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2013-14 MA Winter Disco - 'cause it's never too early.


Bob Chill

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I always thought that if the previous winter was neutral, then there'd be no more Nina hangover.

The problem is the pac needs to reshuffle. Even with a neutral last year we still had to battle the pac. Especially early on. Blocking saved us almost exclusively along with losing the early persistent -pna. The crappy pac rendered a fair portion of the strong -ao useless for an extended (and painful) period.

The dang -pdo phase we're in is just working against us without a nino. However, even in the midst of a long term -pdo it's not impossible for it to relax. through a winter.

Latest CPC enso discussion is a continuation of the neutral trend. Some of the dynamic models do keep 3.4 in + territory but nothing fancy. I we're about out of time for a big shift towards +1-1.5 in 3.4. Not that I was expecting it to happen but if a surprise was to happen, we would need to see it already.

Best case IMO would be a near neutral pdo from door to door, 3.4 in the +.5ish range, and let the -ao/nao winter dominant trend continue.

My early guess is 0 to +1 on temps for the season and 75% climo snow region wide. Except for DCA of course. They'll do 50% climo snow at best. As for which months favor cold and which favor warmth? Who knows. I'll go Dec +1 - +2, Jan even steven, Feb -1.

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The problem is the pac needs to reshuffle. Even with a neutral last year we still had to battle the pac. Especially early on. Blocking saved us almost exclusively along with losing the early persistent -pna. The crappy pac rendered a fair portion of the strong -ao useless for an extended (and painful) period.

The dang -pdo phase we're in is just working against us without a nino. However, even in the midst of a long term -pdo it's not impossible for it to relax. through a winter.

Latest CPC enso discussion is a continuation of the neutral trend. Some of the dynamic models do keep 3.4 in + territory but nothing fancy. I we're about out of time for a big shift towards +1-1.5 in 3.4. Not that I was expecting it to happen but if a surprise was to happen, we would need to see it already.

Best case IMO would be a near neutral pdo from door to door, 3.4 in the +.5ish range, and let the -ao/nao winter dominant trend continue.

My early guess is 0 to +1 on temps for the season and 75% climo snow region wide. Except for DCA of course. They'll do 50% climo snow at best. As for which months favor cold and which favor warmth? Who knows. I'll go Dec +1 - +2, Jan even steven, Feb -1.

I think there's a ton of science to back up temp forecasts by those with the skill (you not me). But I think a snowfall forecast is a roll of the dice. It so much depends on timing (luck). It is easily conceivable to have a warm winter AND above normal snow, especially with most of the area climo so low. Of course, as we all know, vice versa of the above is also very possible.

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The problem is the pac needs to reshuffle. Even with a neutral last year we still had to battle the pac. Especially early on. Blocking saved us almost exclusively along with losing the early persistent -pna. The crappy pac rendered a fair portion of the strong -ao useless for an extended (and painful) period.

The dang -pdo phase we're in is just working against us without a nino. However, even in the midst of a long term -pdo it's not impossible for it to relax. through a winter.

Latest CPC enso discussion is a continuation of the neutral trend. Some of the dynamic models do keep 3.4 in + territory but nothing fancy. I we're about out of time for a big shift towards +1-1.5 in 3.4. Not that I was expecting it to happen but if a surprise was to happen, we would need to see it already.

Best case IMO would be a near neutral pdo from door to door, 3.4 in the +.5ish range, and let the -ao/nao winter dominant trend continue.

My early guess is 0 to +1 on temps for the season and 75% climo snow region wide. Except for DCA of course. They'll do 50% climo snow at best. As for which months favor cold and which favor warmth? Who knows. I'll go Dec +1 - +2, Jan even steven, Feb -1.

 

Bob, is the PDO/ENSO a "chicken or the egg" scenario?  It's been 4 years since the last Nino started and we've pretty much had a -PDO the entire time.  The hope here being that with the PDO on the rise, any warm SSTs in region 3.4 and beyond wouldn't have as much working against them.  It's tough to find an analog with a neutral ENSO/Warm PDO/Postitive QBO. Which probably means either we start to get some type of nino going or the PDO goes back into the tank. 

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Bob, is the PDO/ENSO a "chicken or the egg" scenario? It's been 4 years since the last Nino started and we've pretty much had a -PDO the entire time. The hope here being that with the PDO on the rise, any warm SSTs in region 3.4 and beyond wouldn't have as much working against them. It's tough to find an analog with a neutral ENSO/Warm PDO/Postitive QBO. Which probably means either we start to get some type of nino going or the PDO goes back into the tank.

You can have a nino with a -pdo during djf (ala 68-69 & 72-73) but it's really hard to push against it. PDO covers a much bigger domain space than enso 3.4 so the interaction is complex. We are definitely in a long term -pdo regime but both the 02-03 and 09-10 ninos were solid +pdo through the season.

03-04 was a +pdo and warm neutral enso but it was on the heels of a nino. I don't think analogs mean much at this point until we get a clearer picture of where enso will likely be and whether or not the pdo wants to tank or not when it counts.

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I don't really see anything positive about this winter

Me either. Maybe we get lucky with storm track. Has the makings of average'ish temps and below climo snow at face value. Could get some blocking surprises. Arctic air has favored the other side of the globe in DJ for quite a while. That has to break at some point...although arctic air could favor the arctic and leave us all out. misery loves company.

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:huh:

Meaning no Nino so no help. If we're facing a nina then it is a factor. And a very bad one at that. I don't see how a neutral means anything other than limited to no chances of a big year. For all we know we could end up being central va and st Mary's county this winter. I'm just chasing 75-100% of climo. Neural enso means little.

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It means a lot. Enso regions don't suddenly not matter because there is no anomaly. They don't know that. It is a wide basin and it is going to affect our weather no matter what the temperature is.

Your post implies that neutral behaves with some sort of predictable influence on our winters. I suppose it does to some extent because expecting an active stj and southern dominant storm track is fools gold. I've never really analyzed neutral years by themselves trying to find a pattern or clue unless they followed on the heels of a nino/nina. The only early guess I can make at this point is to not expect +climo snow.

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Your post implies that neutral behaves with some sort of predictable influence on our winters. I suppose it does to some extent because expecting an active stj and southern dominant storm track is fools gold. I've never really analyzed neutral years by themselves trying to find a pattern or clue unless they followed on the heels of a nino/nina. The only early guess I can make at this point is to not expect +climo snow.

If neutral behaves the same as Nina, then there is no Nina pattern or neutral pattern. There is only a Niño pattern or non Niño pattern. So, assuming there is an actual difference in the two, wouldn't a neutral pattern have to be somewhere between the two, and, thus, improving our chances at getting at least a somewhat "more" active southern stream increasing our chances of timing up some meaningful precip with cold air? I'm sure if I'm way off base you or someone will correct me.

Also, aren't we coming off a neutral and most likely heading toward another. Wouldn't Nina effects have to fade over time?

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