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November 20-21 Early Season Snowstorm


Hoosier

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soil temps will be fine by the time this system rolls into the LOT area...especially with onset of precip coming at a time when soil temps will be at their lowest. Pavement is a bit trickier depending on how much sun we get on Friday before the high clouds start to roll in

Yeah. I think the idea of warm ground/pavement is being overblown a bit. With a large majority of the snow progged to fall overnight, and the models showing some pretty good banding; I think the pavement may have some slush on the onset, but will accumulate rapidly. That being said, well traveled roads and tollways may not have as much of an issue, especially if salted early.

Granted, we have seen the opposite to be true too, with cold ground temps causing ice issues with rain. But as said above, all other factors notwithstanding, I don't think ground temps are going to be a major factor for those in the best snow bands.

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I actually agree with those that don't think ground temps will be a too significant of an issue. I want to throw out one recent example...

10/22/13 featured up to 3" of snow in area near I-80. The snow occurred in the late morning-early afternoon hours. Temperatures at the time were in the 30's and soil temps in the low-mid 40's. Additionally, in the days leading up to this event high temps were in the 50's and 60's, with even 70-80F temps just about 10 days prior.

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wpc leaning a bit away from the GFS....

 

 

DEEPENING SURFACE LOW/UPPER TROUGH OVER THE MIDWEST/GREAT LAKES SAT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PREFERENCE: A BLEND...2/3 WEIGHT 00Z ECMWF OR 00Z NAM
                      1/3 WEIGHT 12Z GFS
CONFIDENCE: AVERAGE

TRENDS IN THE ENSEMBLE SPAGHETTI PLOTS FOR THE 552 DM HEIGHT LINE
AT 500 MB HAVE SHOWN A TREND OVER THEIR PAST 4 CYCLES TOWARD THE
SLOWER/DEEPER SIDE OF THE ENSEMBLE SPREAD VALID 00Z/21 OVER THE
HIGH PLAINS. THE RESULT HAS BEEN A SURFACE LOW ALSO TRENDING
SLOWER/BACK TOWARD THE WEST. THE 12Z GFS IS ON THE FASTER SIDE OF
THE ENSEMBLE/DETERMINISTIC SPREAD THROUGH 12Z/21 WITH THE SURFACE
LOW...WHILE THE 12Z NAM AND 00Z ECMWF SHOW VERY SIMILARLY TOWARD
THE BETTER ENSEMBLE CLUSTERING.

HOWEVER THIS CHANGES BY 00Z/22...AS THE NAM/ECMWF END UP TOWARD
THE EAST/FASTER SIDE OF THE ENSEMBLES...WHILE THE 12Z GFS IS
TOWARD THE MIDDLE/WEST/SLOWER SIDE. THEREFORE...WEIGHT OF GUIDANCE
APPEARS TO BE MORE EVEN AMONG THE NAM/GFS/ECMWF AT 00Z/22 AND
ONWARD...BUT THIS IS WHEN MOST OF THE SNOW IMPACTS TO THE LOWER 48
HAVE ENDED AND THE SURFACE LOW IS MOVING INTO SRN CANADA.

IN SUMMARY...SOME WEIGHT TOWARD THE GFS IS INCLUDED IN THE
PREFERENCE...BUT MORE WEIGHT IS PREFERRED TO BE WITH THE NAM/ECMWF
FOR THIS SYSTEM.
 

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AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO/ROMEOVILLE IL  
1142 AM CST THU NOV 19 2015  
   
UPDATE
 
 
1140 AM CST  
 
NO MAJOR CHANGES THIS MORNING. HAVE EXTENDED THE WINTER STORM  
WATCH THROUGH 3 PM SATURDAY TO ACCOUNT FOR ANTICIPATED ONGOING  
SNOWFALL CONTINUING DURING THE EARLY-MID AFTERNOON  
SATURDAY...ESPECIALLY IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE WATCH AREA  
/CHICAGO METRO PART/.  
 
THE 12Z GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SUPPORT A 15-18 HOUR SNOWFALL EVENT  
ACROSS A MAJORITY OF THE FORECAST AREA ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND  
SATURDAY. THERE MAINTAINS A COUPLE MODELS OR ENSEMBLE MEMBERS WITH  
A NORTHWARD TRACK...WHILE MOST OF THE OTHERS SLIGHTLY SOUTH AND  
ORIENTED MORE WEST-TO-EAST WITH THEIR HEAVIEST FORCING AND  
RESULTANT SNOW BASICALLY CENTERED MORE ON THE I-88 CORRIDOR. THIS  
WOULD RESULT IN POTENTIAL FOR MORE ACCUMULATION INTO THE HEART OF  
THE CHICAGO METRO AREA.
CONTINUE TO LOOK INTO TEMPERATURES AND  
THEIR IMPACTS...AS THAT MAY REALLY LIMIT ACCUMULATION FRIDAY  
EVENING. SYNOPTIC SCALE LIFT AND FORCING LOOKS TO BE ENOUGH FROM  
PRE-DAWN SATURDAY THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON TO OVERWHELM  
ANY LOW-LEVEL WARMTH FOR DECENT RATES AND QUICKER ACCUMULATION.  
THAT IS ONE REASON WHY HAVE EXTENDED THE WATCH TO 3 PM CST  
SATURDAY.  
 
WE WILL CONTINUE TO INTERROGATE THE SUITE OF MODEL GUIDANCE AND  
VARIOUS ELEMENTS TOWARD THE WINTER WEATHER EVENT INTO EARLY THIS  
AFTERNOON...ALONG WITH A CONFERENCE CALL WITH WPC AND ADJACENT  
WFOS SHORTLY...AND WILL HAVE MORE WITH A LATER AFD.  
 
MTF  

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I actually agree with those that don't think ground temps will be a too significant of an issue. I want to throw out one recent example...

10/22/13 featured up to 3" of snow in area near I-80. The snow occurred in the late morning-early afternoon hours. Temperatures at the time were in the 30's and soil temps in the low-mid 40's. Additionally, in the days leading up to this event high temps were in the 50's and 60's, with even 70-80F temps just about 10 days prior.

 

 

I agree too...I think any areas that are able to drop near or below freezing should start seeing it stick on the pavement given sufficient snowfall rates.

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There's definitely some credence to the warm ground argument. It plays into the overall radiation balance in the atmosphere. Warmer soil is simply going to emit more long wave radiation, that can't be ignored. It would even have some effect on boundary layer temperatures (although not to the degree of the lakes).

 

Now I'm not saying its going to turn 6" of snow into 1" of slush, as one poster put it. But it certainly will melt snow falling on bare ground, particularly if rates are low. But high enough rates would overcome this effect and a coating would quickly limit this effect and insulate the boundary layer from warmer temps in the soil.

 

So I could see this maybe taking an 1"-1.5" or so off totals totals on the models, with this effect having a lesser effect where rates are heaviest.

 

Locally, 3 of the last 4 days here have featured highs of 56F or more, with last night not even dropping below 55F. Thinking this could reduce totals around here, particularly since we are only looking at a few hours of below freezing temperatures before the event starts.

 

On another note, wondering how the Chicago slush fest will affect the power grid? I remember Alek saying there are still leaves on the trees in the area.

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There's definitely some credence to the warm ground argument. It plays into the overall radiation balance in the atmosphere. Warmer soil is simply going to emit more long wave radiation, that can't be ignored. It would even have some effect on boundary layer temperatures (although not to the degree of the lakes).

 

Now I'm not saying its going to turn 6" of snow into 1" of slush, as one poster put it. But it certainly will melt snow falling on bare ground, particularly if rates are low. But high enough rates would overcome this effect and a coating would quickly limit this effect and insulate the boundary layer from warmer temps in the soil.

 

So I could see this maybe taking an 1"-1.5" or so off totals totals on the models, with this effect having a lesser effect where rates are heaviest.

 

On another note, wondering how the Chicago slush fest will affect the power grid? I remember Alek saying there are still leaves on the trees in the area.

 

Probably not enough trees with leaves to make a real big impact.

 

Snow accumulation probability for 4" and 8".

 

day2_composite.gif

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I would gladly take a blend of the ECMWF, GGEM, and NAM please. Hell, I'd take a blend of all of the models.

I agree 100%. Nice to be in the middle with plenty of wiggle room. Models in general agreement, with only some relatively minor track and strength issues to refine. Sure beat the 200 mile low placement swings from run to run that we saw with storms last season.

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