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January 17th-18th Winter Storm Discussion


BullCityWx

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Biggest issues with this winter storm will be heavy snow accumulations on trees & power-lines. Roads should stay wet & slushy. Early thoughts 2" in metro Charlotte.

I'm going to be honest with you.  Tweets and statements like this are not entirely accurate.  Roads may be mostly wet and slushy....................but let 2-3 inch per hour rates come down and there will be traffic problems.  For his area, this should be AFTER rush.  For my area, not so much.  During the heavy snow, roads easily become treacherous.  Kind of misleading IMO.  Someone getting his twitter feed could be out on the roads thinking no problems tomorrow night and then bam.......find themselves in a ditch or the back of another car with heavy snow falling all around.

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I respectfully disagree.  The bulk of the precip occurs during the transition time.  Yes, the snow window is 5pm to 10pm, but with possible thundersnow and very intense upward vertical velocities ( > 24 umb/s), I expect snowfall rates to be 2-3" per hour.  Subtract the first hour for melting and making slush, and then the rest of the time, 7-10pm for snow.  That gives us an easy 6".  This is a very dynamic system!  Surface temps will be offset by the heavy snowfall rates, and "warm ground" will be quickly overtaken as well. 

 

This system is being underrated, yet all the maps I've seen suggest a really powerhouse storm.  Do not underestimate the power of the ULL, mid-lapse rates, and snowfall rates!

 

Very strongly agree. Two things are at play here the main one being temps right now. Many I've told at the office have given me a blank stare and said,"but it's not cold enough". The other is no media has jumped on board really...which they seem to be doing now. Folks in WNC especially around I-40 should be preparing for this one. 

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For those looking for 4km NAM graphics. Here is my page. I am still tweaking things so a few parameters arent plotting. But here it is:

 

http://raleighwx.americanwx.com/models/NAM4km.html

Hr 33 on the reflectivity  :lmao:

Can you say megaband???

 

Also looks like 850's crash hard by hr 30-31 even in CLT with that band right over head. Looks pretty good to me.

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Very strongly agree. Two things are at play here the main one being temps right now. Many I've told at the office have given me a blank stare and said,"but it's not cold enough". The other is no media has jumped on board really...which they seem to be doing now. Folks in WNC especially around I-40 should be preparing for this one. 

 

I agree with your "agree" - if the rates the NAM is spitting out verify, there is no question (or there shouldn't be) as to whether or not this storm becomes problematic on top of just tree limbs. 

 

The underlined part is baffling to me.  I will give credit to Fox Carolina here locally as being the first to step out on that limb a couple of days ago.  But I get the same responses you have been receiving.

 

I still think the brunt will occur from the NC/SC line north and west.  And it won't just be heavy limbs and bushes that will have snow cover when all is said and done.  The 00Z will cement my inclinations for areas south of NC (SC related), but as of right now there will be rain - lots of it, possibly becoming slushy as a change over happens with brief but heavy rates.

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I'll tell you what I would LOVE to see if anybody saved them -- soundings from the March 09 event. I just can't get past the BL issues here -- I know about dynamic cooling and the power of these upper lows, but the models should have that factored in as well, right?

 

My recollection from Marhc 09 is that the soundings DID show the lower levels getting to or below freezing during the bulk of the precip. Am I wrong? Anybody have that in their archives?

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I'll tell you what I would LOVE to see if anybody saved them -- soundings from the March 09 event. I just can't get past the BL issues here -- I know about dynamic cooling and the power of these upper lows, but the models should have that factored in as well, right?

 

My recollection from Marhc 09 is that the soundings DID show the lower levels getting to or below freezing during the bulk of the precip. Am I wrong? Anybody have that in their archives?

 

I've yet to see a model really be able to depict the dynamics of a true, powerful ULL.  This is one of the reasons people have such a hard time believing a snow prog when it's warm and surface temps are marginal at best.  It probably also contributes to the difficulty in forecasting what they will produce.

 

However, I have seen enough outcomes from these ULL's to know that with a high enough rate, I need not worry.

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Winter Storm Watch


URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA

244 PM EST WED JAN 16 2013

...WINTER STORM POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA THURSDAY INTO

FRIDAY MORNING...

.A STALLED SURFACE FRONT THAT CONTINUES TO BRING WIDESPREAD RAIN

TO MOST OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT SOUTH

AS A COLD FRONT ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON. BEHIND THE FRONT...A COLD

POLAR AIRMASS WILL BEGIN TO SPREAD INTO GEORGIA. AT THE SURFACE...A LOW

BEGINS TO STRENGTHEN ACROSS EAST GEORGIA. AS THIS LOW TRACKS TO

THE NORTHEAST...WRAP AROUND MOISTURE SHOULD SWING INTO THE COLD

AIR MASS AND CAUSE THE RAIN TO CHANGE TO SNOW ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA

THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO THURSDAY EVENING. THE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL SHOULD BE

IN THE NORTH GEORGIA MOUNTAINS.

GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-030>035-041>045-171000-

/O.NEW.KFFC.WS.A.0001.130117T1800Z-130118T1500Z/

DADE-WALKER-CATOOSA-WHITFIELD-MURRAY-FANNIN-GILMER-UNION-TOWNS-

CHATTOOGA-GORDON-PICKENS-DAWSON-LUMPKIN-WHITE-FLOYD-BARTOW-

CHEROKEE-FORSYTH-HALL-BANKS-JACKSON-POLK-PAULDING-COBB-

NORTH FULTON-GWINNETT-BARROW-HARALSON-CARROLL-DOUGLAS-

SOUTH FULTON-DEKALB-

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CALHOUN...DAHLONEGA...CLEVELAND...

ROME...CARTERSVILLE...GAINESVILLE...MARIETTA...ATLANTA...

LAWRENCEVILLE...CARROLLTON...DOUGLASVILLE...EAST POINT...DECATUR

244 PM EST WED JAN 16 2013

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH

FRIDAY MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A

WINTER STORM WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON

THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.

* LOCATIONS...NORTH OF A LINE FROM CARROLLTON TO ATLANTA TO JEFFERSON.

* HAZARD TYPES...SNOW AND BLACK ICE.

* ACCUMULATIONS...2 TO 4 INCHES ACROSS THE NORTHEAST AND NORTHWEST

GEORGIA MOUNTAINS...ONE INCH OR LESS ACROSS THE REST OF THE

WATCH AREA.

* TIMING...SNOWFALL SHOULD BEGIN IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA BY MID

THURSDAY AFTERNOON...THEN THE REST OF NORTH GEORGIA THROUGH THE

LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS.

* IMPACTS...LIGHT SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS UP TO ONE INCH ARE

POSSIBLE ON ROADWAYS ACROSS HIGHER ELEVATIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS.

BLACK ICE IS LIKELY ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THURSDAY NIGHT AND

FRIDAY MORNING WHEN TEMPERATURES FALL BELOW EVENING.

Don't this seem like alittle much for this far south into GA down to the i-985 i-85 split!

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Anytime you are east of the mountains, getting dry slotted is always a possibility...I think that is why these television stations are going so low with their totals east of the mountains...they have been burnt one two many times going too high with their forecast totals.  However, with that said, I think the potential to bust too LOW on this event might be more of a possibility than going too high this go around given the strong dynamics.

Thanks for posting the FOX 8 totals. It's always fun to watch the different channels and their guesses.

 

What are the chances of us getting in one of those "dry holes"? Is it a possibility with this storm?

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I'll tell you what I would LOVE to see if anybody saved them -- soundings from the March 09 event. I just can't get past the BL issues here -- I know about dynamic cooling and the power of these upper lows, but the models should have that factored in as well, right?

 

My recollection from Marhc 09 is that the soundings DID show the lower levels getting to or below freezing during the bulk of the precip. Am I wrong? Anybody have that in their archives?

 

 

 

I tried to find it for you but back then it was a lot more messy on the board...feel free to search around. 

 

http://www.easternuswx.com/bb/index.php?/forum/15-weather-forecasting-and-discussion/page__prune_day__100__sort_by__Z-A__sort_key__last_post__topicfilter__all__st__5300

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I agree with your "agree" - if the rates the NAM is spitting out verify, there is no question (or there shouldn't be) as to whether or not this storm becomes problematic on top of just tree limbs.

The underlined part is baffling to me. I will give credit to Fox Carolina here locally as being the first to step out on that limb a couple of days ago. But I get the same responses you have been receiving.

I still think the brunt will occur from the NC/SC line north and west. And it won't just be heavy limbs and bushes that will have snow cover when all is said and done. The 00Z will cement my inclinations for areas south of NC (SC related), but as of right now there will be rain - lots of it, possibly becoming slushy as a change over happens with brief but heavy rates.

coldrainhomey is not afraid to lay the weenie on the line. His call from yesterday for 3to 8 for the mtns is looking good. 15z sref destroys the mtns
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I'll tell you what I would LOVE to see if anybody saved them -- soundings from the March 09 event. I just can't get past the BL issues here -- I know about dynamic cooling and the power of these upper lows, but the models should have that factored in as well, right?

 

My recollection from Marhc 09 is that the soundings DID show the lower levels getting to or below freezing during the bulk of the precip. Am I wrong? Anybody have that in their archives?

It seems like most local mets here in CLT are not buying the accumluations either.  Even though we're under a WSW, they're mostly calling for a dusting/sloppy inch.   I think I buy that a bit more than the intense models.  Just from memory, it took forever for March 2009 to changeover, so did the Christmas storm 2 years ago.  I think the deformation band is going to be so quick and so brief (buy heavy yes) that I don't think much will have time to overtake the boundary layer temps and ground temps. 

 

Just eccstatic we've got a threat this year though.  Hopefully in a few weeks we can get a true Miller A. 

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It seems like most local mets here in CLT are not buying the accumluations either.  Even though we're under a WSW, they're mostly calling for a dusting/sloppy inch.   I think I buy that a bit more than the intense models.  Just from memory, it took forever for March 2009 to changeover, so did the Christmas storm 2 years ago.  I think the deformation band is going to be so quick and so brief (buy heavy yes) that I don't think much will have time to overtake the boundary layer temps and ground temps. 

 

Just eccstatic we've got a threat this year though.  Hopefully in a few weeks we can get a true Miller A. 

 

Dude March of 2009 was awesome for CLT we ended up with 3-5 with super heavy rates. I remember distinctly walking to The Penguin during the heart of it to go buy pitchers of beer. I also remember walking back three sheets to the wind as it was winding down and it was long snowy cold walk.  Personally I feel like this is going to overperform for us but we shall see. 

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