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January 6-8 2014 arctic attack obs thread...


Marion_NC_WX

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I've seen it said often on this board that the models typically under-estimate the strength and depth of these Arctic airmasses. Is this a possibility for next week's cold as well?

If anything it's the opposite, some models have a cold bias and often overestimate cold or overestimate the strength of highs.

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absolutely yes especially if the arctic high comes in as progged (in kchs discussion) at 1055mb, under estimation o the cold air at the SFC is almost a given.

Oh wow I thought it was the opposite! Good to know.

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To be completely honest... I've been a bit gun-shy about next week's cold (low 40s for next Tuesday is what I had this morning...Although I can't deviate too much from the previous met's thoughts for consistency sake). Yes, I know the high is super strong and moves in fast, but how many times this winter have we seen the cold stop just short of our area (talking central AL/GA and southward...). Some of the cold the models are printing out would be the coldest Columbus, GA & surrounding areas have seen in 17 years (Feb. 4, 1996 was the last time we saw a high below freezing at 27 degrees).

 

FWIW, I've had low-mid 40s in the forecast for highs on Friday for the past few mornings I've worked and lows in the mid 20s (low 20s for outlying locations), so this 00Z GFS run of "colder" air isn't all that surprising. However, it'll be interesting to see how cold a lot of locations actually get Friday as that will tell how well the models are handling the cold air masses heading south. If it's as cold as advertised on Friday, then I will definitely drop the hammer on Tuesday (likely our coldest day here) when I work again this weekend. 
 

Also, my "gut" is telling me that Columbus & surrounding areas won't be SUPER cold (highs in the mid 30s or lower) and that most of it will likely stay to our north in Tennessee and northern AL/GA. 

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absolutely yes especially if the arctic high comes in as progged (in kchs discussion) at 1055mb, under estimation o the cold air at the SFC is almost a given.

 

I Agree Mike, I actually expect them to be about 5-8 maybe 10 degrees colder than shown now, **IF** trends continue...

It's always a pleasure to see the both of you posting :wub:  

 

On that note, CAE is riding the EURO according to their long term disco. Highs in the 40's with lows in the 20's currently forecasted  ;) 

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To be completely honest... I've been a bit gun-shy about next week's cold (low 40s for next Tuesday is what I had this morning...Although I can't deviate too much from the previous met's thoughts for consistency sake). Yes, I know the high is super strong and moves in fast, but how many times this winter have we seen the cold stop just short of our area (talking central AL/GA and southward...). Some of the cold the models are printing out would be the coldest Columbus, GA & surrounding areas have seen in 17 years (Feb. 4, 1996 was the last time we saw a high below freezing at 27 degrees).

 

FWIW, I've had low-mid 40s in the forecast for highs on Friday for the past few mornings I've worked and lows in the mid 20s (low 20s for outlying locations), so this 00Z GFS run of "colder" air isn't all that surprising. However, it'll be interesting to see how cold a lot of locations actually get Friday as that will tell how well the models are handling the cold air masses heading south. If it's as cold as advertised on Friday, then I will definitely drop the hammer on Tuesday (likely our coldest day here) when I work again this weekend. 

 

Also, my "gut" is telling me that Columbus & surrounding areas won't be SUPER cold (highs in the mid 30s or lower) and that most of it will likely stay to our north in Tennessee and northern AL/GA. 

 

I, admittedly so, usually have a cold bias.  However, this is some of the coldest air I have seen as a whole in a long time.  Give me a 1040mb+ high over the plains states and I will say for sure we will be in the low to mid 30's during the day.  We shall see, I am not gonna lower Friday temp to much yet...I have 43 now, but wouldn't be surprised if its like 40.

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I, admittedly so, usually have a cold bias.  However, this is some of the coldest air I have seen as a whole in a long time.  Give me a 1040mb+ high over the plains states and I will say for sure we will be in the low to mid 30's during the day.  We shall see, I am not gonna lower Friday temp to much yet...I have 43 now, but wouldn't be surprised if its like 40.

:lol: I have a bit of a warm bias in days 5-7 (probably the Florida boy in me... lol!). Like I said, Friday's cold is going to give us a good bead on whether the models are handling the Arctic cold in our backyard correctly or not. 

 

However, the 0Z GFS would certainly cause me to go lower with my forecast temps in the Mon/Tue time period... A 1038 mb high in NW Alabama... Calm winds... =  :shiver: You're more than likely correct with the 30/15 call, but I'd just like to see how Friday plays out before going all-in.

 

BTW, in case people are wondering, Columbus, GA hasn't seen a low below 15 (which is certainly possible based on the 0Z GFS for Tuesday morning) since Jan 24, 2003 when we hit 12 degrees. The last time we saw single digits for a low was all the way back on Dec. 24, 1989 (I was almost 2... :lol:) when we hit 9 degrees. 

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I am just as impressed by low temps, even without snow, when they occur in the south. Of course I don't wish for busted pipes on no one but we have no control over that no more than damage we see in storms. If it is anomalous, my interest goes very high.

 

Also, with air this cold, any moisture in the atmosphere gets wrung out and we usually have a couple of episodes of microflakes. (The kind they have to turn the radar to high sensitivity mode to see). That beats nothing!

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