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February 2013 General Discussion


snowlover2

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We have the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean...  I've had 20+ inches with one storm, which is pretty good for Wisconsin.  I've also seen over 20 inches in March just north of here...  So yeah, 38" is probably not doable in this area, but its not like we don't see heavy snow.  There are other reasons to live out east (like a mild climate, especially as you near the ocean), higher wages (and property taxes to match)...I've read of nightmare commutes out east (DC area) commute in this area is like 10 minutes and heavy traffic is almost nonexistent...  Plus and minuses to living anywhere..just ask Turtle!!!

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If anyone was curious about that debate of what area is better for winters, the GLOV or SNE, go check out some of their photos over there. I would love to have a storm like that here if it meant irregular snowfalls.

The consequences like no power and immobility start to outweigh the positives once you hit the 2-3 ft range... I'd much rather split that storm into a 1 foot storm and a bunch of clippers throughout the year.

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We have the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean...  I've had 20+ inches with one storm, which is pretty good for Wisconsin.  I've also seen over 20 inches in March just north of here...  So yeah, 38" is probably not doable in this area, but its not like we don't see heavy snow.  There are other reasons to live out east (like a mild climate, especially as you near the ocean), higher wages (and property taxes to match)...I've read of nightmare commutes out east (DC area) commute in this area is like 10 minutes and heavy traffic is almost nonexistent...  Plus and minuses to living anywhere..just ask Turtle!!!

We get more than our fair share of 1-2 foot storms, and several storms have approached 3 feet in various parts of WI: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/images/mkx/pdf/snowstorms-wisconsin.pdf

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The difference is scale and magnitude. The Midwest will get lollipops of 20" snows (and high snow ratios to boot) but it's not going to be widespread. The square mileage of 20"+ snows from this storm on the East Coast is something that would be hard to match in the midwest. Imagine ORD, LAF, MSN, MKE, CLE, DTW, TOL, FWA, GRR all having 20"+ from the same storm; fat chance of that ever happening. Plus getting 20" on 2.0" liquid is much more impressive than 20" of fluff off 1.0" liquid. 

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Turtle-

 

Battery...  yes...winter sucks...its getting to that point that i want 60Fs again.  Can't wait until March.

 

For some odd reason, Michigan is completely cloud free...don't see that happen much in winter:

http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/wisc/

No you dont. Especially when WI is socked in with clouds, its usually the other way around. I mean, its kinda pretty, but I still prefer the gray lol.

wisgif30.gif

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The consequences like no power and immobility start to outweigh the positives once you hit the 2-3 ft range... I'd much rather split that storm into a 1 foot storm and a bunch of clippers throughout the year.

 

Yeah I have to agree with that, unless it's like fluffy LES which is easy to move. 15" is about the limit I like.

 

---

Clouds breaking up slowly here. Still 80%+ of the snow is on the trees, will try to get a few shots when I go out in a few, of the blue sky and snow in the trees. -I'll put them in the photo thread this time.

 

Yeah I got some insane GHDB photos, but most of them from outside of home were taken after the cleanup commenced. Wasn't about to walk around that night in high winds at night and risk frost bite to get shots! At least for awhile this storm in NE was warmer then GHDB - walking outside was probably more tolerable.

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Indeed, but that argument of which area can be put to rest, their photo thread is really amazing.

This "argument" will never be settled because it really comes down to opinion. The photos are indeed amazing. And I am super jealous. But to me there is no denying "better WINTERS" are in the GL, better storms in the NE. We go through this every time they get a noreaster. And this is a historic one even for them. Everyone carries on what a disaster last winter was...guess what...it was way, way worse out there than here. We are superior in every category (until you get to far interior SNE)...cold, snowfall frequency, snowcover....EXCEPT the big bomb potential. Winter isnt nearly as dependable there as here, not even close really (see the bad winters like 2001-02, 2011-12, etc). Its my opinion that winter is a SEASON, not a day or two. All that said, I would have loved nothing better than to be able to afford to fly out to CT a few days ago (I would have picked MA but it appears parts of CT were ground zero) and stay for a week.

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If anyone was curious about that debate of what area is better for winters, the GLOV or SNE, go check out some of their photos over there. I would love to have a storm like that here if it meant irregular snowfalls.

 

This

 

STL>IND>DTW almost impossible to get anything of any significance. 88 years between storms for DTW of 18"+

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We have the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean...  I've had 20+ inches with one storm, which is pretty good for Wisconsin.  I've also seen over 20 inches in March just north of here...  So yeah, 38" is probably not doable in this area, but its not like we don't see heavy snow.  There are other reasons to live out east (like a mild climate, especially as you near the ocean), higher wages (and property taxes to match)...I've read of nightmare commutes out east (DC area) commute in this area is like 10 minutes and heavy traffic is almost nonexistent...  Plus and minuses to living anywhere..just ask Turtle!!!

Definitely pluses and minuses to living anywhere. They have higher wages but the cost of living is outrageous out there. Detroit rush hour is bad enough for me, id never be able to handle it in SNE. And winter, the SEASON, as I know it would simply not be the same. It starts later, ends earlier, Fall starts later, and summer is just as miserable. Now NNE, thats another story.

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The pros of getting bigger snowstorms in New England are outweighed by the fact that we get better severe weather in the midwest. As someone who admires powerful thunderstorms just as much as powerful blizzards, our weather from April - October is much more interesting to follow and be a part of.

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The pros of getting bigger snowstorms in New England are outweighed by the fact that we get better severe weather in the midwest. As someone who admires powerful thunderstorms just as much as powerful blizzards, our weather from April - October is much more interesting to follow and be a part of.

 

 

Severe weather in Michigan/Ontario is overrated. I bet it's slightly better then SNE.  It's lot more active in The OV and Western MW. 

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The pros of getting bigger snowstorms in New England are outweighed by the fact that we get better severe weather in the midwest. As someone who admires powerful thunderstorms just as much as powerful blizzards, our weather from April - October is much more interesting to follow and be a part of.

They do get the occasional tropical threat though (not talking remnant storms).

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Probably the convective element.  The vertical build of convection aids in tremendous "downpouring" of precip. 

 

I have experienced intense convective snow out west where it happens pretty frequently in the mountains.  What usually happens is when you get in the 4" an hour range the flakes become rime encrusted and you get snow pellets or even very small hail mixing in.  This is even with the entire atmospheric column below freezing mind you, NOT the same as sleet.  The big cotton-ball looking dendrite aggregates break up and you don't get the best accumulation efficiency.  6" an hour rates take some kind of special conditions that only seem to occur in the deformation band of big synoptic systems or lake effect bands. This is my anecdotal experience anyways.  I'd love to see some careful research on the topic. 

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I have experienced intense convective snow out west where it happens pretty frequently in the mountains.  What usually happens is when you get in the 4" an hour range the flakes become rime encrusted and you get snow pellets or even very small hail mixing in.  This is even with the entire atmospheric column below freezing mind you, NOT the same as sleet.  The big cotton-ball looking dendrite aggregates break up and you don't get the best accumulation efficiency.  6" an hour rates take some kind of special conditions that only seem to occur in the deformation band of big synoptic systems or lake effect bands. This is my anecdotal experience anyways.  I'd love to see some careful research on the topic

 

Yeah that would be very interesting to be sure.

 

NAM continues to advertise a narrow corridor of weak surface instability tomorrow afternoon over south-central and southeast IA.  To me it looks a little too low with temps, probably because it's overdoing the snow cover over Iowa.  I think temps will warm a little more than what it's showing, and that could actually bump instability up a bit.  Not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but a decent arc of small mini-sups wouldn't be completely out of the question in my opinion. 

 

I may just have to head into Iowa if trends continue. 

NAM_221_2013020918_F27_CAPE_SURFACE.png

 

refc_f36.gif

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Leveled off at 32° here with mostly sunny skies late this afternoon. Still over half the snow in the trees still.

 

With the sun partial out, but not blaring down, it made for a good photo day in the countryside. Posted several new photos under this link > http://www.americanwx.com/bb/index.php/topic/39283-beginning-snows-of-blizzard-2013/

 

Noticed there was plowing still going on today!

 

Sunset tonight

 

post-2499-0-02373900-1360451847_thumb.jp

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The pros of getting bigger snowstorms in New England are outweighed by the fact that we get better severe weather in the midwest. As someone who admires powerful thunderstorms just as much as powerful blizzards, our weather from April - October is much more interesting to follow and be a part of.

 

That's true. Severe weather is my first love, so I could never see myself living on the east coast.

 

However, not all of the Midwest is a big storm desert. Athough the frequency pales in comparison to the east coast cities, you have much higher big storm potential in Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis than in Detroit/St. Louis/Toronto/Indianapolis, in addition to the constant snowpack, frequent penny fluff events and the active severe weather seasons.

 

For example, how many 12"+ storms has Chicago an Minneapolis logged in Comparison to Detroit and Indianapolis? Chances are, if you live in Chicago or Minneapolis for at least a half decade, you're going to experience a major snowstorm/blizzard. In Detroit or Indianapolis, not so much.

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