Snowpack vs Torch

[Isotherm]

The following pix are courtesy of a poster on NYC metro wx board, who lives in my town (Colts Neck). Quite remarkable there's still snow on the ground locally on his street, and several inches of it in the backyard. Probably the only spot in the county with this much snow left. Most snowpack around here melted off by Feb 18th (day 54-55), about a week ago.

[LHSnow]

The sun is hitting the snow pack hard today - I think we will be down to piles after tomorrow.

[A-L-E-X]

The sun is hitting the snow pack hard today - I think we will be down to piles after tomorrow.

How come it didnt hit them hard when we were in the 60s a couple of weeks ago? I've always wondered why snow sometimes melts much faster than other times, even at the same temp? Could it be humidity or water content at play here? You seem to have some woodsy areas around you, perhaps they'll hold onto snow well into March.

[LHSnow]

Here is a picture at midday. We are down to probably 60 percent. but in area that has a little bit of shade at midday, it is still close to 6 inches and I went into the adjoining woods and it is still easily 9 or 10 inches. I think the quicker melting is based on the higher angle is higher than it was two weeks ago and I also think that the snow pack is shrinking.

[LHSnow]

Here is a sunset picture. The longevity of the snow pack has happened because of nights like tonight. Ground temps are already at the freezing mark and air temp is 35 and temps in Syosset which very close are still in the low 40s.

[jm1220]

Here is a sunset picture. The longevity of the snow pack has happened because of nights like tonight. Ground temps are already at the freezing mark and air temp is 35 and temps in Syosset which very close are still in the low 40s.

Wow. There's absolutely nothing left here on the South Shore except tall piles in shopping malls/parking lots/streetcorners. Even the glacier in my backyard has finally given in.

[A-L-E-X]

Wow. There's absolutely nothing left here on the South Shore except tall piles in shopping malls/parking lots/streetcorners. Even the glacier in my backyard has finally given in.

JM going by the 50% of 1 inch snowcover rule, how many consecutive days of snowcover did you have? I counted 52 days here, from Dec 26, 2010 to Feb 15, 2010. BTW you need to update your sig for the latest snowstorm we had lol.

[LHSnow]

I have lived on Long Island my whole life (40 years - 28 of them on the South Shore) and I never remember snow cover like this before. We still had a little bit of snow on Christmas Day from the December 13th storm. Although there was only patchy coverage, there has been some snow on the lawn for 76 days straight now.

[RU848789]

Well, to quote Barry Manilow, looks like we made it, as today is day 57 and with snow on the way, day 58 and at least 59 seem to be a foregone conclusion. I know this isn't Central Park, but it's a decent comparator for us, as we're about 28 miles SW of CPK. As of now, we still have about 1-3" on about 75% of our property, an inch or less on about 10% of our property and bare ground making up the last 15%; this is in both the front and back yards (the side yards are very small and not worth mentioning (although they're mostly snow covered, too). Some here and elsewhere have been curious why we have so much and it's kind of interesting (at least to me, lol). If you really want the gory details, there are several reasons why we still have snow, as do a few of our neighbors on our side of the street. First, and foremost, our property is relatively shady, with many large trees, particularly on our neighbor's yard to our south, shielding the worst of the sun - and the energy of the sun is, by far, the biggest variable in melting snow, assuming all other local conditions that can affect snow melting (and sublimation) are identical, such as temperature, humidity and wind.

Another key variable, related to the amount of sun one gets, is orientation. Our front yard faces east and our back yard faces west, while the small south portion of our yard (on side of our house), is about 4-5 feet below the level of our neighbor's yard, via railroad ties, so the southern portion of our yard gets little direct sunlight. In addition, two other borders of our front yard (the front and the side next to our driveway) were covered in feet of snow from shoveling the many storms we've had - as a result, these two areas, which are sunnier than the rest of the yard, had so much snow on them that melting wasn't really an issue. Lastly, directly next to our house, on the fourth side, shade was abundant. This meant that on all 4 sides of our front yard, there was very little melting going on, such that no bare spots developed, which are usually the key to getting the whole yard to melt: quite often an area next to some asphalt melts first and then once bare asphalt or grass is exposed, it's far easier for a melting "front" to move across a yard, since heat transfer rates from warm, bare ground to the snow is far greater than heat transfer rates from warm air to the surface of the snow.

Our back yard gets even more shade, especially on the south side, so melting was similarly slow. I drove around Metuchen today and it's quite possible we have the most snow of any yard in the entire borough. Amazing really. Most yards are mostly bare and some are completely bare - I'd say less than 10% of yards are more than half covered by snow. I guess we're just lucky, lol.

Does anyone know how far Central Park made it? The last I recall seeing was 2" several days ago and with the warmth of the end of the week, presumably they didn't make past the weekend.

Made it through Friday, reaching 62 consecutive days of >50% snowcover of 1" or more. The 1.5" of snow Monday morning and the cold temps through Wednesday helped, obviously. Snow then melted pretty quickly on Thursday and especially Friday in the rain, with our front yard going below 50% cover by Friday night and our back yard going below 50% snowcover by Saturday morning. As of Sunday night, we're down to about 10% snowcover in the front yard and 30% snowcover in the back yard. Pretty sure it'll all be gone but the piles in a couple of days. Was a helluva run.

[rygar]

Yeah, several inches still here too (4 or 5 about?) I mean, i love the snow, but now that it going to disappear lets get the darn warmth in for good.

[NorthShoreWx]

I've been away for a few days and just got back last night. Snowpack has definitely withered away. These photos are from this morning in the rain...I'd say we are still 50%+ right around here...but not regionally in general. Saying how much (i.e., an average) is total guesswork. There was 4-5" in the covered parts of the front lawn (less toward the edges, obviously). I may just go with 1" until its a trace (which could happen with the torch/heavy rain later today).

[uofmiami]

Here are a couple of crappy nighttime pics of the snowpack left in Muttontown I took from patio on my BB Torch. Backyard in the South of house has snowcover left, 1-2", which is surprising. Guess the trees along property line are shading yard, it's the only explanation I have. Front yard is bare except where plowed snow was piled up.

[Alpha5]

My street is one of the few left with snowcover...most lawns have been bare for a while now. But on the north facing side of my property, there is still 9" left....

incredible

[jconsor]

Official NWS guidelines are that if there is less than 50% cover of snow, you put down a trace.

I've been away for a few days and just got back last night. Snowpack has definitely withered away. These photos are from this morning in the rain...I'd say we are still 50%+ right around here...but not regionally in general. Saying how much (i.e., an average) is total guesswork. There was 4-5" in the covered parts of the front lawn (less toward the edges, obviously). I may just go with 1" until its a trace (which could happen with the torch/heavy rain later today).

[Guest Pamela]

Official NWS guidelines are that if there is less than 50% cover of snow, you put down a trace.

Feb 28 final day measurable snow on ground here...65 day streak....longest that I can remember around here.

[Guest Pamela]

Feb 28 final day measurable snow on ground here...65 day streak....longest that I can remember around here.

Still cannot rank this winter much more than a draw with '03, a fraction ahead of '04, and a fraction behind '05. Bear in mind all three of those winters cracked 60" of snow at nearby Upton out here / '05 just a hair short of 80". Ranks ahead of '10 as much colder. Ranks behind '96 because there is still roughly 2 1/2 feet of snow to make up. A good March / early April can potentially shake up the rankings. Note this subjective evaluation is for my location, not the entire CWA of Upton.

[A-L-E-X]

Still cannot rank this winter much more than a draw with '03, a fraction ahead of '04, and a fraction behind '05. Bear in mind all three of those winters cracked 60" of snow at nearby Upton out here / '05 just a hair short of 80". Ranks ahead of '10 as much colder. Ranks behind '96 because there is still roughly 2 1/2 feet of snow to make up. A good March / early April can potentially shake up the rankings. Note this subjective evaluation is for my location, not the entire CWA of Upton.

William, that is a very fair assessment for your area. As far as winters I've witnessed, pending the outcome of the next few weeks, I'm ranking it third, with 95-96 (1) and 02-03 (2) I have 09-10 ranked (4) and 93-94 ranked (5).

[NorthShoreWx]

Official NWS guidelines are that if there is less than 50% cover of snow, you put down a trace.

Yup. That would be today. We made it to 2/28, but only a trace to begin March. There is still plenty around, but less than 50% coverage after yesterday.

[A-L-E-X]

Yup. That would be today. We made it to 2/28, but only a trace to begin March. There is still plenty around, but less than 50% coverage after yesterday.

Wow, you guys live in a different climate zone lol. BTW Ed, are you coming to the conference? Would love to see Long Island represented well

BTW as an aside, I think I underestimated my average snowfall. JFK averages 22.9 and Ave V Brooklyn averages around 24.5 With JFK's measuring issues and Brooklyn being in an urban area with similar conditions to here, I probably fall in that 24 inch zone. I've been keeping my own snowfall stats but the last decade or so clearly isnt representative.

[gravitylover]

Backyard at 98%, minimum 4". Front is torched because I had to dig a path to the oil fill and once that got hit by the sun it expanded quickly.

[dbc]

William, that is a very fair assessment for your area. As far as winters I've witnessed, pending the outcome of the next few weeks, I'm ranking it third, with 95-96 (1) and 02-03 (2) I have 09-10 ranked (4) and 93-94 ranked (5).

For me, personally, based on the various places in NJ I have lived and from what I can remember (probably from about 1986-87 on) I rank them like this:

1)95-96 (Howell, NJ)

2)2002-03 (Jersey City, NJ)

3)2010-11 (Cliffside Park, NJ)

4)2000-01 (mainly Madison, NJ but spent most of the Millenium Storm in Howell, NJ)

5)tie 2009-10 (Cliffside Park, NJ) and 2003-04 (Jersey City, NJ)

6)93-94 (Howell, NJ)

[psv88]

I cannot believe that there are some yards in my neighborhood that are still at least 60% snowcovered. Those in the right spots, shaded, etc...its insanity after how warm it has been! Some of the taller snowpiles are starting to look more pathetic and i think will be gone in a week.

[Analog96]

For me, personally, based on the various places in NJ I have lived and from what I can remember (probably from about 1986-87 on) I rank them like this:

1)95-96 (Howell, NJ)

2)2002-03 (Jersey City, NJ)

3)2010-11 (Cliffside Park, NJ)

4)2000-01 (mainly Madison, NJ but spent most of the Millenium Storm in Howell, NJ)

5)tie 2009-10 (Cliffside Park, NJ) and 2003-04 (Jersey City, NJ)

6)93-94 (Howell, NJ)

My rankings:

1) 95-96

2) TIE 93-94 and 10-11

3) 2002-03

4) 2004-05

5) TIE 2009-10 and 2003-04

DISTANT 6) 2005-06

Then I guess the other ones would be 1992-93

and 2008-09.

[NorthShoreWx]

I cannot believe that there are some yards in my neighborhood that are still at least 60% snowcovered. Those in the right spots, shaded, etc...its insanity after how warm it has been! Some of the taller snowpiles are starting to look more pathetic and i think will be gone in a week.

Some yards here are still mostly snowcovered and others have none. By my interpretation of NWS standards, snow cover here is a trace. Here is the view out the front towards my neighbor's glacier and another neighbors pool deck which still has at least a foot of snow on it. Both photos taken this afternoon (2:30ish)

[rgwp96]

Some yards here are still mostly snowcovered and others have none.  By my interpretation of NWS standards, snow cover here is a trace.  Here is the view out the front towards my neighbor's glacier and another neighbors pool deck which still has at least a foot of snow on it.  Both photos taken this afternoon (2:30ish)

your neighbor put a liner on top of a liner?interesting, no wonder it ripped liked that

[NorthShoreWx]

your neighbor put a liner on top of a liner?interesting, no wonder it ripped liked that

I think that blue is the back of the above ground pool wall, rather than a second liner. The pool has been essentially abandoned for the past 3 or 4 years. It's a nice deck around it though

Because it's built into the hillside, it looks like an in ground pool from the deck, but it is above ground. Here is a wider view:

[bluewave]

These big piles dumped down near the boardwalk are all that's left of the snow in Long Beach.

[NorthShoreWx]

These big piles dumped down near the boardwalk are all that's left of the snow in Long Beach.

I've just lost my appetite for snow. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.

[gravitylover]

All sun exposed areas are just about burned off now but shaded or N/NW/NE aspects are still fully covered. My backyard is still at 95% with a minimum of 3" and max of about 7" with an almost due east aspect. Snowbanks melting off along the driveway leave a fresh, clean layer of ice every morning

[Alpha5]

I still have 8" in the shaded parts of my lawn

About 30% is now bare....