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February 21-22 Storm Observations


Rtd208

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Yes. No evidence of freezing rain here that I see this morning. So at least some rain did fall last night or at least temperatures went above freezing. And it looks like about 1.5 inches of snow fell on the back end bringing my total to just under 5.5 inches.

I'm pleased it ended well; the total here was about 5.0...3.5 before / 1.5 after.

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NYC, LGA, JFK and EWR never reported plain rain with this event.

LGA was 33 and fzra- for several hours but technically no rain, I guess.

Unfortunately our pristine snowpack last night is a slushy, gloppy mess thanks to the 0.35" of liquid that fell. Gonna get more slushy as we make a run at 40 today under the late Feb sun. Hammer comes down again tonight and anyone that has not attended to their sidewalk is staring at more bulletproof boiler plate ice.

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LGA was 33 and fzra- for several hours but technically no rain, I guess.

Unfortunately our pristine snowpack last night is a slushy, gloppy mess thanks to the 0.35" of liquid that fell. Gonna get more slushy as we make a run at 40 today under the late Feb sun. Hammer comes down again tonight and anyone that has not attended to their sidewalk is staring at more bulletproof boiler plate ice.

The rule of thumb is that it takes one inch of rain to melt three inches of snow; of course...there are several other factors in play...air temp, water content of the snowpack, etc.

I'm not sure how a station can have a 2 m temp of 33 F, have liquid precipitation falling (not snow, sleet, or graupel)...and still report freezing rain.

The fact that you say your region experienced melting and a "slushy, gloppy mess" characterizes the current state of affairs would seem to indicate that ordinary rain did indeed fall at that station for an extended period.

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If the ground is cold enough the rain freezes on contact.

The rule of thumb is that it takes one inch of rain to melt three inches of snow; of course...there are several other factors in play...air temp, water content of the snowpack, etc.

I'm not sure how a station can have a 2 m temp of 33 F, have liquid precipitation falling (not snow, sleet, or graupel)...and still report freezing rain.

The fact that you say your region experienced melting and a "slushy, gloppy mess" would seem to indicate that ordinary rain did indeed fall at that station for an extended period.

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If the ground is cold enough the rain freezes on contact.

I guess with these borderline situations anything is possible; but usually the 2m temperature is a very key factor in determining freezing rain versus ordinary rain.

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Check dem obs...

I'm not going to misrepresent; I do not have a huge amount of experience dealing with the intricacies of freezing rain...this area out here is not prone to it...but what little I know; it helps if the 2m temp is a sub freezing temp for ice accretion to manifest.

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Bulletproof ice pack of death... Cmon Pam, thought you'd connect the dots there.

Some colloquialisms have never passed by my desk; it happens. As for the original query...it should be harder to melt.

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So we've had about 46.5" of snow in Port Jeff so far this winter season...really a very good amount all things considered...43.0 of those inches in the last 30 calendar days / since 24 January. The chances of seeing a 50 inch season now appear reasonably good.

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The rule of thumb is that it takes one inch of rain to melt three inches of snow; of course...there are several other factors in play...air temp, water content of the snowpack, etc.

I'm not sure how a station can have a 2 m temp of 33 F, have liquid precipitation falling (not snow, sleet, or graupel)...and still report freezing rain.

The fact that you say your region experienced melting and a "slushy, gloppy mess" characterizes the current state of affairs would seem to indicate that ordinary rain did indeed fall at that station for an extended period.

 

I only got a few tenths of a degree above freezing, and at that point the rain was still freezing on paved surfaces (cleared ones), but not on the trees.  I'd report that as either freezing rain or mixed precip.

 

And since it is an obs thread, 32.7 now (9:54AM) is the highest it has been since midnight (low was 31.6 at 7:46 AM).  Not much movement in temp at all since yesterday afternoon.

 

Snowfall here was 3.5" yesterday and 0.9" this morning.  The new snowfall is rather thoroughly packed down.  Current snow depth is 14"

 

There is about 3.5" of softer snow on top until you hit the old hard ice.  There are still some relatively softer layers below that old crust.  At the bottom remains the old icy frozen glop from January 24.

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I only got a few tenths of a degree above freezing, and at that point the rain was still freezing on paved surfaces (cleared ones), but not on the trees.  I'd report that as either freezing rain or mixed precip.

 

And since it is an obs thread, 32.7 now (9:54AM) is the highest it has been since midnight (low was 31.6 at 7:46 AM).  Not much movement in temp at all since yesterday afternoon.

 

Snowfall here was 3.5" yesterday and 0.9" this morning.  The new snowfall is rather thoroughly packed down.  Current snow depth is 14"

I would think it is likely that water could freeze on contact with a cold surface even if the 2m temp is above freezing. However, an extended period where the 2m temp is above 32.0 F would probably eventually work its way down to the ground; ending the freezing rain episode.

I recall you writing a scholarly essay on that; concerning the inevitable upswing in temperature due to the release of latent heat from the rainfall...or something like that.

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I would think it is likely that water could freeze on contact with a cold surface even if the 2m temp is above freezing. However, an extended period where the 2m temp is above 32.0 F would probably eventually work its way down to the ground; ending the freezing rain episode.

I recall you writing a scholarly essay on that; concerning the inevitable upswing in temperature due to the release of latent heat from the rainfall...or something like that.

 

Agreed, but while the ground temps still permit freezing, my inclination is to call it freezing rain.

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LGA was 33 and fzra- for several hours but technically no rain, I guess.

Unfortunately our pristine snowpack last night is a slushy, gloppy mess thanks to the 0.35" of liquid that fell. Gonna get more slushy as we make a run at 40 today under the late Feb sun. Hammer comes down again tonight and anyone that has not attended to their sidewalk is staring at more bulletproof boiler plate ice.

Just came in from shoveling. It felt like I was shoveling cement instead of snow. I received 4 inches of snow before it turned to sleet and freezing rain last night. The sidewalks in my area are still really icy.  I am getting tired of this ice crap. Just give me a pure snowstorm.

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Good morning all! Is the event completely past? If not, timing for further slop? We'll be driving from Rockland to Cederhurst today, want to know what to

expect. Thanks!

Slushy sloppy mess until tonights hard freeze. have plenty of windshield washer on hand.

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Just came in from shoveling. It felt like I was shoveling cement instead of snow. I received 4 inches of snow before it turned to sleet and freezing rain last night. The sidewalks in my area are still really icy.  I am getting tired of this ice crap. Just give me a pure snowstorm.

 

At some point I would like to see a March 93 style storm take a BM track. That's probably the

only extreme snowstorm variety that we have been missing in the 2000's so far. 

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