bubba hotep Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 So, is our first legit winter weather threat starting to take shape in model land? Still in the D8 - 10 range but it has started to hang around a bit. Probably just flurries or snow melting on contact, warm surface but cold column. Probably better chances up into OK and AR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quixotic1 Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 So, is our first legit winter weather threat starting to take shape in model land? Still in the D8 - 10 range but it has started to hang around a bit. Probably just flurries or snow melting on contact, warm surface but cold column. Probably better chances up into OK and AR. I like it. Our best storm was at 30-34 degrees. Flake away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiegeog Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 I have had low temps below 35 every day since last Wednesday. That streak should end tonight. Guess I will enjoy the warm, dry weather this week as things look to begin changing by Sunday and more so towards Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstrunk Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Anyone have thoughts on the system for Saturday? SPC has a 15% Day 5 area outline in SE Oklahoma and the eastern half of Texas, mentioning the threat for tornadoes/damaging wind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba hotep Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Here we go again? It looks like 1 - 2" for areas E. of I35 but the 6z GFS went crazy with 4 -6" for areas out E. of the metroplex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quixotic1 Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Hey bubba, 00z GFS operational had snow and temps in the teens Christmas Eve. Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1900hurricane Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Anyone have thoughts on the system for Saturday? SPC has a 15% Day 5 area outline in SE Oklahoma and the eastern half of Texas, mentioning the threat for tornadoes/damaging wind. I've been keeping an eye on it for a while now (first noted the potential around the turn of the month), but haven't said much yet because of the forecast range. It's still a few days out, but I'd say confidence is increasing that someone will be seeing some severe storms. As it stands right now, it may be another event that starts around sunset. All in all though, the potential is certainly there for some supercells and possibly tornadoes. As is common for cold season events, instability will be key here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiegeog Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 The warm (highs in 50s and dry pattern is coming to a close for the NM mountains with a snowy pattern starting up this weekend leading up to Christmas. This is great timing for the holiday season and ski resorts. I am hoping to make it up there sometime this winter to enjoy the great snow year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindancewx Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I'm not that high on snow for NM from the next two systems, although could be decent if they grab more moisture than expected late. I am getting a bit concerned - the November AMO value came in a lot higher than last year, high enough to mean for Nov-Apr the AMO will likely (70% shot) be positive. El Ninos with a positive AMO usually have snowy Decembers in ABQ...but so far dry as a bone. I suppose the period to watch is right around Dec 26 - Dec 31 though, that is when a lot of our big December storms come through. AMO is definitely warmer than last year though year over year. It looks to me like the PDO is going to be less warm than last winter with the AMO warm, rather than neutral. Classic PDO+ will have the blue in the outlined area surrounded by the red "C" near Alaska. The blue is gone this year. Red in the outlined area is actually consistent with a PDO-. Also, the outlined area needs to be bluer if the Atlantic is to migrate (briefly) into legitimately -AMO territory like it did in Feb-Mar of 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorMu Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Hope we can manage a flip or a bomb up in the Arctic. this El Niño is starting to look more like an El None-yo. Keep hope alive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiegeog Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 El Nino is going to make sustained cold hard especially in December but it will give moisture where we have been dry the last couple years. These Bering Sea bombs shown by the models will send cold shots so hopefully El Nino does its thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quixotic1 Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 It's coming. Just a matter of when. Last week of December sounds good to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1900hurricane Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 SPC has a day 3 Slight Risk up for much of eastern Texas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba hotep Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 If only the Canadian could be trusted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindancewx Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 I came up with three analog packages awhile ago for this snow season (Oct-May) in Albuquerque. There are significant differences in when the snow arrives, but they all like this season for ~16-18 inches. The same approach last year projected ~12-13 inches and we got 15.2 inches. One approach is just to split El Nino, La Nina, Neutral events into warm, mild, cold. Last year I used cool (weak) El Nino, this year I used warm (strong). The period I use to determine strength is DJF. Numers are based on this tweet from Phil Klotzbach: https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/status/616358915303837696 Another approach is to use six ocean indicies - Modoki vs. Traditional, ONI strength, AMO, PDO, time for event (1st yr or 2nd+?), Monsoon (proxy for Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of California). I call this approach ocean analogs. Lastly, I use eight weather variables in the summer to produce years that are most similar. These variables are monthly highs in June, July, August, September, rainfall from June 15 - Sept 30 (monsoon) as a wet/dry signal, time between above avg snowfall in Albuquerque in years, ENSO state, and then ENSO combined with the monsoon (Wet Monsoon+El Nino is best). Overall, the weather approach was working best this year through November on temps, snow, and precip, but it had December as the big snow month overall, although it's really an all or nothing signal. The other two packages prefer January/March. The winter & spring patterns are actually remarkably similar between the three sets of data. I do think the "strong El Nino" temp look is best for the US east of the Rockies, I think for us the best look is the similar weather look. In the Spring, I like the "similar oceans look" best. Similar weather: Similar Ocean Indexes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstrunk Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Well, phooey. I should have known better. The latest D2 outlook has the severe threat shifted much further west, which seems to be pretty common in severe weather events. Oh well, I'll be satisfied with some good thunder and lightning in these parts, even though I was hoping for a chance at a more local storm chase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba hotep Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 The 12z model runs have shifted the axis of heaviest rainfall west but have also sharpened the gradient on the backside. 12z Euro has less than an inch just W of Ft. Worth and nearly 5" in eastern Dallas County. Any more of a westward shift could cause major issues across Dallas & Collin counties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba hotep Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I came up with three analog packages awhile ago for this snow season (Oct-May) in Albuquerque. There are significant differences in when the snow arrives, but they all like this season for ~16-18 inches. The same approach last year projected ~12-13 inches and we got 15.2 inches. One approach is just to split El Nino, La Nina, Neutral events into warm, mild, cold. Last year I used cool (weak) El Nino, this year I used warm (strong). The period I use to determine strength is DJF. Numers are based on this tweet from Phil Klotzbach: https://twitter.com/philklotzbach/status/616358915303837696 Another approach is to use six ocean indicies - Modoki vs. Traditional, ONI strength, AMO, PDO, time for event (1st yr or 2nd+?), Monsoon (proxy for Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of California). I call this approach ocean analogs. Lastly, I use eight weather variables in the summer to produce years that are most similar. These variables are monthly highs in June, July, August, September, rainfall from June 15 - Sept 30 (monsoon) as a wet/dry signal, time between above avg snowfall in Albuquerque in years, ENSO state, and then ENSO combined with the monsoon (Wet Monsoon+El Nino is best). Overall, the weather approach was working best this year through November on temps, snow, and precip, but it had December as the big snow month overall, although it's really an all or nothing signal. The other two packages prefer January/March. The winter & spring patterns are actually remarkably similar between the three sets of data. I do think the "strong El Nino" temp look is best for the US east of the Rockies, I think for us the best look is the similar weather look. In the Spring, I like the "similar oceans look" best. Similar weather: Similar Ocean Indexes: Good post. I'll be back out in NM next week and hope to see some snow! Most of it was melted in the Santa Fe area last week by the time I got out and about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiegeog Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 With all of the model uncertainty keep an eye on late next week as various models and ensembles and their members have shown snow for that period though it could just as easily be 60 and showery. The upcoming series of monster Bering Sea lows will result in at least transient cold and serve to break down the PV setting up for a cold Jan/Feb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindancewx Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 It's interesting, the PDO was almost identical in value for Oct 2014/2015, but it was crashing in Oct 2015. It crashed further in Nov 15, so it is now likely to be very different this winter vs. winter 2014-2015. http://research.jisao.washington.edu/pdo/PDO.latest Nov 15 0.86 Nov 15 1.72 Oct 15 1.49 Oct 14 1.47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba hotep Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 It's interesting, the PDO was almost identical in value for Oct 2014/2015, but it was crashing in Oct 2015. It crashed further in Nov 15, so it is now likely to be very different this winter vs. winter 2014-2015. http://research.jisao.washington.edu/pdo/PDO.latest Nov 15 0.86 Nov 15 1.72 Oct 15 1.49 Oct 14 1.47 Is this a trend or a temporary dip like in the summer of '14. It got down to 0.67 only to rebound back above 2. Also, it looks like a fall or early winter PDO dip is pretty common across stronger El Ninos, based on just a quick look at '82, '87 & '97 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raindancewx Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 The November value is very similar to 1940-41, 1972-73, 1976-77, 1987-88, 1991-92, 1997-98 if you look at historical El Nino years. Those six closest El Nino years with a similar Nov PDO value ended up at a value of ~0.90 for the Nov-Apr period. Three of the six Strong El Ninos in DJF (40-41, 57-58, 72-73, 82-83, 91-92, 97-98) did see the PDO in the "neutral" phase - so that makes me wonder if we'll be positive or neutral. Neutral PDO with El Nino is a legendary pattern for Albuquerque about half the time - 1914-15, 1958-59, 1972-73, 2006-07 - the city had >20" snow in each of those years, and 1959-60, which wasn't an El Nino but had a warm of Gulf of California was also a neutral PDO year with >20" snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiegeog Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 18Z GFS takes next week's SSW and turns it into a classic Arctic outbreak with sub freezing highs following Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba hotep Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 18Z GFS takes next week's SSW and turns it into a classic Arctic outbreak with sub freezing highs following Christmas. Is that a 1052 dropping down the Front Range? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jm1220 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Loving the weather so far this month in Austin. I know it's a strong Nino, so at some point the wet and cool conditions will be back with a vengeance, but for now, definitely enjoying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba hotep Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Is that a 1052 dropping down the Front Range? I think it actually bumps up to 1052ish after this frame... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Of course it would get cold again when I have to travel for the holidays again, just like it did at Thanksgiving...lol. But, I am ready for it. Just please, have it wait to snow until I get home to Kansas and then dump here when I get back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba hotep Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Of course it would get cold again when I have to travel for the holidays again, just like it did at Thanksgiving...lol. But, I am ready for it. Just please, have it wait to snow until I get home to Kansas and then dump here when I get back. I don't think you are going to miss much, it looks like a cool down with the AO/NAO and EPO briefly going negative. Then a warm up into Christmas ugh . Maybe some relief as we head into January... I not putting much stock into the coming Bearing Sea bomb delivering a significant cold shot. I could be wrong, but there seems to be a significant difference b/w a straight Bearing Sea storm and when a typhoon undergoes extratropical transition and then bombs out. A lot of the downstream foundation work is done while the system is still tropical and then transitioning setting the stage for modification of the Rosby driven downstream ridge and trough. I'm not sure you get all of that without the tropical origins? The advection of warm moist air from the deep tropics, diabatic PV modification, etc. Even then, not every typhoon that goes ET delivers downstream cold shots to the US. I could be total wrong about this but that is what I'm going with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiegeog Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Agree with you bubba. This monster Bering Sea storm does not look like it will deliver a significantly -EPO. It does look like it will kick off the breakdown of the PV, but that is a long process. Mid-Jan through mid-March looks to be the -AO period for this winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiegeog Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Snow is expected this weekend in the Panhandle though. So winter is not far away it will just take a while to shift this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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