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Winter 2015-2016 speculation and discussion


AlaskaETC

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There's a lot of statistics in meteorology, for the record ;)

I know, but I think you know what I'm saying. It's like letting everything ride on black and then when you hit half the time at the end of the night you claim it was your skillful independent choice of every roll of the dice.
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Well it matters. I definitely ascribe to the idea that history makes you a better forecaster. You see it all the time that people who are new to an area lag for a while until they get the hang to to speak. One of the arguments for still having so many NWS offices is probably that the local knowledge is quite helpful. But the sample is tiny here as far as statistical samples go so I'm not even sure it's really statistics. Even the full modern (all years) sample is quite small, or at least enough so that outliers should be expected.

I think it's hard to go crazy just yet given what we know about similar ENSO years. But I'm not sure it can be written off given the persistence of important features of late. Even this weekend's cold shot is quite anomalous. No blocking etc it's just outta here in a minute but once you have a full season of cold built up it might not be so quick to dislodge etc. It only takes one plus a few smaller things to make a winter here. Writing it off isn't terribly logical.

As much as calling for a warm, snowless winter based on Enso conditions makes some sense, years like 82/83, 57/58, & 65/66 should give most knowledgeable people pause. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying persistence or other local factors as you suggested shouldn't be considered. I'm saying I'm quite unimpressed with sticking with persistence as one's primary basis every year. JB being, of course, the cold version of persistence seasonal forecasting.
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As much as calling for a warm, snowless winter based on Enso conditions makes some sense, years like 82/83, 57/58, & 65/66 should give most knowledgeable people pause. But don't get me wrong, I'm not saying persistence or other local factors as you suggested shouldn't be considered. I'm saying I'm quite unimpressed with sticking with persistence as one's primary basis every year. JB being, of course, the cold version of persistence seasonal forecasting.

you might see this happen again...

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I was bored so I figured targets to shoot for. We need some OCT snow stat.

 

=

 

121.8" of snow in DC's 'perfect winter': 10/1925, 2.2; 11/1987, 11.5; 12/2009, 16.6; 1/1922, 31.5; 2/1899, 35.2; 3/1914, 19.3; 4/1924, 5.5
 
150.2" of snow in Baltimore's 'perfect winter': 10/1925, 2.5; 11/1898, 9.7; 12/1966, 20.4; 1/1996, 32.6; 2/2010, 50.0; 3/1892, 25.6; 4/1924, 9.4
 
137.0" of snow in IAD's 'perfect winter': 10/2011, 0.6; 11/1967, 11.4; 12/1966, 24.2; 1/1996, 30.9; 2/2010, 46.1; 3/2014, 19.8; 4/1990, 4.0
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I was bored so I figured targets to shoot for. We need some OCT snow stat.

 

=

 

121.8" of snow in DC's 'perfect winter': 10/1925, 2.2; 11/1987, 11.5; 12/2009, 16.6; 1/1922, 31.5; 2/1899, 35.2; 3/1914, 19.3; 4/1924, 5.5
 
150.2" of snow in Baltimore's 'perfect winter': 10/1925, 2.5; 11/1898, 9.7; 12/1966, 20.4; 1/1996, 32.6; 2/2010, 50.0; 3/1892, 25.6; 4/1924, 9.4
 
137.0" of snow in IAD's 'perfect winter': 10/2011, 0.6; 11/1967, 11.4; 12/1966, 24.2; 1/1996, 30.9; 2/2010, 46.1; 3/2014, 19.8; 4/1990, 4.0

 

 

If I could break it down week by week then that will create something really epic...

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Cohen is back at it. I love how his forecast for last year has been spun to being a 'career effort'

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/10/14/expert-ramp-up-in-siberian-snow-cover-hints-at-cold-winter-for-eastern-u-s/

on the related articles, his forecast for 13/14 was as wishy-washy as you can get

I think he's just mastered the "art of predicting" more than the art of meteorology

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Cohen is back at it. I love how his forecast for last year has been spun to being a 'career effort'

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/10/14/expert-ramp-up-in-siberian-snow-cover-hints-at-cold-winter-for-eastern-u-s/

Delayed but not denied. Right for the wrong reasons. New postulations. Make it up as you go along. 

 

Whatever works.

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The massive old white oak at my new house is shedding an unreal number of acorns. Little missles. I have decided there must be some old wive's tail that tons of acorns means a snowy winter.

Oaks have "mast years" where they produce exorbitant amounts of acorns, followed by years where they produce relatively few.  Not much to do with the coming winter. 

http://www.hastingsreserve.org/oakstory/AmerSciMastKoenig_05.pdf

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on the related articles, his forecast for 13/14 was as wishy-washy as you can get

I think he's just mastered the "art of predicting" more than the art of meteorology

The anomalies weren't bad last year but I don't see how you can say you did well if your premise was wrong. Of course if you want funding I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. 

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I understand all of the sst anomaly fetishes, but what really matters is the placement of the forcing...speaking of persistence.

The WWB have been futile as far as imparting much change in that regard.

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/climate/indicator_enso.jsp?c=soi&p=weekly

 

Another -42 SOI spike. 90 day average is -19, which is the lowest it's been since 1998!

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I was bored so I figured targets to shoot for. We need some OCT snow stat.

 

=

 

121.8" of snow in DC's 'perfect winter': 10/1925, 2.2; 11/1987, 11.5; 12/2009, 16.6; 1/1922, 31.5; 2/1899, 35.2; 3/1914, 19.3; 4/1924, 5.5
 
150.2" of snow in Baltimore's 'perfect winter': 10/1925, 2.5; 11/1898, 9.7; 12/1966, 20.4; 1/1996, 32.6; 2/2010, 50.0; 3/1892, 25.6; 4/1924, 9.4
 
137.0" of snow in IAD's 'perfect winter': 10/2011, 0.6; 11/1967, 11.4; 12/1966, 24.2; 1/1996, 30.9; 2/2010, 46.1; 3/2014, 19.8; 4/1990, 4.0

 

 

228.1" in Minneapolis.  The oddity is that February's max is actually the 5th highest (Nov, Jan, Mar (all >40"), Dec, then Feb).  IAD got more snow during Snowmaggedon 1 than Minneapolis has ever received in the entire month of Feb.  Shows how much the prevailing storm track matters.

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Looks good to me. I'll take it. Thanks for posting that map.

 

PS: Trix and Winterwxluvr are especially in a sweet spot on that map. I can imagine some marginal coastal storms that bring rain to the cities and nearby burbs, even up to Boston, while the I-81 crowd gets buried.

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