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Northern Ohio Obs/Discussion Part 2


Trent
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Good soaking rain today. Yard is starting to turn more green and trees are starting to turn as well.

Hard to believe we are approaching the month where we may see first flakes or even accumulation. Nov 1 last year was first flakes, and the year before was the last week of October accumulating snow. The lake should be primed from the warm fall!

 

Picked up 1.26" of rain yesterday. We really needed that. Definitely noticing the colors starting to pop. A lot of the leaves from the maples in my yard are wilting and falling.

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Finally getting some fall-like weather with the cool mornings and evenings. Trees seem to be changing rather fast now.

Not sure what it means...if anything, but I have noticed a very high number of squirrels lately. Either running across the road or in the yard. Seems like a lot more than in years past.

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Finally getting some fall-like weather with the cool mornings and evenings. Trees seem to be changing rather fast now.

Not sure what it means...if anything, but I have noticed a very high number of squirrels lately. Either running across the road or in the yard. Seems like a lot more than in years past.

Apparently those squirrels haven't seen recent runs of the CFS :P

I'm a bit nervous about this winter...hopefully we can get some lake effect events even if we overall have a slow winter.

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Apparently those squirrels haven't seen recent runs of the CFS :P

I'm a bit nervous about this winter...hopefully we can get some lake effect events even if we overall have a slow winter.

 

From what I'm reading November looks cool/cold. Maybe we'll get a decent early season LES event... those are the best IMO. Leaves have really started to change this week. Color is so so though. Seems like a lot of the leaves in my yard are just wilting and falling.

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Apparently those squirrels haven't seen recent runs of the CFS :P

I'm a bit nervous about this winter...hopefully we can get some lake effect events even if we overall have a slow winter.

Haha! Ya I hear ya. I'm kind of on the fence still. If its not a total torch, we can still get good Les, and not worry much about lake ice. On the other hand...see 2012 lol ( I think that was the recent dud) .

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WITH THE COLD POOL ALOFT...LAKE EFFECT RAIN/SNOW
SHOWERS WILL GET GOING FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY BEHIND THE FRONT WITH
NORTHWEST FLOW OFF THE LAKE.
NOT SURE HOW MUCH THOUGH WITH VERY DRY
AIR IN PLACE ON SATURDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE FILLS IN BEHIND THE FRONT.
AT THIS POINT...GIVEN THE DRIER AIRMASS...RESTRICTED THE COVERAGE TO
THE AREAS IMMEDIATELY DOWNWIND OF THE LAKE.

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WITH THE COLD POOL ALOFT...LAKE EFFECT RAIN/SNOW

SHOWERS WILL GET GOING FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY BEHIND THE FRONT WITH

NORTHWEST FLOW OFF THE LAKE. NOT SURE HOW MUCH THOUGH WITH VERY DRY

AIR IN PLACE ON SATURDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE FILLS IN BEHIND THE FRONT.

AT THIS POINT...GIVEN THE DRIER AIRMASS...RESTRICTED THE COVERAGE TO

THE AREAS IMMEDIATELY DOWNWIND OF THE LAKE.

 

850 temps get down to -6 or -7 Saturday night. Not sure what other parameters look like but that should be good enough for snow to mix in. Hopefully we don't get another October 2013. I still have dead branches hanging in the trees from that LES event.

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850 temps get down to -6 or -7 Saturday night. Not sure what other parameters look like but that should be good enough for snow to mix in. Hopefully we don't get another October 2013. I still have dead branches hanging in the trees from that LES event.

I don't think anything will stick right now. The airmass gets pretty dry by Friday night and through the weekend, and it's a short fetch. The airmass is also a bit warmer than the October 2013 event. So any showers could have some flakes mixed in Saturday or Saturday night, but the only chance at any accumulation would be in the higher terrain of NW PA if a Lake Huron band can establish itself...but even there I wouldn't expect much.

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The recent NAM and GFS are looking better for a possible burst of lake effect precip Saturday night...but with 850mb temps of around -5C by that time and a northwest flow blowing lake modified inland and preventing a consolidated band from setting up, I still don't think there's any accums.

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I'm sort of interested in Saturday night wherever the Huron connection sets up. Looks like a little shortwave moves through with a period of good moisture and extreme instability. 850mb temps of roughly -6C in a NW flow are sort of meh, but if the band can setup in the higher terrain of Geauga or (more likely) NW PA a 1-3" type accumulation wouldn't shock me by Sunday morning.

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I'm sort of interested in Saturday night wherever the Huron connection sets up. Looks like a little shortwave moves through with a period of good moisture and extreme instability. 850mb temps of roughly -6C in a NW flow are sort of meh, but if the band can setup in the higher terrain of Geauga or (more likely) NW PA a 1-3" type accumulation wouldn't shock me by Sunday morning.

 

While -6C isn't all that impressive... lake temps are still hovering near 60. Extreme instability to say the least. Looks like a 320-310 wind direction which isn't the best. Should be good for a few heavy bursts at times though.

post-1277-0-48418100-1444996728_thumb.gi

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A pretty good band has been over NEOH and dta for a while, I suspect they'll wake up to an inch or so of snow on the ground. CLE put out a special weather statement...parts of NW PA did alright it seems:

 

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
236 AM EDT SUN OCT 18 2015

OHZ012>014-022-023-089-PAZ001>003-180845-
LAKE-GEAUGA-ASHTABULA INLAND-PORTAGE-TRUMBULL-ASHTABULA LAKESHORE-
NORTHERN ERIE-SOUTHERN ERIE-CRAWFORD PA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MENTOR...CHARDON...JEFFERSON...
RAVENNA...WARREN...ASHTABULA...ERIE...EDINBORO...MEADVILLE
236 AM EDT SUN OCT 18 2015

SOME OF THE MORE PERSISTENT AREAS OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW HAVE STARTED
TO PRODUCE ACCUMULATION. LOCALLY SOME OF THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF
ERIE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA HAS SEEN UP TO 2 INCHES. THE REST OF THE
SNOWBELT HAS SEEN ONLY SPOTTY ACCUMULATION OF LESS THAN AN INCH.

THE BANDS OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO LATE
MORNING THEN START TO DECREASE. SOME HIGHER TERRAIN AREAS COULD
SEE ANOTHER INCH OR TWO OF ACCUMULATION.

EVEN THOUGH ROADWAY TEMPERATURES ARE STILL ABOVE FREEZING...THE
HEAVIER BURSTS OF SNOW WILL STILL COVER THE ROADS AS THE RATE OF
ACCUMULATION EXCEEDS THE RATE OF MELT. AREAS OF SLIPPERY ROADS
WILL BE PRESENT THIS MORNING SO MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION
AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

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  • 2 weeks later...

With all these 70+ degree days and a generally mild fall, I can only imagine what the lake could produce when we get the first Arctic blast of the season. The buoy between Lorain and Pelee is reporting a water temp of 58 today.

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I don't think the lake freezing in January will be an issue this year unless December goes against essentially every forecast out there. Even if we end up with somewhat below normal snow, one or two nice southern stream systems combined with a couple good LES events (by good I mean foot plus in the Snowbelt) would still make it fun...especially if it's backloaded and we get a nice busy period in maybe February.

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MAYBE some graupel or wet snow flakes mixing in Friday into Saturday? If I don't see any snow when I'm in NE Ohio over Thanksgiving I suspect I may be waiting till Christmas :lol:

MAYBE some graupel or wet snow flakes mixing in Friday into Saturday? If I don't see any snow when I'm in NE Ohio over Thanksgiving I suspect I may be waiting till Christmas :lol:

Yep, looks to be a little snow/mix in the forecast for Fri night and Saturday. It'll be nice to see some flakes. I was out of town in Oct when we had our first flakes.

Have you seen this article ; http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cle/office/localinterest/enso.html

There's a small section about lake effect and correlation with El ninos.

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Lake Erie is a bath tub right now. Temperatures are running quite a few degrees higher than in previous years.

Here along the lakeshore I've yet to have a first freeze. Wouldn't be surprised if that's still a few weeks off yet.

I think lake effect this year will be a bit better than the past few years for these parts. That frozen lake the past two years really dampened what could have been some really amazing lake effect events.

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Yep, looks to be a little snow/mix in the forecast for Fri night and Saturday. It'll be nice to see some flakes. I was out of town in Oct when we had our first flakes.

Have you seen this article ; http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cle/office/localinterest/enso.html

There's a small section about lake effect and correlation with El ninos.

Interesting. I will say that STRONG Ninos tend to still have a diminishing effect on NE Ohio snowfall, as with a dearth of synoptic storms and generally more mild air in general (which limits LES) would still dampen snowfall somewhat. However, having LES to fall back on makes an all out disaster much less likely as it only takes a couple of good cold shots to rack up snow quickly in the Snowbelt.

 

I'm starting to think some modest accums on the order of an inch may be possible Friday night into Saturday in the Snowbelt...with a WNW flow and 850mb temps on the GFS and NAM of -6C to -8C, it should get cold enough inland under any bands for accumulations. The big inhibiting factor will be lowering inversions and gradual drying Friday night which will limit how much precip falls, but it could still be enough for some light accumulations in the Snowbelt.

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The lake effect potential today into tonight is interesting. I don't really have time to do a write-up because it's 3AM and I have a dynamic met exam at 10AM...however, deep ambient moisture to 10-15k feet, inversions of 10-15k feet and strong WSW winds should cause a strong convergence band to develop along the eastern lakeshore by later this morning. This band should hug the Lake/Ashtabula shoreline and move into NW PA and SW NY and could produce thunder and lightning. The winds gradually go more WNW and eventually NW later this afternoon into this evening as a trough moves through, which should push a decent band into the Cleveland metro before a more disorganized multi-banded setup develops by mid-evening. Lowering inversions should cause a weakening of lake effect tonight.

 

850mb temps will be right around -5 to -6C this afternoon and evening, possibly warming a bit tonight, with 925mb temps near 0C...both of these values are pretty marginal. I'm pretty hot on the idea of the convergence band along the eastern lakeshore into NW PA and SW NY kicking butt this afternoon with probably some thunder and lightning...so I think there's a better than 50/50 shot that dynamical cooling does the dirty work and allows for mainly snow by this afternoon in inland NW PA and SW NY under the band. With the possibility of heavy precip for several hours over similar areas, an advisory or even warning criteria snowfall amount in the higher terrain here wouldn't shock me...Lake and Ashtabula don't have the benifit of higher terrain, but some sloppy accums would be possible if the heavy band can in fact hug the lakeshore.

 

In Cleveland proper and Geauga/Trumbull Counties the short duration nature of the heavier snows will also make accums more questionable...but heavier bursts could cause a quick, slushy accum late this afternoon into early this evening, especially in areas that have the benefit of a little more terrain.

 

The bigger story may be an unanticipated impact on the evening rush. Most forecast outlets appear to be expecting all or mainly rain this afternoon, but with cold air aloft, any heavier showers should easily fall as snow or graupel. With winds possibly gusting to 35-45MPH, any heavier snow showers could cause quite a wintry scene for brief times, even if they don't accumulate.

 

We shall see. Perhaps trying to understand cyclostrophic balance at 2AM has made me insane.

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