CarlislePaWx

Down to +9.7 for current and low temp for today (so far). Had 0.4" of snow yesterday which melted down to 0.02".

Here in Carlisle, just before 7:30pm...it continues to snow lightly with mostly fine flakes mixed with some larger ones as well. It's been snowing steadily for the past 4 hours or so. Everything is coated in white...including my main street (which is a cul-de-sac). I just took a measurement from my board, and I'm just about up to 0.4". It even continues to snow when the radar has no echoes directly overhead. So, it's better than it seems. Oh, I almost forgot...the temperature is currently 25.3 degrees F with a dew point of 22. I had pretty much given up on today when I got up this morning. So, it's been a bit of a nice surprise to have the flakes falling again.

You might want to change your mind about seeing snow. Steady light snow began here around 20 minutes ago. Nothing of consequence has accumulated despite the totally frozen ground. Just before 3:00pm my temperature is 28.4 degrees. We'll see what this next hour brings.

Here in Carlisle...near perfect radiational cooling conditions existed here from sunset through sunrise this morning. That allowed the temperature to go from a high of 33.1 degrees yesterday afternoon all the way down to zero this morning. It seems a little weird thinking about rain being possible next week since the persistent cold and snow cover now for 11 days will continue for at least another 4 days.

@canderson check this out... https://www.homedepot.com/p/Anvil-28-in-D-Grip-Short-Wood-Handle-Garden-Spade-77424-948/314833739

@canderson Did a quick search and it looks almost certain that Home Depot would have it. I think you are referring specifically to a garden spade, which is metal and is shaped like a rectangle at the base. $20 - $50.

Well, now you know what weather conditions will have to be like to get to that level of cold. Realistically, the ambient temp is going to have to be at +5 with winds of 35mph to get there. Also, if that level of windchill is forecast, then we go beyond a cold weather advisory into a windchill warning. I really don't want either of those.

For the following I'm assuming -25 F (not C)... To achieve this windchill reading you would need an ambient temperature of +3 F combined with a sustained wind of 41 mph. Increasing windspeeds above 40mph lead to negligible additional chill. For example, a 45mph wind at the same +3 F produces a windchill of -25 F (no change) while a 50mph wind drops the windchill by just one degree F to -26 degrees F. So basically, after 41 mph a nearly 10mph increase in windspeed results in virtually no additional chill. With an ambient temperature of +10 degrees you can't drop to -25F even with a 60mph wind. At that speed the windchill only drops to -18 F ! At an ambient of +15 F the max drop (at 60mph) results in a windchill of -11 F. At 40mph the chill is -8 F. These examples seem to indicate that you must drop to below zero to reach -25 more quickly with a wind of only 30mph. At -5 F ambient you only need a wind speed of 15mph to hit -25 F. At -10 F you only need a wisp of a breeze of 7 mph.

At 11:00 here in Carlisle, the temperature is 31.5 degrees after briefly touching 32.0 10 minutes ago. My low temp occurred at midnight at 19.9 degrees and remained above 20 all night. We all had busted lows overnight that occurred early. My forecast low was 13 degrees after having been set at 10 degrees in the morning forecast. That's a departure of +7 degrees. The high temp here yesterday peaked at 33.3 degrees and broke the string of sub freezing days (just barely). The forecast high for today is 33. I think I will exceed that by several degrees. So, just 2 days above freezing before dropping below again and remaining below for another week straight.

Forgot to chime in earlier today with my low temp. Finally hit and broke below zero degrees with a reading of -0.6 degrees from my primary station and a low of -1.1 degrees from my Tempest, which is roughly 15 feet away and a bit more exposed. Either way both those readings round to -1 officially. I'm staring out my back window and thinking wow, this snowpack has actually lasted one full week! lol Yesterday morning I dropped to +0.6 degrees, so officially +1 degree F. If it wasn't for the 1.13" of liquid that fell last Sunday, I would be ending this month with only 0.60". Instead I'm ending with 1.73" which is still well below normal and unfortunately continues the drought. Finally, looking like my high for today is going to be 20.8 degrees. Should be interesting to see how low we can go early this evening under the clear skies before clouds come in and ruin it. Finally, I can't believe that there is only 1 day this week forecast to break 32 and that is Tuesday with a high of 33. If that happens, the remainder of the week will stay below freezing. Furthermore, another big arctic blast appears to be on the horizon for next Saturday with a forecast high of just 20.

My wife grew up in Slippery Rock and graduated from HS there back in 1978. Also, my sister-in-law moved from Mt. Lebanon to Grove City last year. I'll have to ask my brother-in-law if he had a thermometer put up yet out back. He lives on a nearly totally level and almost treeless property of 1.5 acres. He got over 12" last Sunday. I have another sister-in-law (both of my wife's older sisters) who currently lives in Dayton, OH. They also reported over 12" of snow last Sunday. I was jipped!

@canderson, if you have a few moments tomorrow or early next week, could you take a few pix of the river and post them here? Right now with each passing day there must be less and less flowing water near the surface. I'll be there next Tuesday afternoon on N Front, and I could also take a few as well. Thanks!

Here in Carlisle, earlier this morning I dropped to a low of 7.0 degrees. This is the second consecutive night that NWS temps have been noticeably off. Yesterday morning the forecast low was for +2 degrees, and I only dropped to 8.8 degrees, creating a departure of 6.8 degrees. This morning the forecast was also for +2 degrees, creating a departure of 5.0 degrees. I think there had to be a level of wind during most of the night that put the kabosh on radiational cooling. Tonight they have forecast a low of +3 degrees with winds becoming calm much earlier in the night. So, perhaps tonight will be the night? We'll see...

Hey... I just sent you a DM. Check it out.

I am good friends with Dave Robinson, the NJ State Climatologist. He, along with several other state climatologists reached a consensus on the measuring protocol about 20 years ago. Together, the protocol was adopted by the NWS and should be the protocol used for all NWS-related measurements for snow/sleet. The correct answer to how frequently to clear the snow board is every 6 hours. Anything more often than that, as you can see, will inflate the total progressively higher as you continue to clear the board more frequently. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone taking hourly readings followed by clearing the board. (I'm not picking on you. It's just that I am certain I know how to do the snowboard measurement since I've been doing it that way (to the best of my ability) ever since.) There are additional steps that are to be taken when there is the introduction of sleet.