12/15-12/16 MV/GL snow event?

[Chicago WX]

Some of the higher totals I could find from MN, IA, and IL this morning.

0628 AM SNOW ANAMOSA 42.11N 91.28W

12/16/2010 M4.5 INCH JONES IA CO-OP OBSERVER

0610 AM SNOW NORTH MANKATO 44.18N 94.03W

12/16/2010 M5.0 INCH NICOLLET MN TRAINED SPOTTER

0610 AM SNOW LITCHFIELD 45.12N 94.53W

12/16/2010 M6.5 INCH MEEKER MN CO-OP OBSERVER

0610 AM SNOW RENVILLE 44.79N 95.21W

12/16/2010 M5.0 INCH RENVILLE MN TRAINED SPOTTER

0605 AM SNOW HAZLETON 42.62N 91.91W

12/16/2010 M4.7 INCH BUCHANAN IA CO-OP OBSERVER

0605 AM SNOW MOLINE QUAD-CITY AIRPOR 41.45N 90.50W

12/16/2010 M4.0 INCH ROCK ISLAND IL OFFICIAL NWS OBS

0603 AM SNOW 1 ESE MUSCATINE 41.41N 91.06W

12/16/2010 M4.5 INCH MUSCATINE IA TRAINED SPOTTER

0600 AM SNOW ALTONA 41.12N 90.16W

12/16/2010 M4.4 INCH KNOX IL CO-OP OBSERVER

0600 AM SNOW DAVENPORT MUNICIPAL AIR 41.62N 90.58W

12/16/2010 M5.2 INCH SCOTT IA OFFICIAL NWS OBS

0523 AM SNOW 2 N MUSCATINE 41.45N 91.07W

12/16/2010 M5.0 INCH MUSCATINE IA CO-OP OBSERVER

[KokomoWX]

Very nice.

Just went out and measured 2.5" here. Not bad, all things considered.

I was pleasantly surprised this morning. Somewhere near the two inch mark.

[Chicago WX]

I was pleasantly surprised this morning. Somewhere near the two inch mark.

Good to hear. I was pleasantly surprised here too.

[cyclone77]

Picked up 3 inches on the dot here. The flake size was very small the whole time, so this is a densely packed 3 inches. Shouldn't have to worry about settling issues with this stuff. Good to see the QC get a better hit finally.

[prinsburg_wx]

for my area MPX will come out fine with the WSW as getting some reports over 6" and close to 6" now at my location and still snowing moderately.

highest report so far

0658 AM SNOW MURDOCK 45.22N 95.39W

12/16/2010 M7.6 INCH SWIFT MN CO-OP OBSERVER

[buckeye]

finally snowing here in cmh. At least no virga....maybe we'll get an inch to freshen the snow pack

[OceanStWx]

Picked up 3 inches on the dot here. The flake size was very small the whole time, so this is a densely packed 3 inches. Shouldn't have to worry about settling issues with this stuff. Good to see the QC get a better hit finally.

I'll send that out as an LSR then. The more the better for making snowfall total maps.

[afterimage]

A very pleasant 2"+ this morning, end up around 3 total .....

[IWXwx]

I was pleasantly surprised this morning. Somewhere near the two inch mark.

Good to hear. I was pleasantly surprised here too.

Congrats on your snow guys. Talk about a sharp cutoff, I've received a big fat 0 so far.

[hoosierwx]

1/4" to 3/8" of ice here. Event was all freezing rain with no sleet with temps 25-27 throughout.

[PSUBlizzicane2007]

The metro here is a giant skating rink

[jhamps10]

precip here was all freezing rain, a real classic example of what even just .1-.15" of ice can do to the roads, they are a literal skating rink, in fact it's trash day for me and it hasn't came through yet (they normally come through at 4:45-5AM)

[Natester]

Just woke up. Got around 4 inches of snow from this. Still snowing lightly.

[Chicago WX]

Reports from the SW part of LOT's CWA.

0700 AM SNOW CHATSWORTH 40.75N 88.29W

12/16/2010 M3.0 INCH LIVINGSTON IL CO-OP OBSERVER

0700 AM SNOW STREATOR 41.13N 88.83W

12/16/2010 M4.0 INCH LA SALLE IL CO-OP OBSERVER

0730 AM SNOW PONTIAC 40.88N 88.64W

12/16/2010 M3.1 INCH LIVINGSTON IL TRAINED SPOTTER

[csnavywx]

It's been snowing for over 4 hours now and we have a whopping 0.7" so far. Flake size has been around salt size since it started. The heavier band to the southwest is trying to get here, but it's fighting the drier air. This clipper pales in comparison to the one a few weeks ago. I think we'll be doing good if we manage to squeeze 2 inches out of this thing.

Note to self, next time the NAM is unusually dry compared to the GFS within 24hrs, disregard the overly wet GFS.

That sucks. It's just now starting to snow here. We had snow down to about 1-2kft the entire time and some good radar returns and it never reached the ground. It's not like there was ever any good easterly flow in the boundary layer.. max 10-15 knots, but I guess that when combined with relatively weak upper lift, it was just good enough. Gonna file this one away for future reference.

This is a perfect example of what I was saying yesterday about the NAM scoring big occasionally up close, and it did this particular time. It wasn't perfect by a long shot, but it was certainly closer than a lot of the models. LOT got burned big time on that WWA from yesterday.

[Chicago WX]

This is a perfect example of what I was saying yesterday about the NAM scoring big occasionally up close, and it did this particular time. It wasn't perfect by a long shot, but it was certainly closer than a lot of the models. LOT got burned big time on that WWA from yesterday.

It's all kind of relative to location though. Of course I know in some places the NAM outperformed the GFS, etc...but not everywhere. KIND originally had a WWA for 2-3" here, and then dropped it (and accumulations down to an inch in the zone forecast and a 0.5" or less in the point and click) yesterday afternoon. I'm guessing they bought mostly into the NAM which basically dusted LAF, while the GFS/EC still had 1-2, up to 3". We have 2-3" across the county this morning, so it was NAM fail here (especially yesterday's 12z run). And the above is no knock on KIND, it certainly wasn't an easy forecast and they are a good office. Regardless, I think in situations like this, with sharp cutoffs, it may be better to use a blend of the stingy NAM and overzealous GFS. At least it would've worked pretty well for here with this event.

[Chicago WX]

I guess this may be OT, but it's related to this storm...but I'm continually amazed at the amount of crashes/slide offs that occur in events like this around here. I'm watching FOX 59 out of Indy and there are a bunch of accidents, etc this morning. Same reports from the local media here. Of course I'm probably giving too much credit to drivers in general, as a lot of them are just as horrible on dry roads. But geez, come on people...think about it, snow packed roads are slick.

[snowstormcanuck]

I guess this may be OT, but it's related to this storm...but I'm continually amazed at the amount of crashes/slide offs that occur in events like this around here. I'm watching FOX 59 out of Indy and there are a bunch of accidents, etc this morning. Same reports from the local media here. Of course I'm probably giving too much credit to drivers in general, as a lot of them are just as horrible on dry roads. But geez, come on people...think about it, snow packed roads are slick.

Snow tires prevalent down there? Or do people assume they won't need them?

[hawkeye_wx]

I picked up 3.6 inches. The liquid equivalent is 0.32". Three inches is where I start considering it a solid snow so I'm pretty satisfied. There was a sharp drop off just southwest of Cedar Rapids so I feel fortunate I ended up on the good side of the gradient. The only problem is I was sleeping during much of the storm. It seems like the best snow nearly always falls at night.

I'm not surprised the Quad Cities area is the winner. There was a good area of heavier snow bands congealing near the QC when I went to bed.

[mnchaser]

6.5 inches now, started snowing pretty good again this morning..Probably will end up with about 8 inches by the end of it,

[KokomoWX]

I guess this may be OT, but it's related to this storm...but I'm continually amazed at the amount of crashes/slide offs that occur in events like this around here. I'm watching FOX 59 out of Indy and there are a bunch of accidents, etc this morning. Same reports from the local media here. Of course I'm probably giving too much credit to drivers in general, as a lot of them are just as horrible on dry roads. But geez, come on people...think about it, snow packed roads are slick.

Yep, even my boss decided to kiss a mailbox the other day. Now he is buying a new mailbox and a new bumper. I think people are just over confident with 4 wheel drive, traction control, and SUVs.

Snow tires prevalent down there? Or do people assume they won't need them?

No, usually all season tires are common.

[mnchaser]

Snow tires prevalent down there? Or do people assume they won't need them?

Nobody even buys snow tires up here, they really aren't necessary. It's stupidity that causes these accidents.

[baroclinic_instability]

What an absolutely weird storm. We looked dead in the water. NWS drops winter storm warning and winter weather advisory overnight. End up picking up 3-4 inches and they put the winter weather advisory back up for my county.

[Tony]

What an absolutely weird storm. We looked dead in the water. NWS drops winter storm warning and winter weather advisory overnight. End up picking up 3-4 inches and they put the winter weather advisory back up for my county.

It might be one of those years where all the storms have a mind of their own. Modeling will be all over the place.....at least they have been so far.

[A-L-E-K]

Glad i chose not to follow this one.

[Hoosier]

It's all kind of relative to location though. Of course I know in some places the NAM outperformed the GFS, etc...but not everywhere. KIND originally had a WWA for 2-3" here, and then dropped it (and accumulations down to an inch in the zone forecast and a 0.5" or less in the point and click) yesterday afternoon. I'm guessing they bought mostly into the NAM which basically dusted LAF, while the GFS/EC still had 1-2, up to 3". We have 2-3" across the county this morning, so it was NAM fail here (especially yesterday's 12z run). And the above is no knock on KIND, it certainly wasn't an easy forecast and they are a good office. Regardless, I think in situations like this, with sharp cutoffs, it may be better to use a blend of the stingy NAM and overzealous GFS. At least it would've worked pretty well for here with this event.

The NAM caught onto a less liberal northern edge for sure, but it was a little too aggressive. Then it caught up on the last couple runs before the event started here.

[snowstormcanuck]

Nobody even buys snow tires up here, they really aren't necessary. It's stupidity that causes these accidents.

I put snow tires on my car for the first time this season and I definitely notice a difference over all seasons. When I was driving while the roads were snowcovered, I had one guys cut me off, and one pedestrian run across the street in front of me, both times requiring me to brake suddenly, and both times the tires stopped on a dime. With all seasons I would have required a longer stopping distance, otherwise I would have skidded.

I think the downside to snow tires is that some people think they make them invincible, like they have a licence to drive like a moron. And when that happens, you're probably more likely to get into a collision, snow tires notwithstanding.

[mnchaser]

Lots of snow out there..Pretty amazing. Definitely going to have to be worried about flooding this year. The Minnesota River was already quite high to start the winter...after having some the worst flooding in 15 years this fall.

[IWXwx]

I'm noticing some radar returns back across LOT and NW to the Iowa/Minnesota line. Are there any snow reports with this mid level wave or is it a virga fest?

[hawkeye_wx]

I'm noticing some radar returns back across LOT and NW to the Iowa/Minnesota line. Are there any snow reports with this mid level wave or is it a virga fest?

It has been snowing very lightly here all day even with nothing on radar. All the shoveled surfaces have another thick dusting on them. I may have to add another tenth of an inch to my total.