hazwoper Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 ^. Yes. Poorly worded from Ralph based on today's discussion. Look everyone, I agree it can accumulate in early march, and quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchel Volk Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 C'mon Mitch. You know you cannot compare this to 1888. Nor to any nor'easter for that matter (as modeled). Oops, I just read the tittle of the post, as for this storm it will depend on snowfall rates and surface temps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rjay Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Look everyone, I agree it can accumulate in early march, and quite a bit.Yes this is not debatable but your thoughts certainly are. It really isn't a bad debate. I just happen to disagree with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazwoper Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Yes this is not debatable but your thoughts certainly are. It really isn't a bad debate. I just happen to disagree with you. Fair enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RU848789 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 As I said on the other thread, it's really a very simple equation: accumulation rate = snowfall rate - snow melt rate. The snow melt rate is a function of the surface temp, the amount of UV radiation reaching the ground (a function of cloud cover), what type of surface and how much UV it absorbs. The only one of those variables affected by the time of year is the amount of UV radiation reaching the ground during the day, which obviously increases with increasing sun angle. So, all other things being equal, the melting rate at midday in early March will be much greater than the melting rate at midday in early January (and at all times throughout the day, comparatively speaking), meaning the accumulation rate will be significantly less in early March at midday for two identical storms producing the same snowfall rate. I don't know that exact melting rate at midday in early March, via measurement, but I do know that, typically, "light" snow (say about 1/4" per hour) tends to melt as fast as it falls, i.e., it does not accumulate at all at 32F in early March, while light snow will accumulate at 32F in early January. This effect is exacerbated for paved/dark surfaces like asphalt (I'd guess 3/8" per hour will melt on asphalt at midday in early March); however, keep in mind that the asphalt effect disappears once a layer of snow is established, such that the UV radiation is no longer absorbed by the pavement. Obviously, in an April snowstorm, during the day, it better be snowing at least moderately for much accumuation to occur, but even if it's snowing at 2" per hour at 32F, probably close to 1/2" per hour is melting, but nobody is likely noticing that, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saturn510 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 It snows and sticks in jerusalem . Im sure they dont worry about sun angle there. We have all seen snow accumulate in nyc metro from october to april dont know why it bothers people about sun angle. And no matter how hard you beat the ratio drum we always find a way to be between 8 and 13:1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBG Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Yes it sure can. Discuss here and keep it out of the storm thread as it is becoming unreadable. Nope clearly not possible Snow can accumulate in May if snowfall rates are high. As late as April 6-7, 1982 we had about 10" of powdery snow fall and accumulate. In terms of recent storms, March 2, 2009 comes to mind. Last March we had a couple that accumulated before changeover to rain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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