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Can Snow Accumulate in Early March?


Ralph Wiggum

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Its really a combination of snowfall rate, time of day and temps more so than time of year. If its 31 and light snow in late december around noon is it going to stick to pavement? probably not. However I remember an event in March 07 where temps were in the upper teens and light snow was falling in the middle of the day and the roads were horrendous. I think if its below 27 or 28 snow will stick in early march even at midday even if its fairly light.

 

this is the event: temps were a bit colder than I remembered but not too far off from where we might be for next week

 

http://www.raymondcmartinjr.com/weather/2007/07-Mar-07-RegionalSurfaceObservations.html

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 anyone remember April 2003?...4-7" fell during the day with temps near freezing...

I remember watching the snow accumulate on blacktop at work mid day that event. 6-7" storm. Incredibly snow remained on Limekiln Pike road in shaded areas several days after the event i couldn't believe it was April.

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sublimation.

The solar radiation is stroner and stronger eveyday as we approach spring. And I am not saying it won't accumulate, I am just saying not as much as the maps of the model output would have you believe

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/203/

You're right about sublimation but not to the extent you're making it out to be.
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sublimation.

The solar radiation is stroner and stronger eveyday as we approach spring. And I am not saying it won't accumulate, I am just saying not as much as the maps of the model output would have you believe

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/203/

Thanks for the link.

" A night snowfall has the potential of producing much more accumulation than a day snowfall, especially in lower latitudes. The advantages of a night snow include:

(1) more likely temperatures will be cooler and stay cooler without being increased gradually by daytime heating

(2) no shortwave energy to sublimate the snow or warm ambient air temperatures and surface objects

(3) given the same temperature profile of the troposphere, a night snow will have a lower liquid content since no shortwave radiation is present

(4) less traffic on the roads.

These four advantages apply most significantly to a snowfall that occurs when temperatures are near freezing (i.e. a 32 F snowfall at 2 am vs. a 32 F snowfall at 2 pm). " <<<<<<

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Sun angle argument and " the ground is too warm" argument are incredibly overused evidence for snow not to accumulate.

Not with sun angle.If it doesn't snow hard during the day in March you are not going to see accumulations on the roads and sidewalks..I have seen so many March systems like that..If it snows heavy,say an inch an hour or more, it's a different story and at night,snow will accumulate without a problem if the temp is below freezing

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April has had snow storms never mind march historically anyone remember i think back in the 70's we had a foot from what i recollect NYC ? april 6th 1982 9 inches their you go.

no one is saying it cannot accumulate in March. The questiuon is how much it can accumulate with low rates and an increasing amount of short wave radiation from the sun.

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no one is saying it cannot accumulate in March. The questiuon is how much it can accumulate with low rates and an increasing amount of short wave radiation from the sun.

The key is the rates. If the rates are high enough, it makes no difference.

And April '82 was one of my top 5 all-time favorite events... 14" (most of which fell in the afternoon) and major thundersnow, high temp 22°F on 4/7.

And who could forget June 6-8 1816... But I digress, I'm dating myself. :)

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The key is the rates. If the rates are high enough, it makes no difference. :)

Agree completely and that was all I was trying to say. Most of the event (as modeled on the 12Z GFS was a long duration, low rate event which the snowfall maps gave a 10-1 ratio for the entirety. Therefore, they were incorrect.

And please stop with the "what happens on the 29th" stuff. If you have zero scientific knowledge of the subject, you add absolutely nothing the the thread.

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Agree completely and that was all I was trying to say. Most of the event (as modeled on the 12Z GFS was a long duration, low rate event which the snowfall maps gave a 10-1 ratio for the entirety. Therefore, they were incorrect.

And please stop with the "what happens on the 29th" stuff. If you have zero scientific knowledge of the subject, you add absolutely nothing the the thread.

And my contention is that if the 12z gfs did verify it would stick easily with temps like that. It would only melt/compact if there was a complete break in the snow and even then it would be pretty minimal with temps around 20. With that said, it would certainly melt quite quickly over the next couple of days whether is was below freezing or not.

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Strange thread. The simple answer is yes. In fact, mostly all areas average some snow in march anyway lol. And I'm sure we've all seen at least some snow accumulate in April as well. Several years ago, I saw 5" of snow accumulate rather quickly here in NENJ in mid April mid afternoon

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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And please stop with the "what happens on the 29th" stuff. If you have zero scientific knowledge of the subject, you add absolutely nothing the the thread.

Its pretty clear he was making a joke...it added more to the thread than this antagonistic paragraph.

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One other factor. Often with these march/April events we're dealing with a warmer ground ahead of the event from temps in the 40's or 50's. Certainly limits accumulations during light precip. The ground sure won't be warm for the march 2 event.

Unless it rains...lol

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