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December Forecast Discussion


REDMK6GLI

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a HUGE LOL if you think one year skews a historical average, especially because the chart since the late 1800's is posted one page before this.

December 2010 was top 5 all time at Central Park since records began. We're talking about a total that is well above average. A statistical anomaly. Any departure from average that great is going to skew the overall mean.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't the Boxing Day blizzard happen during an unfavorable pattern? I remember it being a surprise to everyone and the models only agreeing on the storm a day or two before the event.

Massive -NAO and transient +PNA ridge. It was a good pattern...

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Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't the Boxing Day blizzard happen during an unfavorable pattern? I remember it being a surprise to everyone and the models only agreeing on the storm a day or two before the event.

The models sniffed out the storm more than 10 days out, lost it 3-5 days out and then brought it back on Christmas Eve

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December 2010 was top 5 all time at Central Park since records began. We're talking about a total that is well above average. A statistical anomaly. Any departure from average that great is going to skew the overall mean.

Only about a tenth of an inch. It obviously skewed the decade and 30 year average much more but if you're going to back all time its fairly insignificant.

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Massive -NAO and transient +PNA ridge. It was a good pattern...

The ridge was unusually far East in the plains that was somewhat rare for big east coast winter storms but the strongly -NAO helped it happen anyway, if that's not as west based as it was that storm is almost surely out to sea.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't the Boxing Day blizzard happen during an unfavorable pattern? I remember it being a surprise to everyone and the models only agreeing on the storm a day or two before the event.

it was actually a great pattern.   There was a near miss the weekend before and then this storm came.  But we had it all, blocking, plentiful fresh cold air etc. Pattern broke down for a couple of weeks and then reloaded for the 2 January bombs.

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My preference is always a fairly mild winter with 30 or so inches of snow that's enough and you don't freeze your butt off

Sounds like you're pretty well matched to where we live lol..that's your average NYC winter.

 

I'd sign for well below temps, 90 days of snowcover, and wouldn't complain all too much if we didn't get any one snowfall over 6". 

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it was actually a great pattern. There was a near miss the weekend before and then this storm came. But we had it all, blocking, plentiful fresh cold air etc. Pattern broke down for a couple of weeks and then reloaded for the 2 January bombs.

Yes the -NAO was so powerful it fought off the influence of the strong La Niña until February. The block persisted for over 5 weeks from mid dec to late jan.

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No give me brutality cold with snow from Nov to April. last year was near perfect

 

I recall people critiquing last winter...saying it was "ok"...but flawed in some aspects.  Like they say...a person never appreciates something 'till its gone. 

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I recall people critiquing last winter...saying it was "ok"...but flawed in some aspects.  Like they say...a person never appreciates something 'till its gone.

It's only flaw were the two brief warmups: one in 2nd half of Dec, one in mid January. March was rough for many but I did well with 5.1" snow.
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I recall people critiquing last winter...saying it was "ok"...but flawed in some aspects.  Like they say...a person never appreciates something 'till its gone. 

The cold was great last winter but nearly every event was a nailbiter as they came on at the last minute. There was little blocking or help from the NAO so we were very lucky with the timing and track of these storms, as stronger waves could have evolved into lake cutters, and then from late Feb on we were plagued with constant suppression. There also weren't any huge storms that delivered 18"+ amounts, so people might have thought less of it because of it being more of a parade of moderate/significant snow events. 

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The cold was great last winter but nearly every event was a nailbiter as they came on at the last minute. There was little blocking or help from the NAO so we were very lucky with the timing and track of these storms, as stronger waves could have evolved into lake cutters, and then from late Feb on we were plagued with constant suppression. There also weren't any huge storms that delivered 18"+ amounts, so people might have thought less of it because of it being more of a parade of moderate/significant snow events. 

 

When you get 200% of your average annual snowfall plus plenty of days when the ground was well covered with snow (I had 71 such days, tied with 2002-03 for most this century)...you can overlook the minor shortcomings.  This ain't Marquette.   

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When you get 200% of your average annual snowfall plus plenty of days when the ground was well covered with snow (I had 71 such days, tied with 2002-03 for most this century)...you can overlook the minor shortcomings. This ain't Marquette.

A+ post for an A+ winter.

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When you get 200% of your average annual snowfall plus plenty of days when the ground was well covered with snow (I had 71 such days, tied with 2002-03 for most this century)...you can overlook the minor shortcomings.  This ain't Marquette.   

 

What's with the ground being covered in snow as something to be happy about? It gets brown, icy and disgusting. I never understood that fascination.

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What's with the ground being covered in snow as something to be happy about? It gets brown, icy and disgusting. I never understood that fascination.

Wintry appeal, to borrow a phrase from the NE forum.  A blanket of white instead of the hard, dormant lawns and ground cover.  But I agree the shine wears off quickly in urban areas. 

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Yeah, I'll never understand how anybody could bemoan last winter. A few inland locations were arguably on track for 100" before somebody raised the shields, but anything more than what we got in terms of cold and snow would have been borderline obscene.

To nitpick...we torched in the days preceding Christmas.  Despite all the travel headaches etc, Id take 12/15 - 1/1 to be cold and snowy. 

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Much above normal NYC snowfall has been rare during El Nino Decembers in NYC since 1980.

Only 2 out of 10 years had a sufficiently negative AO pattern for both great snowfall and below

normal temperatures. Snowfall outcomes were generally similar if the temperature departure

was closer to  +1 or +5 for the month. The current snowfall average for NYC in December is 4.8"

Without the strong Greenland blocking pattern, Pacific air dominates North America with a

strong Aleutian Low raising the EPO. 

 

Departures calculated  current 30 year average of 37.5:

 

December 2009.......-1.6.....12.4"

December 2006.......+6.1.... 0"

December 2004.......+0.9.....3.0"

December 2002.......-1.5.....11.0" 

December 1997.......+0.8....T

December 1994.......+4.7....T

december 1991.......+2.1....0.7"

December 1987......+2.0....2.6"

December 1986......+1.5....0.6"

December 1982......+5.3....3.0"

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