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1/28-1/30 SE Winter Storm OBS


NavarreDon

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It just doesn't happen often enough,  People forget, forecasts aren't always accurate.  New administrations run things.  No one want to spend the millions to pretreat roads when there may be nothing to happen.  In Atlanta if folks would just take charge of their own well being, and stay home from work if it's threatening, or tell the boss I'm leaving when it's time.  But of course no one does, because it probably won't snow.  It rarely does, and usually at night.  It's the daytime that gets folks, because like lemmings they rush off to work, or expect it to all be on the southside, and whammo.  Atlanta gets new people all the time.  People that come from snowy areas with no hills.  They think they can drive in it.  They can't.  And it happens every time a storm hits in the daytime.  And will keep on happening.  It's human nature.  When it happens again in 20 years there will be a new batch of lemmings to suffer all over again.  Atlanta is a city of hllls.  It ought to be written on billboards as you come in to town.  That, and we don't pretreat  all our hilly roads before storms.  That says it all.  T

That is understandable, when you don't have the experience and the equipment , things become a mess. In our area which is only slightly better prepared for events cancels everything hours before the snowfalls. Nasa Langley was closed at 1 and my wife's company closed at 3. Snow started at 4.

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I guess I live so far away that I don't understand. Do they get so many false alarms that the public doesn't prepare for events? Things like having no food sound like they had absolutely no knowledge of the event. 

The general thinking is that we can't shut down the whole city for a 1+" forecast. It doesn't always come back to haunt them (either due to a bust or the event happening overnight), but once a decade or so you end up with something like this that hits during the day and people just aren't ready. I think I said it in the OBS thread, but even once I was pretty sure on getting 2", I never imagined that something like this would result.

 

Also, the "no food" comments are from people stranded in their cars on the highway. All of the interstates in/near Atlanta have been more or less completely stopped for several hours, which spills over to the surface streets, etc.

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Personally I thought the RAP did pretty good for mby. It showed that there was potential for 2+ when very few other models did. Sure, it overdid it a little bit, but I was pretty pleased.

Agreed. The RAP did not have a NW bias this time. Many spots north of Atl got more than the airport. It did not really overdo it much either. Very pleased. This model seems to have improved over the last couple of years.

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I am. I thought the radar looked good over there. I was jealous when I saw it but if it's those same tiny fairy dust flakes, i can see why. hell I've been sitting here jealous of the heavy returns over central ga and sc. (where it is snow). It almost made it back here but got one county away and turned around. I figured some places were getting as much snow in one hour as I did in 8 or 9 hours.

I'd like to look at soundings during the event to try and see what caused the flake size, though my guess is a section of the column that caused a drying out almost of the flakes themself.  I have no clue if that is possible scientifically but it's just a theory I have.  Almost like the lower levels didn't moisten up enough as what models were projecting.  I'm having to live this storm vicarisously through you guys so I have no first hand account of what things looked liked.

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Well, Atlanta traffic is often a parking lot in late afternoons anyway.  So, the snow and road conditions just exacerbated the problem.  It's nothing to be stuck in Atlanta traffic for a couple of hours on a normal work day.  All it takes is a small bump up or accident.

TW

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:). It's taking a while... A little more time out there and I would not be in good shape... Over two hours in the elements not dressed correctly was painful.

glad you got home (at all apparently) ok - what a wild day for n ga. never seen a governor have a press conference at 1130 - many people are apparently still stranded in places ugh

 

now go get yourself warmed up!! 

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I can't speak for ATL residents, but CLT has a majority who are jaded by busted forecasts and hardly take any weather warning seriously.  I have literally heard audio of someone calling a news station complaining about them running coverage for severe weather during a regularly scheduled program.  I really think this ATL coverage needs it's own thread as it's clogging up the other ones for the storm.

This is a storm obs. thread. That is exactly what these reports from ATL are. Those of us in places other than NC have read and scrolled thru plenty of threads and posts that really don't pertain to our area. Never heard anyone complain about it. Sorry the posts on ATL don't pertain to you area, but ATL is where the storm has had the most impact.

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This is a storm obs. thread. That is exactly what these reports from ATL are. Those of us in places other than NC have read and scrolled thru plenty of threads and posts that really don't pertain to our area. Never heard anyone complain about it. Sorry the posts on ATL don't pertain to you area, but ATL is where the storm has had the most impact.

I understand that, I meant mainly to contain them to one, easy to find thread, as I've seen it spoken about in the Storm thread, this one, banter, etc.  I didn't mean to not discuss it, I'm watching it just as much as you are and I'm not even back home to experience any portion of this storm!

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This is a storm obs. thread. That is exactly what these reports from ATL are. Those of us in places other than NC have read and scrolled thru plenty of threads and posts that really don't pertain to our area. Never heard anyone complain about it. Sorry the posts on ATL don't pertain to you area, but ATL is where the storm has had the most impact.

If your post has storm related topics it'll be fine. Complaining that the rap had you at 4 inches and you only had 2 should be zapped. Newport News has around 5 inches and we are still going strong. VB is going to have 12+

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TY

i agree with the above as well.  btw you are a great example for forecasters about this type of situation.  the press conference and school issues are turning into a blame game.  didnt expect this much, so and so messed up, forecasters said a dusting, etc.  like a sunny morning with a wsw out bust, this will also be remembered i imagine (and people up north laugh now, wait til schools close as soon as someone sees 10 snowflakes or more lol)

 

granted i am not in your area so wasnt all that familiar with your exact amounts and specific locations, but you did call for a pretty sig. storm, and ended up with a winter storm with all three types, covered in a decent ga snowfall by any standards :) you far outperformed the media outlets who were playing catchup. specifics are not always followed by the average person (unlike those of us here) so with your area covered in a winter storm and 1.5" of snow you did a great job and most people (outside of here lmao) will probably think you did a darn good forecast!!

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I'd like to look at soundings during the event to try and see what caused the flake size, though my guess is a section of the column that caused a drying out almost of the flakes themself.  I have no clue if that is possible scientifically but it's just a theory I have.  Almost like the lower levels didn't moisten up enough as what models were projecting.  I'm having to live this storm vicarisously through you guys so I have no first hand account of what things looked liked.

The dryer the snow the smaller the flakes because without moisture individual crystals won't stick together. It's easy to demonstrate by simply trying to make a snowball with very dry fluffy snow as opposed to making one with wet snow..

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The dryer the snow the smaller the flakes because without moisture individual crystals won't stick together. It's easy to demonstrate by simply trying to make a snowball with very dry fluffy snow as opposed to making one with wet snow..

That's sorta what I was thinking in regards to the dryness, just couldn't put it into words as eloquently as you did.  Know exactly what you are talking about. Thanks.

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Been snowing again for the last 30-45 mins after a brief break. These small flakes are adding up slowly. Would be nice to get under some burst.

 

Looks like 1.25-1.5" 

 

Only in NC where it snows for 10+ hours and have that much to show for it. :ee:

 

That band is rolling through here now.  We border somewhere on the fine line between light snow and flurries.  It might add a fresh dusting atop the snow.

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It's still coming down here at a decent (picturesque) clip here in Augusta, temp 29 and dropping. Been snowing for about 3 hrs, I'd say we have 1.25-1.5" on the ground - the grass is covered. Seems a little thicker now than it was earlier, still big wet flakes. NWS Columbia says we'll be along the heaviest band for accumulation with snow tapering off west to east at or after about 3 am.

 

I'm pretty excited we're getting this snow -- seeing so many busts from NC and parts of SC made me think we could be in for a bust as well. I definitely expect another 1.5" the way this is coming down.

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I'm at 1.75" here N of High Point unless a magical band comes together at the end.  Took the kids sledding tonight, just a great, pretty snow that's good for just about everything.  It is heartbreaking to see the stories coming out of places like Atlanta, thankfully everyone seems to have handled things very well here.

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