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Central PA Start of February


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I went all-out nerd today walking to and from campus by using my infrared thermometer to get the temperature of the sidewalks and snowpack. Even though there is already a glaze of ice on tree limbs and benches, the temp of the surface has been hovering between 32.5 and 34.5. The air temperature is still a little below 30. I wonder that when the cooler air comes in later this evening as advertised by the NAM will be enough to cool the surface below 32 and we get real icing issues.

For those worried about temperatures rising, they were supposed to. We have a very slight south wind advecting relatively warmer air at the surface. This is expected to shift by this evening to more of a NEerly wind, and temperatures will drop due to our high pressure. How much they drop will of course remains to be seen, and a few degrees will make all the difference...

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I went all-out nerd today walking to and from campus by using my infrared thermometer to get the temperature of the sidewalks and snowpack. Even though there is already a glaze of ice on tree limbs and benches, the temp of the surface has been hovering between 32.5 and 34.5. The air temperature is still a little below 30. I wonder that when the cooler air comes in later this evening as advertised by the NAM will be enough to cool the surface below 32 and we get real icing issues.

For those worried about temperatures rising, they were supposed to. We have a very slight south wind advecting relatively warmer air at the surface. This is expected to shift by this evening to more of a NEerly wind, and temperatures will drop due to our high pressure. How much they drop will of course remains to be seen, and a few degrees will make all the difference...

lol.....if anyone I know mentions there was a guy measuring the sidewalk temp I will know who it was.

Also, noticed the Euro is colder tonight, more of the precip now falls below freezing.

Yucko.

Edit: Penn Staters and others, observe the hilarity that is the Penn State Facebook page during a winter event when there was no delay: http://www.facebook.com/pennstate

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Veering winds after sunset to the nne should cool things back down, even here. I would expect to be around 30 at midnight, near 32 by 10pm

Up to 41 at my house :sun:

Tony or anybody

Could you explain why the wind is going 2 different directions?

" From NWS"

WINDS...EAST TO NORTHEAST 5 TO 10 MPH IN THE VALLEYS...AND

SOUTHEAST 10 TO 20 MPH ON THE RIDGES. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE

WEST ACROSS THE LAUREL HIGHLANDS AND CENTRAL MOUNTAIN`S IN THE

WAKE OF A COLD FRONT WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...AND INCREASE TO 15 TO

20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE LATER WEDNESDAY.

Currently 28 degrees and feels like 23.2

Thanks

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Tony or anybody

Could you explain why the wind is going 2 different directions?

" From NWS"

WINDS...EAST TO NORTHEAST 5 TO 10 MPH IN THE VALLEYS...AND

SOUTHEAST 10 TO 20 MPH ON THE RIDGES. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE

WEST ACROSS THE LAUREL HIGHLANDS AND CENTRAL MOUNTAIN`S IN THE

WAKE OF A COLD FRONT WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...AND INCREASE TO 15 TO

20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE LATER WEDNESDAY.

Currently 28 degrees and feels like 23.2

Thanks

The llvl ageostrophic winds will be ne later tonight, but just above the surface will be ese, so the mtns will see ese winds while the valleys will stay ene. And of course the winds back around to the west tomorrow behind the cold front.

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lol.....if anyone I know mentions there was a guy measuring the sidewalk temp I will know who it was.

Also, noticed the Euro is colder tonight, more of the precip now falls below freezing.

Yucko.

Edit: Penn Staters and others, observe the hilarity that is the Penn State Facebook page during a winter event when there was no delay: http://www.facebook.com/pennstate

And what was even better was that there was at least a couple branch campuses that were closed. I know i got a text on my phone saying Altoona campus was. I was pretty surprised everyone closed today around here, I figured schools would either delay or give it a go and get out early if things moved back in early.. considering that the break in the action was advertised.

I've been saying the last several days that the axis of the first wave was going to dictate the boundary and help determine whether we're mainly frozen or we have a freezing rain extravaganza. Since the axis went into northern PA in southern NY and we dealt with mixing problems from the getgo, I have to give up on my thinking that sleet wins the day for the central counties (UNV and surrounding region) and go with the latter. There probably will still be some though, as the column cools a bit when the second wave gets here.. but overall, tonights gonna suck.

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thats a nice looking storm.

too bad were not in the snow bullseye.

Nice image. Got that classic major mid latitude look to it,

So driving around doing some chores, downtown Palmyra is marginal with a 31-32F readings...once out of the city and cutting up to the elementary school by 934 the temp dropped to 29-30F and now back in the Chicken Coop its a startling 29F. Heat wave. sun.gif

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General question related to the snow/ice maps above: would it make sense for NWS to drop the WSW for the southern tier counties and replace it with an Ice Storm Warning or Freezing Rain Advisory since they're expecting Zero snow at this point? Or do they simply keep the WSW in place for the sake of consistency and not to confuse the public?

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From Horst

Temperatures this evening will be in the upper 20s, so a coating of ice will develop on all untreated surfaces overnight. The tricky part of the forecast is finessing the air temperature at the surface late tonight into Wednesday morning. Locations south/east of I-95 will be rising into the 40s by early Wednesday while locations in central PA, north of the I-81/I-78 line, will likely remain below freezing for the duration of the steady rain (through late morning Wednesday). That puts Lancaster in the transition zone between the all-rain locations (east of I-95) and the all-ice territory (north of I-81/I-78). Places that see all ice could receive a crippling 3/8" to 5/8" of ice, while areas nearer downtown Philly see only a light coating of ice followed by plain rain. Most of Lancaster county should see an extended period of ice late tonight, although areas south/east of Lancaster city may rise to freezing or just above by morning. Places that nose above freezing by daybreak will likely receive 1/4" or less of ice, whereas locations that remain below freezing into mid-morning Wednesday (most likely north/west of Lancaster city) may see 1/4"+ of ice. Obviously a couple degrees can make a huge difference in what happens at your location, so keep an eye on your thermometer. Dry air wrapping into the storm will cut-off the steady precip before midday Wednesday, and a developing west wind should briefly lift temperatures above freezing for a time Wednesday midday and afternoon. However, Arctic air diving in Wednesday evening will result in a quick refreeze soon after sunset and lows will dip into the upper teens by dawn Thursday.

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Ice Storm Warning just issued by Mt.Holly for NW suburbs of Philadelphia.

...ICE STORM TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY FOR NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY ANDA LARGE PORTION OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA WEST AND NORTH OFPHILADELPHIA....

LOW PRESSURE IN THE OHIO VALLEY THROUGH TONIGHT WILL REFORM INTHE WATERS EAST OF NEW JERSEY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...THEN QUICKLYDEPART FOR THE MARITIMES WEDNESDAY EVENING.

NJZ009-010-012-015-PAZ060-067>069-020400-/O.CAN.KPHI.WS.W.0005.000000T0000Z-110202T2100Z//O.NEW.KPHI.IS.W.0001.110201T1949Z-110202T2100Z/

HUNTERDON-SOMERSET-MIDDLESEX-MERCER-BERKS-CHESTER-MONTGOMERY-BUCKS

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...FLEMINGTON...SOMERVILLE...NEW BRUNSWICK...TRENTON...READING...WEST CHESTER...NORRISTOWN...DOYLESTOWN

249 PM EST TUE FEB 1 2011

...ICE STORM WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST WEDNESDAY...

...THIS REPLACES WINTER STORM WARNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED AN ICESTORM WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST WEDNESDAY. THEWINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

* AREAS AFFECTED: WEST CENTRAL NEW JERSEY AND MUCH OF SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA JUST TO THE WEST AND NORTH OF PHILADELPHIA.

* PRECIPITATION TYPES: FREEZING RAIN.

* ACCUMULATIONS: GLAZE ACCUMULATIONS OF FOUR TO SEVEN TENTHS OF AN INCH ARE EXPECTED OVER MOST OF THIS AREA BY 10 AM WEDNESDAY. ALREADY AT 2 PM... THERE HAS BEEN A REPORT OF ONE TENTH INCH OF GLAZE FROM THIS MORNINGS FREEZING RAIN AND DRIZZLE.

* TIMING: SPOTTY FREEZING DRIZZLE WILL BECOME A STEADY FREEZING RAIN LATE THIS EVENING AND THEN OCCASIONALLY HEAVY FREEZING RAIN BETWEEN 3 AM AND 9AM WEDNESDAY BEFORE IT ENDS AS DRIZZLE DURING MIDDAY WEDNESDAY. THERE IS A CHANCE THAT THE FREEZING RAIN WILL BRIEFLY MIX WITH SLEET FOR A TIME OVERNIGHT.

* IMPACTS: TRAVEL WILL BECOME TREACHEROUS LATER TONIGHT THROUGH MID MORNING WEDNESDAY ON ALL UNTREATED SURFACES. POWER OUTAGES ARE EXPECTED FROM BREAKING TREE LIMBS AND WIRES WEDNESDAY MORNING. IF GLAZE WERE TO EXCEED THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH...THIS WOULD RAISE THE POTENTIAL FOR DESTRUCTIVE WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES. THE WEDNESDAY COMMUTE WILL BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...AN ICE STORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS AREEXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF ICE ACCUMULATIONSWILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. TRAVEL IS STRONGLYDISCOURAGED. COMMERCE WILL LIKELY BE SEVERELY IMPACTED. IF YOUMUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOURVEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. ICE ACCUMULATIONS AND WINDS WILLLIKELY LEAD TO SNAPPED POWER LINES AND FALLING TREE BRANCHES THATADD TO THE DANGER.

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