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1/13, 1/14 - Freezing rain threat


packfan98

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Interesting to see how the models have as usual, progressively grown more aggressive w/ the intensity of this CAD event... We could continue to experience changes in the output possibly towards colder solutions in fact, especially once they are able to initialize the fresh snowpack that will be laid down to our north & north-northeast. CAA originating over fresh snowpack is a recipe for a forecast bust, & I'll be interested to see the response (if any) we see in the guidance once they pick up on this... I posted a relatively simple analysis of recent CAD events several weeks ago, and it certainly looks like we won't have to worry about how extensive our snowpack is, usually need to get the southern edge down to around Chicago, Fort Wayne, Columbus, & Pittsburgh to give us a legitimate shot at CAD w/ frozen precip, we'll be above & beyond that here. Based on the placement of the southern edge of the snowpack alone, I would tend to think that most of central & eastern NC may get involved & even upstate SC, somewhat analogous in terms of the southern extent of frozen precip (although not to the ferocity of course) to Jan 29-30 2010 & Jan 25, 2004. On the other hand, I think it's much easier to see why areas even as far south as Macon, GA dealt w/ freezing rain when looking at just how massive the snow pack was last year before the overrunning in the 2nd week of February...

NC-CAD-events-US-snow-cover--1024x324.jp

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Who cares about a tenth of an inch of ice? That's enough to lightly glaze the treetops. Why even get excited? This is a non-event. It's otherwise going to be a chilly day.

this would cause trouble for the Wed morning commute so it's not a non-event.

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Not sure how you can call it a "non-event".  If anything, freezing rain is the most dangerous event there is when it comes to wintry precip because of the traffic accident potential and black ice....

 

It is the type of thing that catches people off guard b/c the roads "look fine"....  Last week a little bit of fzra causes big problems in eastern NC....

 

But back to the forecast, I agree with Webber.  The snowpack to the NE will definitely play a factor in this event with the cold air...

 

I think the biggest factor now will be the amount of moisture, not the cold air...  We will see how the models run from here out.

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Who cares about a tenth of an inch of ice? That's enough to lightly glaze the treetops. Why even get excited? This is a non-event. It's otherwise going to be a chilly day.

I'm not sure i'd call it 'excited'... Interested is more like it. Maybe if we got warning criteria ice I could get excited (from a weather standpoint).

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Unfortunately we have been relegated to tracking a .1-2" frzn event, but it's all we got.  Now, if this were an 1" QPF deal then this would be a big deal. 

 I still think it's a big deal since it's overnight and early morning just before commuters get on the road, bridges/overpasses would be coated but all other roads will be too warm obviously. 0.24" at RDU isn't a good thing.

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If it's 0.00 it will definitely do nothing. Tell me how you know whether or not it will be a trace or 0.25" right now?

Model trends, but also the fact that there's no coherent system to generate precip here, so it's more likely to end up being nothing at all than more than expected.
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Widre, maybe we'll end up with just a trace. But these little systems (and even the big ones) have tended to over perform this year, for whatever reason. The SW flow will provide lift over the cold dome and any disturbance will increase that. These waves, if they are real, may not be well modeled yet...hence my expectation for amounts to tick up.

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Model trends, but also the fact that there's no coherent system to generate precip here, so it's more likely to end up being nothing at all than more than expected.

I know it's easy with low QPF events to go all-in on a non-event, as it seems most likely. Safe bet, we'll see.

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Not sure how you can call it a "non-event".  If anything, freezing rain is the most dangerous event there is when it comes to wintry precip because of the traffic accident potential and black ice....

 

It is the type of thing that catches people off guard b/c the roads "look fine"....  Last week a little bit of fzra causes big problems in eastern NC....

 

But back to the forecast, I agree with Webber.  The snowpack to the NE will definitely play a factor in this event with the cold air...

 

I think the biggest factor now will be the amount of moisture, not the cold air...  We will see how the models run from here out.

 

+1... I can't even believe some are trying to argue that this is a non-event... All it takes is a light glaze of ice (1/8 of inch if that in some cases) on the roads turn them into an ice skating rink and thus become impassible. Once totals reach .25 of an inch, then we start to run the possibility of experiencing widespread power outages. There are relatively few instances where I'll admit receiving ice is a "non-event". Totals of .1-.2 of an inch are pushing it as it is, any more than that and things will start becoming serious in a hurry, especially considering how cold it has been of late (& is projected to be)...

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Honestly, if it is enough to "wet" the roads, it can be significant or major. Once the surface of the road is ice, what difference does it make if it is 1/8" thick or 1/100" thick?

TW

Bingo! I don't think tire treads can tell the difference between 1/10 of an inch or 1/4 of an inch , on bridges or road surfaces!
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Honestly, if it is enough to "wet" the roads, it can be significant or major.  Once the surface of the road is ice, what difference does it make if it is 1/8" thick or 1/100" thick?

TW

 

The 1/8in demarcation was an arbitrary number, but to coat the roads entirely a certain thickness (threw out 1/8 inch to be on the safe side) to the ice is generally preferred.

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+1... I can't even believe some are trying to argue that this is a non-event... All it takes is a light glaze of ice (1/8 of inch if that in some cases) on the roads turn them into an ice skating rink and thus become impassible. Once totals reach .25 of an inch, then we start to run the possibility of experiencing widespread power outages. There are relatively few instances where I'll admit receiving ice is a "non-event". Totals of .1-.2 of an inch are pushing it as it is, any more than that and things will start becoming serious in a hurry, especially considering how cold it has been of late (& is projected to be)...

Right now I would say the NAM would be the safest medium between the models. A light glaze of .1 to .15 glaze at RDU with maybe close to .25 somewhere to the south and east of RDU. But I'm a realist and realize that we could get nothing; or could get just a little bit more to meet winter storm criteria(for somebody). If anything this is something to track in a winter that has had nothing to track.  

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