Record Breaking Cold January 3-4 & 7-8 Discussion & Observations

[IntenseBlizzard2014]

The snowpack survived here somewhat, despite the pouring rain.

[pazzo83]

The snowpack survived here, despite the pouring rain.

 

We weren't as lucky here.  Although the rain and 50s did get rid of all of our gross sidewalk snow, so now you can actually cross the street without having your entire leg soaked in freezing slush.

[odwalla]

Radar looks more than brief -- if temps can cool, this could put down a quick 1-2". 

[IntenseBlizzard2014]

Radar looks more than brief -- if temps can cool, this could put down a quick 1-2".

It's still a bit too warm. The N&W areas may cash in some snow.

[green tube]

Radar looks more than brief -- if temps can cool, this could put down a quick 1-2". 

 

that's all rain

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

Snow pack crushed here just piles not even drifts the piles soaked up the rain and will flash freeze tonight and will basically be solid ice and should last for a long time

[friedmators]

All rain in Warrem,NJ still

[odwalla]

that's all rain

It isn't -- the SE burbs of DC were reporting snow as precip tapered off. It may start as rain, but precip is expanding. 

[pazzo83]

Snow pack crushed here just piles not even drifts the piles soaked up the rain and will flash freeze tonight and will basically be solid ice and should last for a long time

Not if we get back closer to 50 by next weekend.

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

Not if we get back closer to 50 by next weekend.

Typical! It's so hard to get a sold snow pack to last here. The best I have seen was in Maryland in 03 after 30" from Pday 2.

[earthlight]

Now sleeting here.

[Chaser25973]

45 degrees and holding steady in E. Rutherford.

[snywx]

Lgt to Mod snow now..  

 

Temp of 37f

[RutgersWx92]

37F here with some light sleet and rain falling.  Managed to hold onto some snowpack here; some areas have little to no snow and others have as much as 2-3 slushy inches.

[SnoSki14]

Sleeting here too and 38F, crazy temperature changes that I haven't seen in a long time, from singles digits to upper 50s and now going down again. 

[BlueSkiesFading]

I noticed a few sleet pellets mixing with the rain. Temp now down to 39.6.

[Animal]

Any idea when the polar vortex arrives on the mother ship tonight?

Flash freeze in progress in hl.

Best

[BlueSkiesFading]

Upton's AFD mentions the possibility of issuing a Winter Winter Advisory if the flash freeze potential becomes widespread enough...

 

Short term /6 PM this evening through 6 PM Tuesday/...
surge of Arctic air will arrive this evening as a strong middle level
shortwave passes through...and could be accompanied by a brief
snow shower mainly well inland. When this surge arrives...temperatures
will plummet into the single digits by morning and near 0 in the
higher elevations well north/west of NYC...with west winds gusting as
high as 45-50 miles per hour in NYC metropolitan and Long Island...possibly in the
interior higher elevations...and 40-45 miles per hour elsewhere. Temperatures will
struggle to rise above 10 above in NYC metropolitan and coastal
sections...and should remain in the single digits inland. This in
combination with west winds 25-35 miles per hour will produce dangerous wind
chills of 15-20 below north/west of NYC...and as low as 15 below
in NYC...western Long Island and southwest CT. Wind Chill Advisory has
been issued.

There is the potential for a flash freeze tonight as any standing
water from rain and melting snow refreezes...and the situation may
be handled via a Winter Weather Advisory if the threat looks to be
widespread. 

[LongBeachSurfFreak]

Pingers here now to bad it's over

[Chaser25973]

Temp down to 39 and falling!

[allgame830]

39 degrees from a high of 53

[wolfie09]

Down to 36° in freehold with light snow falling...

[pazzo83]

The way the media is portraying this cold snap as biblical is getting annoying.  Got friends (seriously) comparing this to The Day After Tomorrow or calling it the worst cold snap in history.  As it stands now this isn't holding a candle to Feb 96 or Jan 94.  In fact, the upper plains had colder temps prior to our snowstorm on the 2nd/3rd.

[allgame830]

down to 36 degress, dropped 3 degrees in 20 minutes 

[patrick05]

seems like ice pellets falling here in FRG... but temp is still around 41F

[rygar]

Amazing drop at 8 AM

 

[Hailstorm]

The way the media is portraying this cold snap as biblical is getting annoying.  Got friends (seriously) comparing this to The Day After Tomorrow or calling it the worst cold snap in history.  As it stands now this isn't holding a candle to Feb 96 or Jan 94.  In fact, the upper plains had colder temps prior to our snowstorm on the 2nd/3rd.

Yeah, they were harping on how cold this past December was to us as well. But even though we all considered it to be quite cold, we actually had a +1.2 monthly departure. I thought December 2010 was much more frigid than this past December with an average temp of 32 degrees; however, that December did not even make the Top 10 list of the coldest Decembers for NYC!

 

Still, I am grateful to expect a wind chill of -15 degrees for the first time in a decade in NYC.

[pazzo83]

Yeah, they were harping on how cold this past December was to us as well. But even though we all considered it to be quite cold, we actually had a +1.2 monthly departure. I thought December 2010 was much more frigid than this past December with an average temp of 32 degrees; however, that December did not even make the Top 10 list of the coldest Decembers for NYC!

 

Yea, Dec 2010 was freezing cold, which if I remember correctly was probably even more of a shock than normal as we abruptly changed from a very warm Nov to straight up winter, where we largely stayed till about mid Feb.

[TWCCraig]

Yeah, they were harping on how cold this past December was to us as well. But even though we all considered it to be quite cold, we actually had a +1.2 monthly departure. I thought December 2010 was much more frigid than this past December with an average temp of 32 degrees; however, that December did not even make the Top 10 list of the coldest Decembers for NYC!

 

December 2010 was an awesome below avg. month, think NYC avg. around -4F departure. Media hypes everything these days. News, not just the weather. More views, more money, that's all they care about. When they hype weather and people realize it's not so bad, they give meteorology a bad a name.

[Saturn510]

The way the media is portraying this cold snap as biblical is getting annoying.  Got friends (seriously) comparing this to The Day After Tomorrow or calling it the worst cold snap in history.  As it stands now this isn't holding a candle to Feb 96 or Jan 94.  In fact, the upper plains had colder temps prior to our snowstorm on the 2nd/3rd.

you are right... cnn headline "welcome to the polar vortex"  and on jet blues website "were watching a polar vortex wreak havoc"