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March 2014 General Discussion


Geos

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Hit 11° here this morning. Should have no problem hitting between 35-40° today, especially over bare ground areas.

 

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Josh is going to become the most famous snow measuring guy in history!  :thumbsup:

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Yes Josh! Good job. By the way, I noticed the slant sticking you were doing on camera. lol

Thanks! Never really discussed it here as we are under contract and didnt know the rules and what not (a lot of first order sites do this now (I believe it started a decade ago but is getting more common?). Often times the regular observers weather observers cant leave the terminal and the FAA are basically jerks who do not want to help out by measuring snow (which also explains the crappy  lowball observations many stations had roughly in the 1995-2005 period). But as for slant sticking mister :lol:... it was basically done that way for media/show. For one, the area where snow is measured is on private property which didnt allow media/camera access...the video was shot on the other side of the fence. Thats generally where snow depth readings are done because its the most uniform area for snow depth (and this winter, I use the term "uniform" loosely). The other two sections, one is always way too high and one way too low. Basically when our average depths were in the 18-20" range in Feb, it was closer to just 12" in that low area and closer to 30" in that high area. And yes, I would be lying if I didnt admit to doing some walking in the 3 foot areas :lol: But I digress. For two, the media has been hounding the nws for 2 days to do stories on the near record breaking snow (you know the rules, one news station has the idea the other 2 have to follow like puppies). They want you to explain how things are done, they asked a lot of questions and were all very nice, but as you would expect...they want the public to get the most watered down, non-technical version of everything. I explained to them I couldnt show them snowboard techniques because the snowboard was on the other side of the fence where we measure, but I showed them what a snowboard is and said this is where you can do snow depth readings. So they wanted me to keep sticking the snow stick in the ground for video lol. Conditions were brutal with the wind/snow STINGING my face so yes...Id prefer an indoors spot for my next TV appearance :lol:

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Impressive. Does a lot of this ice end up onshore or simply melt back into the lake?

 

Not a whole lot usually. This winter was a bit different though. The mounds of ice attracted people to the shoreline, which wasn't always a good thing. Most of it does end up swept back into the lake and melted away by waves washing ashore.

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Recapping where we are at to-date in the general SE MI/NW OH region

 

Detroit: #2 at 90.7" so far (record 93.6" in 1880-81)...records since 1880

Toledo: #1 at 84.8" so far (old record 73.1")...records since 1885
Ann Arbor: #1 at 92.2" so far (old record 89.8")...records since 1880

Flint: #3 at 81.8" so far (record 82.9")...records since 1921

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Around 35° right now with steady SW winds. Grid forecast has the temps rising all night - should be near 42° by sunrise.

 

Should have a crack at 50° tomorrow with just snow patches around.

Must have a lot more snow here.  There are a lot of yards now with grass showing (sun facing), but in the shadows there is still plenty of snow.  I was hiking and the north sides of the bluffs are full/south facing slopes have almost nothing.  My north facing roof should be snow free by tomorrow (just a thin strip left).  The Mississippi River rose a foot in a day, so a ton of melt is hitting the river.  43F here today...early was a little chilly/windy...but afternoon was great.  Tomorrow looks like a repeat, except hurricane winds.   

 

Next week looks blah.

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Must have a lot more snow here.  There are a lot of yards now with grass showing (sun facing), but in the shadows there is still plenty of snow.  I was hiking and the north sides of the bluffs are full/south facing slopes have almost nothing.  My north facing roof should be snow free by tomorrow (just a thin strip left).  The Mississippi River rose a foot in a day, so a ton of melt is hitting the river.  43F here today...early was a little chilly/windy...but afternoon was great.  Tomorrow looks like a repeat, except hurricane winds.   

 

Next week looks blah.

 

It's kind of strange, the forests that are not evergreens and are more sun filled have more snow. But around evergreens the snow is completely gone - both under the trees and around them. Actually it's not that strange - the dark green absorbs more rays during the day. Windy and exposed areas are the prime areas where the snow has mostly melted out. In fact before it got cold yesterday afternoon there was mud to be had in sunny places.

 

Temp leveled off here and should start rising soon.

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Definitely sounds different than down here and even near Racine. 

 

Yet MKE says the snow cover streak ended yesterday.

How do they measure snow coverR?  Shouldn't that be when the last of the parking lot glaciers disappear?   Some of the farm fields around here are showing bare spots, but the woods still have a ton. 

Conifers must absorb a ton of heat.  I've noticed the same thing around here.  

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DLL - MIsnowfreak will tell you that snow cover means that 50%+ of x amount of area necessary.

 

My yard is about 40% covered. Personally I go by how much is left in the neighborhood (about a 5 block area) as a whole and I would say that's about the same percentage. If I were to expand that area to say 1/4 mile and include the closest 2 fields to my location I would say it's closer to 30%. After tomorrow it will probably be close to 25%. A lot of areas between BowMe and here it is already in that 25% percentage range. 

 

Few pictures from today along the lake in Kenosha and one of the Des Plaines River. 

 

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Went to the park to take some practice shots with my new camera. I love it, and the zoom is amazing. It was a very BRIGHT day with blue skies and white snow.

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Utilizing 26X zoom...this is a shot taken from Elizabeth Park in Trenton looking clear across the Detroit River onto Grosse Ile. I couldnt even see what it looked like til I saw the pic, and noticed a swan lol

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I like this pic because in the footprint you can see the difference between fresh snow and ancient snow lol

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How do they measure snow coverR?  Shouldn't that be when the last of the parking lot glaciers disappear?   Some of the farm fields around here are showing bare spots, but the woods still have a ton. 

Conifers must absorb a ton of heat.  I've noticed the same thing around here.  

Snow cover is the average amount of "natural" snow on the ground in the general area obs are taken. Its almost always an average as snow varies (this winter with so many snowstorms and windstorms its been EXTREMELY variable here), but you wouldnt be including things like man-made snow piles or areas that are influenced by concrete, road salt, etc.

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It's kind of strange, the forests that are not evergreens and are more sun filled have more snow. But around evergreens the snow is completely gone - both under the trees and around them. Actually it's not that strange - the dark green absorbs more rays during the day. Windy and exposed areas are the prime areas where the snow has mostly melted out. In fact before it got cold yesterday afternoon there was mud to be had in sunny places.

 

Temp leveled off here and should start rising soon.

 

could also be that less snow makes it thru the evergreens and onto the ground...so less accumulation under evergreen trees.

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