wx_observer

I can't remember the last time I heard wind howl like this. We have to be gusting over 60 here.

24F and pouring freezing rain here now. A few pellets mixed in.

Heavy sleet right now in Central MA at the NWC/SWC border. Actually...it sounds like it might have switched over to more freezing rain as I'm typing this.

Looks like we had freezing rain most of the night in Central MA. There's maybe about a .10 glaze out there.

Lots of huuuuge flakes in Central MA right now. Maybe around 4" on the ground, but it's snowing at a pretty good clip here ATM.

We got just enough frozen precipitation overnight to make mini icicle nubs on the handrails and glaze the car windows. Roads and sidewalks could be really slick until it warms up a few more degrees.

It's 44 here now, with a wind chill of about 36 F. Going to have several chilly nights in central MA, getting down into the 20s.

Seems to be a theme emerging for the winter season. Might hedge my bets again this year and pay per diem for snow removal instead of a flat rate for the whole season.

Hot damn, GOES-19...that loop is incredible! Wish this beast wasn't heading towards any population centers though. https://satlib.cira.colostate.edu/loop_of_the_day/jaw-dropping-high-resolution-view-of-hurricane-miltons-eye/

Well, you don't see that everyday...a left hook after a panhandle landfall.

You know it's quiet on the weather front when there's a full blown conversation about heat pumps and solar panels and not much else that day...

Same reason why I haven't done it too. Based on the terms, I may as well buy the system myself and pay to finance it over time with the money I save on the electric bill. At least the power I would generate is mine, and I would be free to use the system as a backup power source in an outage...which none of those government incentive programs would offer. I was like--wait. I would have a renewable energy source right on my roof, but if there is a power outage I can't use it and all my lights go out too?! That would just piss me off a little too much, thanks.

Around here most of those solar programs that install panels at no cost to the homeowner require you to send the electricity you generate back to the "macro grid" company. They give you a credit on your bill based on whatever weird calculations they use. But if the electric company is getting all these homes to provide energy that they no longer have to generate themselves, you have to wonder why the rates wouldn't be going down.

I'm almost afraid to say it...but will be spending this week in seacoast NH and am loving this forecast! Even getting a vacation from the dews

Nice writeup about severe potential today from BOX. Last paragraph is especially helpful from a public awareness standpoint regarding warnings today. Seems like having an actual "eye to the sky" is especially important today. Severe Weather: Not much has changed with the potential of severe weather. As we mentioned, the environment this afternoon/evening is favorable for short-lived tornadoes as remnants of Debby track to the west of New England. These situations often feature very high shear in lowest levels and low LCLs (cloud bases) but in order to support tornado formation we need instability in lowest levels (0-3km CAPE) and either surface boundary or mesolow to focus low level spin. In this case, we`re seeing several favorable signals in model guidance, especially for western thirds of MA/CT. First, there is sufficient 0-3km CAPE (over 200 J/kg) as warm front lifts through during late afternoon and early evening. Local CSTAR research has shown that we only need to see values of 25-75 J/kg in tropical remnant environments so that should easily be attainable. Second, environment itself favors high amounts of shear in lowest levels and in this case we have over 200 m2s2 of 0-1km shear, much of which is focused in 0-500m layer. Research has also shown the 0-500m layer can be a good discriminator for tornadoes vs non tornado environments (values of 95 or higher). Lastly, LCL heights are down to 500m which is below the typical height of about 700m. While these factors line up very well and have support from SREF Tornado Ingredients, it`s not always a lock in these situations. Certainly we`ll be on the eastern edge of more favorable area (region closer to the actual remnant low itself). But we have to watch its warm front extending eastward as well as possibility of mesolow formation along boundary to help enhance spinup. It`s also possible to have all of this occur without any lightning. It`s important to stress that these types of circulations, while potentially supportive of tornadoes, tend to be very shallow in nature and do not last very long. Radar detection can be difficult especially at farther distances from the radar. These situations are usually handled by issuing Severe Thunderstorm Warnings with the "Tornado Possible" tag since it is difficult to track these transient couplets. However, any longer-lived couplets that do manage to form can be handled with Tornado Warnings.