th or within 20-23 days...be patience snow lovers.

You may want to start a countdown clock :)

Will we be counting this snow in inches or feet?

BTW...if you're just saying "trace of snow or more", that is really not a bold forecast since that is the climo peak for snow.

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