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Pittsburgh/ Western PA Part III


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Just checked radar and those do look to mean business. I hope they hold together. I wasn't expecting much after things died down this morning. NWS has a special weather statement:

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENTNATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA745 AM EST FRI JAN 9 2015OHZ040-041-049-050-058-059-PAZ007-008-013>016-020>023-029-031-073-WVZ001>004-091345-ALLEGHENY PA-ARMSTRONG PA-BEAVER PA-BELMONT OH-BROOKE WV-BUTLER PA-CARROLL OH-CLARION PA-COLUMBIANA OH-GREENE PA-GUERNSEY OH-HANCOCK WV-HARRISON OH-INDIANA PA-JEFFERSON PA-JEFFERSON OH-LAWRENCE PA-MARSHALL WV-MERCER PA-OHIO WV-VENANGO PA-WASHINGTON PA-WESTMORELAND PA-745 AM EST FRI JAN 9 2015...BRIEF SNOW SQUALLS WILL AFFECT THE AREA...AT 745 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN PITTSBURGHSHOWED SCATTERED SNOW SQUALLS ALONG A LINE FROM CLINTONVILLE TOLEETONIA TO LONDONDERRY...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.THESE SNOW SQUALLS WILL RAPIDLY DROP VISIBILITY TO LESS THAN AQUARTER OF A MILE AND QUICKLY COAT UNTREATED ROADS.  LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...  TAPPAN...             PIEDMONT...           MILLPORT...  MECHANICSTOWN...      LONDONDERRY...  GUILFORD LAKE STATE PARK...                 CLENDENING...  AUGUSTA...            CLINTONVILLE...       CARROLLTON...  SCIO...               FREEPORT...  PITTSBURGH...PLEASE REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER BY POSTING TO THE NWS PITTSBURGHFACEBOOK PAGE OR BY USING TWITTER @NWSPITTSBURGH.LAT...LON 4040 7997 4001 8021 4004 8141 4094 8088      4091 8053 4104 8052 4121 7988 4101 7886

Picked up a solid 2 inches overnight.

Snow and wind has picked up. 

These squalls moving in look to be our heaviest of the year.

Would love to get a crack of lightning and thunder with the squall.

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The one thing I see that favors a more frozen outcome is that 1040+ high pressing in from the plains. Lots of other details in the mix though. I agree, I'd take a foot of snow over ice, but if an ice storm is incoming I'll probably still track it.

We'll have a stale air mass by Monday so it looks like a marginal event.  I guess there's a chance for a serious ice storm, but I don't think anyone wants that.  I'll take two feet of snow to an inch of ice anytime.

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Outside shoveling and the squall comes roaring through and negated all the work I did.

Yep this squall affected just about everybody. Had heavy snow 30 mph winds and for about 10-15 minutes. Picked up another solid 1/2 inch or so. Hard to tell with the winds. I'm about to get hit with a smaller one and then another behind it moving through Beaver County.

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Strongly positive NAO/AO; I don't see a 50/50 low or even a high pressure to lock it down.  Probably lucky we aren't getting a lakes cutter in this environment.  Unfortunately that could mean a nasty ice storm, which I'd really like to punt.  Rather just have rain, believe it or not, if it can't snow.

 

Newest GFS looks pretty flat @ 48 hours.  Decent moisture coming out of the south.  High retreating off the East coast.  Overall I don't see many positive signals for a snowstorm, at least not for us south of the city.  Those from city points north will likely be okay for snow, but it won't be a significant storm with this look.  NAM looks very similar overall.

 

I don't have access to Euro/PGFS/UK, so someone else can hopefully chime in with what they see.

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On my coffee break and did some model research and just reading what people are saying about this storm. Trends are not looking good. Euro still has a good hit

6214B1E1-0A86-4E5E-A1FE-7B0EAB8FE37D_zps

But we have seen this all too many times. We always are radar watching waiting for the freezing line to drop south of us. Hopefully this trends colder and we don't see an ice storm. I can drive in 3-5 inches of snow but .1-.25 inches of ice will paralyze commuters.

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000
FXUS61 KPBZ 092319 AAA
AFDPBZ

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
619 PM EST FRI JAN 9 2015

.SYNOPSIS...
BITTER COLD THROUGH SATURDAY WILL MODERATE SUNDAY. A STORM SYSTEM
WILL BRING SNOW AND A WINTRY MIX LATER SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY/...
620PM UPDATE...OVERNIGHT PERIOD IN GOOD SHAPE. MADE MODEST CHANGES
TO OVERNIGHT POPS AND INCLUDE MENTION OF FLURRIES OUTSIDE OF
FORECASTED SNOW SHOWER AREAS. TEMPS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED WITH LATEST
GUIDANCE.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...

SNOW SHOWERS ON THE WANE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AS FLOW BECOMES MORE
WESTERLY AND MUCH DRIER AIR MOVES EAST. TEMPERATURES HAVE BEGUN TO
FALL OFF AND WILL REACH BELOW ZERO ACROSS THE REGION OVERNIGHT.
WINDS STILL LOOK TO STAY ELEVATED AND WIND CHILLS NEAR -20 LOOK
REASONABLE. TIMING OF WIND CHILL ADVISORY STILL LOOKS GOOD WITH NO
CHANGES. CORE OF ARCTIC AIR WILL BEGIN TO SHIFT EAST DURING THE
DAY SATURDAY WITH TEMPERATURES BEGINNING TO RECOVER IN THE
AFTERNOON INTO THE TEENS WITH WINDS DIMINISHING.

&&

.SHORT TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/...
SURFACE HIGH SHIFTS EAST TO THE MID ATLANTIC COAST ALLOWING FOR
ONLY A SLIGHT FALL OFF IN TEMPERATURES SATURDAY NIGHT INTO THE
SINGLE DIGITS...AND MAY BEGIN TO RISE LATE. WARMING TREND
CONTINUES SUNDAY ALTHOUGH TEMPERATURES WILL STILL BE A BIT BELOW
AVERAGE. CLOUDS INCREASE DURING THE DAY SUNDAY AHEAD OF SOUTHERN
STREAM TROUGH AND DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE TO MOVE TOWARD THE LOWER
OHIO VALLEY MONDAY. A BLEND OF THE GFS AND ECMWF SHOWS PRECIP
TO START A BIT EARLIER WITH SNOW OR A WINTRY MIX LIKELY AFTER
MIDNIGHT WEST OF I-79 AND QUICKLY SPREADING NORTH AND EAST.
FORECAST STORM TRACK AND TEMPERATURE PROFILE WILL LIKELY CHANGE
QUITE A LOT BETWEEN NOW AND MONDAY SO FOR NOW HAVE A WINTRY MIX UP
TO LATROBE-PITTSBURGH-COSHOCTON LINE WITH MAINLY SNOW NORTH. APPEARS
TO BE AN ADVISORY TYPE EVENT FOR MIXED PRECIP AND ICING
SOUTH...AND SNOW ACCUMULATIONS NORTH.

&&

.LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/...
SNOW SHOWERS MAY LINGER INTO MONDAY NIGHT BEFORE HIGH PRESSURE
BUILDS IN TUESDAY. THE SOUTHERN STREAM TRIES TO REASSERT ITSELF
DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK AS A SHORTWAVE MOVES FROM THE
ROCKIES TOWARDS THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD BY THURSDAY. THE MODELS ARE
STILL UNSETTLED...ALTHOUGH THERE DOES APPEAR TO BE A DECENT CHANCE
OF ORGANIZED PRECIPITATION TOWARDS THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT/THURSDAY
TIME PERIOD. HIGH PRESSURE MAY THEN TRY TO RETURN ON FRIDAY.
TEMPERATURES WILL RUN NEAR OR A BIT BELOW SEASONAL NORMS.

&&

.AVIATION /23Z FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
STLT/CU RULE/MDL SOUNDINGS INDICATE VFR TO OCNL MVFR CIGS WITH SCT
SNW SHWRS CONTG THRU THIS AFTN UNDER BROAD UPR TROFG. ALL VFR IS
EXPD BY THIS EVE. CLDS SHOULD CLR OUT TNGT FM SW-NE UNDER BLDG
HIGH PRES...WHICH IS EXPD TO LAST THRU SAT. GUSTY WSW WNDS WL CONT
UNTIL DMNSHG THIS EVE.

OUTLOOK.../SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
RSTRNS ARE EXPD SUN NGT AND MON WITH ADVNG LOW PRES.

&&

.PBZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MD...WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL 1 PM EST SATURDAY FOR MDZ001.
OH...WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL 1 PM EST SATURDAY FOR OHZ039>041-
048>050-057>059-068-069.
PA...WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL 1 PM EST SATURDAY FOR PAZ007>009-
013>016-020>023-029-031-073>076.
WV...WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL 1 PM EST SATURDAY FOR WVZ001>004-012-
021>023-041.

&&

$
 

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NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
916 AM EST SAT JAN 10 2015

.SYNOPSIS...
BITTER COLD THROUGH SATURDAY WILL MODERATE SUNDAY. A STORM SYSTEM
WILL BRING SNOW AND A WINTRY MIX LATER SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/...
NO CHANGES NEEDED FOR THE MID MORNING UPDATE. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION
BELOW.

MODIFIED ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO HOLD SWAY OVER THE FORECAST AREA
THIS MORNING AS A ROUGHLY 1038 MB SURFACE HIGH MOVES FROM THE
CENTRAL OHIO VALLEY TOWARD THE SOUTHERN MIDDLE ATLANTIC THROUGH
THE DAY. WITH A VERY DRY COLUMN AND LOW LEVEL FLOW CONTINUING TO
BE JUST A BIT SOUTH OF DUE WEST...THIS SHOULD KEEP VERY DRY AIR
OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE DAY. AS A RESULT...ABUNDANT SUNSHINE
SHOULD RESULT. WITH DRY AIR IN PLACE AND SUN...TEMPERATURES SHOULD
MANAGE TO ACHIEVE MORE UPWARD MOBILITY THAN GUIDANCE WOULD SUGGEST
TODAY. AS SUCH...WHILE MODEL OUTPUT WOULD SUPPORT WIDESPREAD
SINGLE DIGITS FOR HIGHS...A COMBINATION OF A BIT OF BOUNDARY LAYER
MIXING AND INSOLATION SHOULD ALLOW MOST LOCATIONS AT LEAST SOUTH
OF I-80 TO ACHIEVE HIGHS IN THE TEENS.

AS THE SURFACE HIGH MOVES OFF THE COAST TONIGHT INTO
SUNDAY...SOUTHWESTERLY WARM ADVECTION SHOULD GRADUALLY INCREASE.
THIS WILL LIKELY KEEP A FLOOR UNDERNEATH TEMPERATURES TONIGHT AS
WELL AS ALLOW FOR FAIRLY AGGRESSIVE WARMING ON SUNDAY IN
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW WITH DRY AIR STILL IN PLACE. HOWEVER...AS
DEEPER MOISTURE BUILDS TOWARD THE AREA BY AFTERNOON...THE
CONTINUED EFFECTS OF DRY AIR IN THE COLUMN PORTRAYED ON TIME
HEIGHT SECTIONS FROM THE ENTIRETY OF GUIDANCE WOULD POINT TOWARD
LIGHT SNOW BEING THE PREDOMINANT P-TYPE AT LEAST AT THE ONSET OF
PRECIPITATION IN OHIO BY LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON DUE TO WET BULB
COOLING. FRIES

&&

.SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/...
A BROAD UPPER TROF DIGGING INTO THE NRN GREAT LAKES SUN NIGHT INTO
MON WILL BRING PRECIPITATION BACK TO THE AREA. INTERACTION BETWEEN
THE NRN STREAM SYSTEM AND ANOTHER WEAK LOW NEAR TEXAS WILL ALLOW FOR
COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF GULF MOISTURE TO STREAM IN FOLLOWING THE 850MB
FLOW SUNDAY NIGHT. AS RELATIVELY WARM AND MOIST SRLY FLOW ENTERS OUR
FORECAST AREA A SFC COLD FRONT WILL DROP OUT OF THE GREAT LAKES.
SLIGHT OVERRUNNING OF MID-LEVEL WARM AIR WILL RESULT IN AT LEAST
SOME MIXED PRECIPITATION TYPES THROUGH OUR SRN ZONES.

DETERMINING THE EXTENT OF WARM AIR ADVECTION AND TIMING THE ARRIVAL
OF THE COLD AIR FROM THE NW WILL BE VITAL IN FORECASTING THE
RESULTANT PTYPES. ATTM THE 850MB WAA FIGURES TO BRING A WARM NOSE
INTO SE OH...NRN WV...EXTREME SWPA AND MARYLAND. DIRECT OUTPUT FROM
THE DETERMINISTIC MODELS SEEM A BIT BULLISH ON FREEZING RAIN
POTENTIAL GIVEN THE FORECAST SOUNDING DATA AND MID-LEVEL TEMPERATURE
TRENDS. IN THE LATEST MODEL SUITE MANY LOCATIONS NEAR PGH SHOW ONLY
A MODEST 1-2KFT WARM LAYER ABOUT 5KFT ABOVE THE SFC EARLY MON
MORNING. THIS LAYER IS DEEPER ACROSS OUR SRN ZONES...EVEN INCLUDING
RAIN SOUNDINGS IN OUR HIGHER ELEVATIONS. NORTH AND WEST OF PGH THE
SOUNDINGS TEND TO FAVOR PREDOMINANTLY SNOW OR A SNOW/SLEET MIX FOR A
FEW HOURS. CHANGES WITH THIS UPDATE WERE TO INCLUDE MORE SLEET
ACROSS THE BROAD RAIN/SNOW TRANSITION LINE THAT WILL DIVIDE OUR
FORECAST AREA AND INCLUDE LESS FREEZING RAIN OVERALL. A LOOK AT THE
PAST THREE NAM RUNS SHOWS A TREND TOWARD COLDER MID-LEVELS WITH EACH
SUBSEQUENT RUN.

IN TERMS OF PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS...THE SYSTEM IN GENERAL IS WEAKLY
FORCED BUT MODEST LIFT ACROSS THE FRONTAL ZONE MON MORNING WITH
ISENTROPIC UPGLIDE SHOULD RESULT IN A BAND OF PRECIPITATION THROUGH
ERN OH AND WRN PA. TIMING AND LOCATION COULD MEAN SNOW FOR THE
MONDAY MORNING COMMUTE WITH SLEET MIXING IN SOUTH OF PGH. OVERALL
SNOW FORECAST HASNT CHANGED MUCH IN THIS UPDATE...STILL LOOKING AT
2-3" FOR NRN ZONES...1-3" FROM I-80 SOUTH TO THE MASON-DIXON LINE
AND AROUND AND INCH SOUTH OF THAT POINT. ICE TOTALS HAVE BEEN CUT
BACK WITH THE FORECAST CALLING FOR MORE SLEET THAN FZRA.
TAX

&&


.LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/...
HIGH PRESSURE IN THE WAKE OF THE EARLY WEEK SYSTEM WILL MEAN
DIMINISHING CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION THROUGH MID-WEEK. A STRONG
1040MB SFC HIGH WILL SETTLE IN JUST NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA
KEEPING THE SRLY MOISTURE FEED AT BAY. A WEAK SYSTEM TRIES TO SKIRT
OUR SRN PERIPHERY TUES NIGHT INTO WEDS...BUT WILL LARGELY REMAIN OUT
OF THE AREA. WEDS NIGHT A STRONGER LOW WILL DEEPEN AS IT MOVES EAST
OUT OF THE TN VALLEY. THIS LOW LOOKS TO TRANSITION TO A COASTAL
SYSTEM DAY 6 WITH MINIMAL IMPACT TO OUR FORECAST AREA.
TAX

&&

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It wouldn't surprise me if Monday's threat trends warmer and warmer as it we get closer. That's what has typically happened to us over the years with storms like this.

Normally I would agree with this idea, but this one may be different. Usually we have a high much further east that favors cad east of the apps and our cold gets scoured out. This time we have a high building in from the west which I think would favor us rather than the usual cad areas. NWS notes the NAM has been getting colder with each run and lessened the ice potential in favor of sleet.

 

IN THE LATEST MODEL SUITE MANY LOCATIONS NEAR PGH SHOW ONLY

A MODEST 1-2KFT WARM LAYER ABOUT 5KFT ABOVE THE SFC EARLY MON

MORNING. THIS LAYER IS DEEPER ACROSS OUR SRN ZONES...EVEN INCLUDING

RAIN SOUNDINGS IN OUR HIGHER ELEVATIONS. NORTH AND WEST OF PGH THE

SOUNDINGS TEND TO FAVOR PREDOMINANTLY SNOW OR A SNOW/SLEET MIX FOR A

FEW HOURS. CHANGES WITH THIS UPDATE WERE TO INCLUDE MORE SLEET

ACROSS THE BROAD RAIN/SNOW TRANSITION LINE THAT WILL DIVIDE OUR

FORECAST AREA AND INCLUDE LESS FREEZING RAIN OVERALL. A LOOK AT THE

PAST THREE NAM RUNS SHOWS A TREND TOWARD COLDER MID-LEVELS WITH EACH

SUBSEQUENT RUN.

 

That being said, given past precedence, cautious optimism for another advisory event featuring more snow and sleet than zr or plain rain should be the extent of ones expectations until we get closer. I'd like to see that band of snow on the NAM trend further south.

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Short range models arent looking too good. I am usually positive when it comes to these things because I like snow but I just don't see this trending colder. Euro trended away from it and so did the other models. WRF and High rez NAM don't look too good and neither does the HRR. It is gonna be a case of the typical WTOD winning the battle. I hope Thunderhead can speak about this because he obviously knows more about this than a lot of us.

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