snowstormcanuck Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Toronto's position relative to the Appalachian Mountains certainly doesn't help. In many cases would have to literally ride the spine of the mountains for them to get a good hit. That's true, and that's one of the reasons we get so few bombs. Another reason is that storms tend to be attracted to the baroclinic zone created by the thermal contrast along the EC. But I doubt that explains why things have been so bad recently. Even in fat times, we never (or almost never) get Apps bombs. And frankly, Detroit also isn't the beneficiary of many large, wound up snowstorms heading towards Lk Erie, yet you've done well lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeye Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 you gotta admit, if someone showed you this 54hr nam depiction and said whose gonna get the congrats.... you'd have to be thinking Hoosier, Harry, even Alek. I'd be thinking windy rain was coming my way. incredible that ends up skirting off the NC/VA coast with a positive NAO to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerball Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 That's true, and that's one of the reasons we get so few bombs. Another reason is that storms tend to be attracted to the baroclinic zone created by the thermal contrast along the EC. But I doubt that explains why things have been so bad recently. Even in fat times, we never (or almost never) get Apps bombs. And frankly, Detroit also isn't the beneficiary of many large, wound up snowstorms heading towards Lk Erie, yet you've done well lately. Although many won't admit it, many of our storms since 2008-2009 have pretty much delivered (and I use that term loosely, because we've only had two 10" storms since 2008-2009 and we still haven't recorded a 12"+ storm) in the strangest ways possible. I would have never expected the December 12, 2010 storm to play out the way it did. Likewise, the President's Day storm was the first CAD storm I've seen here in a long time (they're not common around here). The systems in 2009-2010 were mostly clippers, with one or two exceptions in February. We were pretty much in the same boat as you guys until FEbruary of 2010 and 2011, toss those out and we were no better or worse than you guys were in Toronto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowstormcanuck Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 you gotta admit, if someone showed you this 54hr nam depiction and said whose gonna get the congrats.... you'd have to be thinking Hoosier, Harry, even Alek. I'd be thinking windy rain was coming my way. incredible that ends up skirting off the NC/VA coast with a positive NAO to boot. Way too much confluence over the eastern lakes for that thing to come north. It looks like congrats MA to me. The +NAO thing is real bad luck. The progression of the storm coincides with a transient 50/50 low that just happens to be in the right place at the right time. I think if you slowed the southern stream s/w down by 12-18 hours this whole setup would be completely different (and probably better). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I have seen tons of March powder snowfalls/snowstorms. Yes they melt faster than in Jan, but still, anyone in this region is flatout lying if they say they havet seen powder snow in March. The March 21/22, 2008 snowstorm was my favorite spring powder....but the latest Ive ever seen was April 7, 2003, 5 inches of powder! Same here. Powdery March storms are common this far north. I've seen better than 1/2 of the days in March with 1"+ snow on the ground before. 2008 was definitely one of those March's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottawa Blizzard Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Have you verified Burlington and Boston have been getting snowier? I've been meaning to check that out but haven't yet. And yes, the real bad winters have been very recent. 2011-12 (I think it's safe to start drawing some conclusions about this winter) + 2009-10. But even 2005-06, 2006-07 were partial disasters, featuring historic or near historic record lows in snowfall for at least 1-2 months in the cold weather season. If we were to get three winters in a row like this then, and only then, can we say that there has been a definitive shift in our climate. 2005-2006 wasa partial disaster, but what makes it not stand out in my memory is that I moved to Ottawa at the start of January 2006, and thus missed the snow-free January in Toronto - Ottawa saw over 60cm that month. I think the reason this winter is really sticking out for me is that not only is Toronto experiencing perhaps its most snow-free winter in over a century, it's happening my first winter back from Ottawa. Toronto is normally much less snowy and mich warmer than Ottawa, but the fact it's been so abnormally warm is really making it hit home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowstorms Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 If we were to get three winters in a row like this then, and only then, can we say that there has been a definitive shift in our climate. 2005-2006 wasa partial disaster, but what makes it not stand out in my memory is that I moved to Ottawa at the start of January 2006, and thus missed the snow-free January in Toronto - Ottawa saw over 60cm that month. I think the reason this winter is really sticking out for me is that not only is Toronto experiencing perhaps its most snow-free winter in over a century, it's happening my first winter back from Ottawa. Toronto is normally much less snowy and mich warmer than Ottawa, but the fact it's been so abnormally warm is really making it hit home. We had horrible winters between 1945-1977, during the last cold PDO but we had much more worse Winters before the 40's and much of the 30's were a disaster for snowfall and temps. Nov and Dec 05 were pretty sick months. I remember one storm in early December dumping a good 6-7". The thing different about this Winter between other winters, is that its widespread. Virtually all of Canada and USA are Winter free and have been since December which is not normal. The back-back La Nina's destroyed the STJ thus the chances of any huge storms are limited to less than 10%. Climatology shows that Strong Nino's and Nina's often occur every 5-10 years so it would be pretty impossible to get a Strong Nino next year since the last one was 09-10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Made it to 46 here today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyclone77 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Just checked my records from last season. From this point forward last season we only received another 2.9" of snow. All of that was in the last two weeks of Feb. March and April only gave us a trace each. If that were to happen again this season it would be truly remarkable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geos Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Just checked my records from last season. From this point forward last season we only received another 2.9" of snow. All of that was in the last two weeks of Feb. March and April only gave us a trace each. If that were to happen again this season it would be truly remarkable. I received 8.6" between February 16th-April 18th. Most of that was in February. I had more snow in April then March! 1.9" vs. 3.0". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 March 23, 2011 was pure powder here. Twas late March too. Late March '02 was another powdery event. But these are probably exceptions to the rule around these latitudes especially if we are talking late March events and beyond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicago Storm Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Thursday, February 16th: Hi: 46F Lo: 33F Overall Sky Conditions: Partly Cloudy Max Wind Gust: 24MPH Rainfall: 0.00" Snowfall: 0.0" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TugHillMatt Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 That is a good point, whether its a good winter ("its been great, but im snowed out, bring on spring") or a bad winter ("i cant stand it, just bring on spring and end this misery")....people just seem to think March 1st signals instant spring. Outside of 2008, Marches have been fairly boring lately...people forget what March can really bring, especially north of I-80. And no, I dont mean a wet snow that melts in 1 day or "better hope the snow falls at night for it to stick"..those are things we should start to say April 1st, not March 1st. We need a big, widespread, cold, powdery March snowstorm around here to fix some of these thoughts! I've been hoping for those types of storms all winter...I don't know if I can take another month and a half of disappointments! "Bring on spring" just makes it easier to not "hope" in this winter anymore and then it can be actually be joyful if SOMETHING is somehow produced in this awful winter we've had... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoosier Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 New thread http://www.americanwx.com/bb/index.php/topic/32737-february-general-discussion-part-2/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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