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February 25-26 Winter Storm


wisconsinwx

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Kind of reminds me, did TRS from LOT ever get the due credit for the Feb 7th event? He took a pounding, but ended up looking pretty good.

 

http://www.americanwx.com/bb/index.php/topic/39181-february-6-8th-great-lakes-wintry-storm/page-17

 

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=lot&storyid=92437&source=2

 

BTW, terrible performance by myself in that thread.  :axe:

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Izzi didnt issue watch

 

THESE LEAVES A GREAT DEAL OF UNCERTAINTY WITH RESPECT TO SNOWFALL

AMOUNTS. WHERE COLUMN IS COLD ENOUGH FOR ALL OR MOSTLY SNOW THE

POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SOME RESPECTABLE SNOWFALL TOTALS TUESDAY. THE

MAJORITY OF COMPUTER MODELS KEEP SFC TEMPS SLIGHTLY ABOVE FREEZING

DURING THE DAY TUESDAY OVER MUCH OF THE AREA AND GIVEN THE HIGH SUN

ANGLE ITS POSSIBLE THAT A GOOD DEAL OF THE SNOW COULD MELT AS IT

FALLS...AND WHAT DOES ACCUMULATE COULD HAVE A LOW SNOW:LIQUID

RATIO...POSSIBLY 8:1 OR LESS. FARTHER WEST AND NORTHWEST IN OUR CWA

MOSTLY SNOW LOOKS LIKE A SURER BET...BUT SLIGHTLY LOWER QPF TUESDAY

AND STILL FAIRLY LOW SNOW:LIQUID RATIOS MEANS AMOUNTS WOULD MOST

LIKELY END UP SOLIDLY IN THE ADVISORY RANGE.

AFTER COORDINATION IWX/MKX ARE HOLING OFF ON A WATCH AND ILX/DVN

ARE NOT EXPANDING THEIR WATCH SO AFTER GIVING IT SOME SERIOUS

CONSIDERATION FOR AREAS NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80...DECIDED THAT

UNCERTAINTIES WITH P-TYPE AND THE EFFICIENCY OF SNOW ACCUMULATION

RAISED ENOUGH DOUBTS TO HOLD OFF FOR NOW. DESPITE NO WINTER STORM

WATCH YET...THE THREAT DOES EXISTS FOR A HIGH IMPACT WINTER STORM

TO STRIKE THE AREA TUESDAY. EVEN IF SNOWFALL AMOUNTS DONT REACH

WARNING CRITERIA...IF TEMPS DO MANAGE TO DROP TO OR JUST BELOW

FREEZING AND SNOW RATES GET HIGH ENOUGH THEN IMPACTS COULD BE VERY

SIGNIFICANT. VERY STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED BUT EXPECT WET

SNOW IS NOT TYPICALLY VERY DRIFTABLE...SO WOULD BE A WIND WHIPPED

FALLING SNOW MOST LIKELY. ALL IN ALL IT LOOKS LIKE A HIGH

PROBABILITY OF THIS SYSTEM TURNING INTO A SOLID OR EVEN HIGH END

ADVISORY EVENT AND IMPACT-WISE AN ARGUMENT COULD POTENTIALLY EVEN

BE MADE TO BEND THE WARNING CRITERIA AND GO WITH A WARNING...BUT

SEEING AS THIS WILL BE A MOSTLY A 4TH PERIOD EVENT THERE IS STILL

TIME FOR THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT TO GET A GOOD LOOK AT 00Z GUIDANCE AND

GET HEADLINES OUT PRIOR TO MONDAY MORNING WHICH STILL GIVES WELL

OVER 24 HOURS LEAD TIME.

AFTER THE INITIAL BAND OF MODERATE TO HEAVY PRECIP PIVOTS THROUGH

TUESDAY...MODELS DIFFER SOME ON THE INTENSITY AND COVERAGE OF

SNOWFALL TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. COULD CERTAINLY BE ADDITIONAL

ACCUMULATIONS...ESPECIALLY TUESDAY NIGHT...BUT ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL

TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY LOOKS TO BE LIGHTER AND LOWER IMPACT SO

REALLY DIDN`T TAKE THAT MUCH INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN CONSIDERING A

POSSIBLE WATCH FOR TUESDAY. WILL RE-ISSUE SPS TO CONTINUE TO

HIGHLIGHT AT LEAST THE POTENTIAL FOR A HIGHER IMPACT WINTER STORM

TUESDAY.

IZZI

 

 

he is by far the best we have here in Chicago, but I disagree with him on this one. To me this is what a WSW is for.

Exactly.

He just completely explained WHY most WOULD issue a watch for this system, but didn't... and said that possibility for a VERY SIGNIFICANT event is there... Uhhh well then issue a watch! Warn the public of the "possibility". Being a firefighter, the public is interesting. They will B**** if there isn't a watch or warning, but if there was then atleast they saw it "and it wasn't that bad"...

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Izzi is one if the best there is.

Take into account what happened with the last system and the many issues this this system, being cautious is the way to go. Yea, it's only a watch, but there's no harm waiting until the evening or early morning shift for a WSW.

yup...izzi knows his shtuff! my concern is with the whole winter weather headline setup regardless of what office it is....this system has certainly slowed compared to what was being models 4 or 5 runs ago...definetly plenty of time/shifts for the offices to get the word out under the current criteria set forth via the way the headlines are setup

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I think the lack of a WSW, at least for now, isn't a bad idea.  I trust what Izzi has to say in the AFD.  As a frequent read of the AFD on the LOT website, I honestly think Izzi does the best job, and his forecasts are pretty good. There appears to be, for the moment, some issues with precip type, and temps.  Right now, temps for the Tues-Fri period are above freezing for the CWA, so I can understand their desire to hold off on a warning for now.  Personally, I would like to see one, but I would also like to see the marginal temps get dropped about 5 degrees or so in the coming day or two, especially if the storm digs a bit more south ..

 

Just heard the forecast on WGN radio about 10 minutes ago.  They are saying it's going ot be a mix of rain, sleet, snow, and high winds. In other words, a mess.. 

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AFD also said IWX wasn't going to either..

 

 

mke

 

FOR THE 30 HOUR PERIOD FROM ABOUT 18Z TUE THROUGH 12Z WED I HAVE

ABOUT 6.5 INCHES OF SNOW ACCUM IN THE SOUTHEAST TO JUST UNDER 5 AT

MADISON/SHEBOYGAN TO AROUND 3 IN MQT COUNTY. GIVEN THE CONTINUED

MODEL VARIABILITY EXPECT THESE NUMBERS TO FLUCTUATE. LOOKS LIKE A

SOLID WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...BUT THIS DECISION WILL WAIT FOR

LATER SHIFTS.

 

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The storm is still about 42hrs away from Chicago.  Can definitely see holding off on a watch.  Especially when low ratios and potential early mixing is thrown into the mix.  That combined with seasonal trends of under-performing systems I'd say conservatism is the way to go.

 

EDIT:  We still have tonight's 00z, tomorrow's 12z/00z batches, AND Tuesday's 12z suites to go before the storm reaches Chicago.  Def agree with Mr. Izzi.

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The storm is still about 42hrs away from Chicago.  Can definitely see holding off on a watch.  Especially when low ratios and potential early mixing is thrown into the mix.  That combined with seasonal trends of under-performing systems I'd say conservatism is the way to go.

 

EDIT:  We still have tonight's 00z, tomorrow's 12z/00z batches, AND Tuesday's 12z suites to go before the storm reaches Chicago.  Def agree with Mr. Izzi.

Would agree with you but it looks silly when IWX and GRR already have WSW out. Bad office to office coordination.

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Seasonal trends of "under-performing" storms should be a non-starter. I mean, Chicago's run of "bad luck" shouldn't be a deciding factor in issuing a Watch. If the meteorology (forecasted) of the current system doesn't fit the criteria, then don't do anything I guess. Every storm is different. 

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Just chiming in about the lack of a watch here, it may look funky on the WWA map, but I think what Gino did is very reasonable and prudent. I wrote earlier that I thought he would issue one, but really you can go either way, because the thermal profiles are very marginal, and the fact is, people know a storm is coming. Had the antecedent airmass been colder, would have been a much better case for a watch at this juncture. It does appear there was some misunderstanding in the collab process between LOT and IWX from reading the AFDs. I'm really scratching my head a bit about IWX hoisting a watch for their entire CWA given the uncertainty and the fact that based off today's guidance, not only will a large swath of the IWX CWA likely at least mix, I wouldn't be surprised that many areas go over to a plain rain. In fact, the layered max wet bulb temps on the 12z Euro are +3 to +5 for the southern 1/2 to 2/3 of the IWX CWA during the heaviest precip, which is entirely too warm to support snow and the strength of the WAA (which is even often underdone by guidance) suggest that they may not even come close to the 1/4" ice accums needed for a watch for the areas they expect to see mainly ice.

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