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1/21/14 Snowstorm Observations


WeatherFox

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When all was said and done I think the GFS handled this system the best. The NAM was a mess for days, the RGEM was too wet for a run or two and the Euro was too dry. The NAM never showed us any of its typical epic bombs that it loves to show in the 24-36hr range which is good. I'm sure it won't disappoint with the upcoming systems however. That 1/31 system has epic bomb model porn written all over it.

The Euro has now missed 2 NESIS  type storms , even at 0z Monday its  run had .3 

And didnt catch the Jan 3 storm until 36 hours out .  The GFS blew every model away .

That said the Canadian had it 1st but lost it , the GFS got it 3 days out and got stronger every run . 

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When all was said and done I think the GFS handled this system the best. The NAM was a mess for days, the RGEM was too wet for a run or two and the Euro was too dry. The NAM never showed us any of its typical epic bombs that it loves to show in the 24-36hr range which is good. I'm sure it won't disappoint with the upcoming systems however. That 1/31 system has epic bomb model porn written all over it.

The GFS has been the most consistent with both big snowstorms this month. usually its suppressed and last on board but its been very reliable. That's why I trust it going forward with the storms showing up the rest of the month. Not sure what to make of the Euro lately, not only its flipping around but also last on board of the major models or in this case it never really got on board 100%

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The Euro has now missed 2 NESIS  type storms , even at 0z Monday its  run had .3 

And didnt catch the Jan 3 storm until 36 hours out .  The GFS blew every model away .

That said the Canadian had it 1st but lost it , the GFS got it 3 days out and got stronger every run . 

Well to be fair the Euro first picked up on yesterdays event in the long range, but then quickly lost it. The GGEM has also been particularly terrible this year as well.

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I feel like the ratios up here weren't quite as good as I was expecting perhaps due to the intensity being light for most of the day. When that band finally made it up this way flake size dramatically increased and we received about 75% of our total accumulation in about 4 hours. Final number was 10.7".

Where do u have 10? My buddy lives in Pompton plains and had 5 maybe 6
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5 degrees at 10am with a foot of snow on the ground..WOW..very rare for these parts..has been an insane winter

Yup. Just in terms of overall wintry-ness (snow with bitter cold), this has to be the best month we've had since Jan 2004, actually probably better since I've had two events now make it to 10" or above.

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Looks like places around me are reporting 10-15". Honestly nowhere for me to get a real measurement here. The open spaces have 0-5" of snow - but then there's 2 foot drifts near the house, and 1 foot drifts near the car. On on side of my car it's not even covered with any snow- but on the opposite side there's 5" stuck to it. This storm is inconclusive, I demand a redo without any wind. ;)

 

I have a lot of skepticism about some of the higher totals, including some from "Trained Spotters". 

 

I cannot make a case for there ever having been more than 8" on the ground here.  I am going with 9" here because I wipe the board each day at midnight (it should be a consistent time, although NWS seems to recommend 9AMish) and we had about an inch after midnight.  That inch did not increase the snowdepth which I very generously recorded as 8" this morning.  I'm thinking I maybe should have called it 7".

 

You can get a good picture of some of the local banding from this map, although some of those #s represent only partial storm totals.

 

post-290-0-57337900-1390404449_thumb.jpg

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I have a lot of skepticism about some of the higher totals, including some from "Trained Spotters". 

 

I cannot make a case for there ever having been more than 8" on the ground here.  I am going with 9" here because I wipe the board each day at midnight (it should be a consistent time, although NWS seems to recommend 9AMish) and we had about an inch after midnight.  That inch did not increase the snowdepth which I very generously recorded as 8" this morning.  I'm thinking I maybe should have called it 7".

 

You can get a good picture of some of the local banding from this map, although some of those #s represent only partial storm totals.

 

attachicon.gif20140121midSuffolk1000.jpg

believe me im questioning alot of the morris county numbers.  i know people who live in some of those towns and are not coming close to some of those number. 

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13" reported in Oceanside, 2 towns away from me. That reporter usually seems to be too high. Yesterday in the early afternoon there was a definite increase in snow amounts once south of Sunrise Highway, so the rest of Nassau must have really made up for it later in the storm to have higher totals of 10" or more.

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13" reported in Oceanside, 2 towns away from me. That reporter usually seems to be too high. Yesterday in the early afternoon there was a definite increase in snow amounts once south of Sunrise Highway, so the rest of Nassau must have really made up for it later in the storm to have higher totals of 10" or more.

there is no way I had more than 8 or 9"

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there is no way I had more than 8 or 9"

I'm pretty sure I had at least 10" here. I measured in several places away from where wind would contaminate much, and we got absolutely hammered early in the afternoon. Again, there was a big difference the further south you went from Sunrise Highway early in the afternoon. The Lido Beach observer having 10.5" at 10PM makes me a little more confident since a lot of times that reporter is on the low end. The Long Beach reporter had 8.5" as of 8PM. We had more snow after 10PM so 11" or maybe even a bit more is possible.

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13" reported in Oceanside, 2 towns away from me. That reporter usually seems to be too high. Yesterday in the early afternoon there was a definite increase in snow amounts once south of Sunrise Highway, so the rest of Nassau must have really made up for it later in the storm to have higher totals of 10" or more.

 

There was definitely significant banding in various locations at various times of the storm and there were certainly haves and have-nots.  I think there is sort of a bidding process where people feed off each others numbers and start raising the ante.  Too many posts about consensus because someone else also measured wrong.  I'm not picking on any particular ob, except for generically just about all of the 14" reports in Suffolk County are suspect.

 

This happens every storm, and particularly in windy storms.  The me-too reports make it hard to cull out the real jackpots.  Don't get me wrong, there were some.

 

I've been on the low end of just about every storm, yet when I drive around nearby areas that reported more, they don't seem to have more snow on the ground.  Hopefully we'll get some photographic evidence of the 14" totals because I want to believe them.

 

By the way, pics of rulers stuck in the ground are ok to post, but they usually lack any kind of context to presume they are measuring in an appropriate location.

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I'm pretty sure I had at least 10" here. I measured in several places away from where wind would contaminate much, and we got absolutely hammered early in the afternoon. Again, there was a big difference the further south you went from Sunrise Highway early in the afternoon. The Lido Beach observer having 10.5" at 10PM makes me a little more confident since a lot of times that reporter is on the low end. The Long Beach reporter had 8.5" as of 8PM. We had more snow after 10PM so 11" or maybe even a bit more is possible.

 

The early banding in SW Nassau makes 10" seem quite plausible..

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There was definitely significant banding in various locations at various times of the storm and there were certainly haves and have-nots.  I think there is sort of a bidding process where people feed off each others numbers and start raising the ante.  Too many posts about consensus because someone else also measured wrong.  I'm not picking on any particular ob, except for generically just about all of the 14" reports in Suffolk County are suspect.

 

This happens every storm, and particularly in windy storms.  The me-too reports make it hard to cull out the real jackpots.  Don't get me wrong, there were some.

 

I've been on the low end of just about every storm, yet when I drive around nearby areas that reported more, they don't seem to have more snow on the ground.  Hopefully we'll get some photographic evidence of the 14" totals because I want to believe them.

 

By the way, pics of rulers stuck in the ground are ok to post, but they usually lack any kind of context to presume they are measuring in an appropriate location.

 

this is what i feel too, to be honest...

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I have a lot of skepticism about some of the higher totals, including some from "Trained Spotters". 

I question the totals, in general not just spotters, nearly all of the time unfortunately.  I wonder how many people do "eye ball" measureables which will almost always wind up inflated.  For example you may look out and think there's 2" of snow out there but when you measure it on the board its less.  IMO, these differences only grow as the overall snowfall increases.    

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I have a lot of skepticism about some of the higher totals, including some from "Trained Spotters". 

 

 

are trained spotters required to use a snow board?

 

i've measured snow all my life... never used a snow board, but one thing for sure, dry windy big snowstorms are the absolute worst to measure.  it goes well beyond simple drifting.  every little micro influence (ones undetectable by my eyeballs) exaggerates the amount of snow from spot to spot.  last night i was getting widely varying totals for reasons i simply couldnt identify.  this has happened to me plenty of time before with big, dry windy snows.

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There was definitely significant banding in various locations at various times of the storm and there were certainly haves and have-nots. I think there is sort of a bidding process where people feed off each others numbers and start raising the ante. Too many posts about consensus because someone else also measured wrong. I'm not picking on any particular ob, except for generically just about all of the 14" reports in Suffolk County are suspect.

This happens every storm, and particularly in windy storms. The me-too reports make it hard to cull out the real jackpots. Don't get me wrong, there were some.

I've been on the low end of just about every storm, yet when I drive around nearby areas that reported more, they don't seem to have more snow on the ground. Hopefully we'll get some photographic evidence of the 14" totals because I want to believe them.

By the way, pics of rulers stuck in the ground are ok to post, but they usually lack any kind of context to presume they are measuring in an appropriate location.

Couldn't agree more...been measuring snow for a long time and most of the time my totals are lower than nearby measurements ,and like you said when I drive around I dont see evidence of those higher totals.
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Glad to hear I am not alone in this concern.  I was seriously thinking of contacting the OKX skywarn coordinators to ask about what I might be doing wrong.  I am just having a hard time accepting that I am.

 

It was more of a problem than usual with the past 2 storms because they both required some subjective estimation, which is kind of like taking the leash off of the me-toos.

 

I am not going to begrudge anyone that measuring snowfall in these two storms was difficult.

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I think some of the totals are too high as well. Anything over 13.0" is subjective. I had 11.0" and ISP airport came in with 11.2", so there could be wiggle room for +/- 1.5" give or take. Btw, each PNS states at the top that these are unofficial reports, so no one should take the exaggerated totals seriously. It's not like they are official.

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I think some of the totals are too high as well. Anything over 13.0" is subjective. I had 11.0" and ISP airport came in with 11.2", so there could be wiggle room for +/- 1.5" give or take. Btw, each PNS states at the top that these are unofficial reports, so no one should take the exaggerated totals seriously. It's not like they are official.

 

No its not, but there are questions about some of the official stations as well.

 

ISP until about 10 years ago was horrible at measuring snow,  They do a much better job now, but I often think that they may have overdone it.  Does any one know where at the airport they measure?  I also wonder often how Upton always comes in near the top of the list.  JFK is in a lousy place for snow, but they often seem to underperform the other underperformers.  I am not sure I trust anyone.

 

The KNYC report for this latest storm seems reasonable based on the radar I saw yesterday.

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