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Winter storm 12/8-9 model discussion part II


Ji

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I guess high and low range is ironed out with the initial wave. 1-4" of snow seems probable from the cities west. East of DCA needs the death band to get more than an inch from what I'm seeing.  

 

Uncertainty in the expanse and organization leaves no easy call on the high or low end. Column supports all snow for a 3-6 hour window. 

 

A good bit of zr is more of a lock than the snow portion. 

 

I'll go with the nam temps, gfs precip, and toss the euro. 

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I guess high and low range is ironed out with the initial wave. 1-4" of snow seems probable from the cities west. East of DCA needs the death band to get more than an inch from what I'm seeing.  

 

Uncertainty in the expanse and organization leaves no easy call on the high or low end. Column supports all snow for a 3-6 hour window. 

 

A good bit of zr is more of a lock than the snow portion. 

 

I'll go with the nam temps, gfs precip, and toss the euro. 

 

we don't have thermals, but my guess is the euro is the coldest in the mid levels of all 3 models....the NAM torches pretty quickly....

 

In terms of precip through 45 hours and warm nose

 

NAM - wettest and warmest

GFS- middle and middle

Euro - driest and Probably a tad colder than GFS

 

right now I would toss the NAM completely and take a Euro/GFS blend (taking about 80% of average QPF and doing a slight DCA suck adjustment).....so for DCA for instance, flip is probably around 19z, and precip is in the 0.15 - 0.18" range....I went 0.7" in the contest but I think around an inch is probably a good forecast for DCA right now....1.5" wouldn't shock me...neither would 0.5"...

 

I think the flip will occur metro wide pretty uniformly.....north of a line from BWI - HGR should stay snow a bit longer....but it isn't like IAD will be snow all that much longer than DCA...both airports are torching at 21z in the warm nose....

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yeah--i think our range locally is basically around 0.5" to around 2" ... which probably means a bulls eye of higher and i'm not really looking into the hills, just the general DC metro

 

goal is like a good 30 to 60 minute period of like 1" per hour rates. :P

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yeah--i think our range locally is basically around 0.5" to around 2" ... which probably means a bulls eye of higher and i'm not really looking into the hills, just the general DC metro

 

goal is like a good 30 to 60 minute period of like 1" per hour rates. :P

 

could happen...SREF is out and it is uber wet just a hair after we flip....we probably flip from snow around 19-20z.....so about 0.15-0.20 before the flip which is in line with the blended globals....but I like the idea of a fat thump even if it is sleet because I like heavy precip...I'd almost like a NAM type scenario where we might not get any more snow, but we get pummeled with heavy sleet...should be fun no matter what unless the precip is spotty and awful

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I think we're all on the same page. 1" line running 95 and up to 4" tops somewhere west. This includes sleet.

WAA pecip can have some upside surprise. Not saying I think someone gets more than 4. Just that maybe more people get 1-2 instead of 1 or less but that is a best case scenario based on today's guidance. But I would be hardly surprised for a bit of a miss on the front wave and us close in folk miss the incredibly high 1" benchmark.

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Cause I am somehow still awake for it, 06z NAM through 27 has the 0c 850 line on NC/VA border.  27 hr sim radar makes it look like the "finger" of precip is pointing directly at DCA

 

Flurries/Virga in N VA at hr 30 (12z SUN)

 

it gets in early..an inch of snow in the western burbs by 10am

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Give me two inches that sticks everywhere rather than four that only gets on some grassy areas.

Last years snowfall total imo was 0.0". It snowed sure but the street only got dusted once and the grassy areas never got any solid coverage.

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6z runs look nasty for IAD area. A few inches of snow followed by a significant period of frz drizzle, with GFS a touch colder. I'm always skeptical of icing potential around here, but this one seems to have legit potential.

Agree a couple inches of snow would help lock the low level cold especially after dark to set that stage for some icing.

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6z runs look nasty for IAD area. A few inches of snow followed by a significant period of frz drizzle, with GFS a touch colder. I'm always skeptical of icing potential around here, but this one seems to have legit potential.

 

Gives me .6" ZR. ice ice baby.

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The models haven't really changed my thoughts from yesterday's CWG discussion.   How low the precip stays sleet is tricky as the models bring in a dry layer and the saturated layer above the warm layer does not get below -8C which usually means freezing rain as you can't form the initial snow crystals. 

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I think you meant freezing drizzle Wes ;)

Yeah, my thoughts haven't changed much either, actually going back a few days now. I'm still not expecting as prolonged of a SN or SNPL period as some of the models would suggest IMBY, and I don't expect the IP to be around very ling either. At this point I will gladly take 1-2" of snow and sleet, although my hunch continues to be closer to 1" or less. That warm nose aloft typically comes in faster and more vigorously when we've got more SW flow aloft and to our north (weaker mid level FGEN). There are a few conceptual signatures @ 500 mb by 18-21Z that certainly grab my attention in supporting more liquid pcpn overall (FZRA) with a faster vs. slower transition: SW/WSW flow well north into northern New England and southern Quebec, a bubble/shortwave ridge developing over the GL, and 582 DM heights into Cape Hatteras.

IMBY I think the real question is going to be how much ice accretion. The Crofton-Bowie area may sit near 32 for a while Sun evening well into Monday, but depending on the pcpn rates, it's awfully tough to get significant ice buildup with temps so marginal, even along elevated surfaces including trees and power lines. Farther west of 95 (above the fall line), I would think chances of hitting at least .25" of ice go up significantly.

The models haven't really changed my thoughts from yesterday's CWG discussion. How low the precip stays sleet is tricky as the models bring in a dry layer and the saturated layer above the warm layer does not get below -8C which usually means freezing rain as you can't form the initial snow crystals.

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