Mid-Atlantic snow totals for winter 2017/18

[clskinsfan]

41 minutes ago, Fozz said:

It says that snow should not be cleared more than 4 times in 24 hours, or more than once every 6 hours. It doesn't say that it has to be cleared exactly that often.

LWX guidelines say pretty much the same thing.
https://www.weather.gov/media/lwx/skywarn/Winter Weather 2016.pdf

 

Also these guidelines linked directly from the LWX page say that once every 24 hours is fine, and many COOP observers do that. 
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/coop/reference/Snow_Measurement_Guidelines.pdf

 

Hmmm. You know I never really thought about it like that before. I always assumed the board was supposed to be cleared every 6 hours. And that is what I have always done. But I guess it does appear that it is optional. Funny how inexact snow measuring is

[Cobalt]

20 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

Hmmm. You know I never really thought about it like that before. I always assumed the board was supposed to be cleared every 6 hours. And that is what I have always done. But I guess it does appear that it is optional. Funny how inexact snow measuring is

All the way! IIRC in GB '16 Newark's measuring station cleared their boards every 2 or 3 hours or so, and improperly measured an all time snow record. I wonder how the 1772 blizzard that Jefferson & Washington recorded was measured. 

 

[WxUSAF]

7.2” storm total for 19.2” season. Roughly 90% of climo.

[Jandurin]

hard to believe all them little numbers add up to such a big one

 

relatively speaking

[ErinInTheSky]

I'm at 13.5". From what I can tell, climo for me is 24", so I'm about 11" short of climo. Better than last winter though.

[HighStakes]

3/20-3/21: 15

Total: 34.0

[Fozz]

5 hours ago, clskinsfan said:

Hmmm. You know I never really thought about it like that before. I always assumed the board was supposed to be cleared every 6 hours. And that is what I have always done. But I guess it does appear that it is optional. Funny how inexact snow measuring is

Yep, measuring snow will never be an exact science, but clearing every 6 hours is good enough. And if some people prefer to just report what’s on the ground in the end, that’s fine too, even though the total will probably be a bit less.

[T. August]

5.8” from the last one brings the total to 18.6”. I’d assume that’s right at average for sea level on the Bay (maybe a bit above??)

[PrinceFrederickWx]

I assume mappy might be starting to work on this soon, so my final total is 15.3". Details are in my post in the first page if needed.

 

[MN Transplant]

22 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

7.2” storm total for 19.2” season. Roughly 90% of climo.

I am sitting right around 50% of climo.  Booo.

[Chris78]

On 3/22/2018 at 2:17 PM, poolz1 said:

3/20-3/21 12.5"

Season total: 18.2"

Final total...I think

 We are faily close. That's the exact total I got from 3/20- 3/21. I think I got a little less than you for round 1 and a little more for round 2.

[Cobalt]

26 minutes ago, MN Transplant said:

I am sitting right around 50% of climo.  Booo.

Not sure what my climo is, but I'm around 50-60% of climo (what I'm guessing is 18-20")

[poolz1]

3 hours ago, Chris78 said:

 We are faily close. That's the exact total I got from 3/20- 3/21. I think I got a little less than you for round 1 and a little more for round 2.

Saw a 13" report from Boonsboro (I live in Keedysville) so I think that 12.5 is pretty accurate.  Round 1 was a surprise to me....Round 2, the heavier snows hung around N Fred/Wash counties.  I got into heavy rates down here from round 2 but certainly not for as long as you.  What's your total on the season?

[Chris78]

24 minutes ago, poolz1 said:

Saw a 13" report from Boonsboro (I live in Keedysville) so I think that 12.5 is pretty accurate.  Round 1 was a surprise to me....Round 2, the heavier snows hung around N Fred/Wash counties.  I got into heavy rates down here from round 2 but certainly not for as long as you.  What's your total on the season?

22" for the season. A little off from climo  but not awful. The 9.5 total  I had prior to this storm would of been my worst ever in the 16 years I've been in Smithsburg. Even the years dca only had an inch or 2  I always managed to sneak into the double digits. 

[Midlo Snow Maker]

MY BACKYARD

12/8/17 4.0"

12/9/17 0.6"

12/12/17 Trace

1/4/18 2.0"

1/16/18 Trace freezing fog produced snow 

1/17/18 3.5"

1/30/18 Trace

3/12/18 3.5"

3/14/18 Trace 

3/17/18 Trace

3/21/18 4.0"

TOTAL 17.6"

lowest temp -5

 

RIC

12/8/17 2.4"

12/9/17 0.7"

12/12/17 Trace

1/4/18 3.0"

1/16/18 Trace

1/17/18 2.0"

1/13/18 0.3"

3/12/18 2.0"

3/21/18 2.0"

TOTAL 12.4"

lowest temp -3

[winterymix]

12/9      5.0

12/13    0.5

12/14    0.5

12/15    0.5

1/4    1.0

1/17    1.0

1/30    0.4

2/17    2.1

2/18    1.9

3/7    1.0

3/21    9.5

total    23.4

P-sure I'm missing some trace to 0.2" events but would prefer to avoid charges of slant-stickagery.   Turning to the discussion above, sweeping the snow board every six hours is logical because sublimation and collapse -loss are minimized in a universal manner.  Everyone should try to measure using the same standards.  In NFL football, forward progress is the standard.  So in snow measuring, the highest six hour amounts that can be measured before melting, sublimation and compression/collapse (and avoiding drifts) are legit.

Dear Mappy, revered mother of adorable Mapette and beloved spouse of Mr. Mappy,

Would you consider putting together a secondary map of "departures relative to climo?

[mappy]

On 3/26/2018 at 9:16 PM, winterymix said:

12/9      5.0

12/13    0.5

12/14    0.5

12/15    0.5

1/4    1.0

1/17    1.0

1/30    0.4

2/17    2.1

2/18    1.9

3/7    1.0

3/21    9.5

total    23.4

P-sure I'm missing some trace to 0.2" events but would prefer to avoid charges of slant-stickagery.   Turning to the discussion above, sweeping the snow board every six hours is logical because sublimation and collapse -loss are minimized in a universal manner.  Everyone should try to measure using the same standards.  In NFL football, forward progress is the standard.  So in snow measuring, the highest six hour amounts that can be measured before melting, sublimation and compression/collapse (and avoiding drifts) are legit.

Dear Mappy, revered mother of adorable Mapette and beloved spouse of Mr. Mappy,

Would you consider putting together a secondary map of "departures relative to climo?

Oh i like that idea! Yeah, I'll look into that. Probably going to wait until the next week or so before starting on this since there are chances... 

[winterymix]

20 hours ago, mappy said:

Oh i like that idea! Yeah, I'll look into that. Probably going to wait until the next week or so before starting on this since there are chances... 

Yeah, I think most of us would like to see if the regions that received positive (or at least relatively positive) snow departures match our hunches.

It seems that the northernmost portions of the counties that are on the north of our region did "OK" as did CAPE-land.  It seems that downtown DC is almost always going to have a negative departure due to the urban heat island + city built on a swamp effects.

[Fozz]

2 hours ago, winterymix said:

Yeah, I think most of us would like to see if the regions that received positive (or at least relatively positive) snow departures match our hunches.

It seems that the northernmost portions of the counties that are on the north of our region did "OK" as did CAPE-land.  It seems that downtown DC is almost always going to have a negative departure due to the urban heat island + city built on a swamp effects.

I like that idea too. The only issue is, a lot of us may not really know our exact averages, since a lot of the time, it's an educated guess. But it would be really cool to put it together if there's enough data to figure it out.

[CAPE]

4 hours ago, Fozz said:

I like that idea too. The only issue is, a lot of us may not really know our exact averages, since a lot of the time, it's an educated guess. But it would be really cool to put it together if there's enough data to figure it out.

That stuff is available. That Maryland Average Annual Snowfall Map that has been posted here numerous times seems pretty accurate for most places. A few suspect areas. It has much of VA and DE too. It is based on 1981-2010 climate normals I believe. Used to be able to get detailed data for free from NCDC, including annual snowfall averages for many locations in each state. Mappy will figure it out. 

[GramaxRefugee]

Here goes,

12/9       3.1

12/13      0.1

12/15      0.5

12/30       0.5         Dec total 4.2

1/4       2.3

1/17       1.0           Jan total 3.3

2/17        1.2          Feb total 1.2

3/6-7       1.5

3/20       0.8

3/21       6.0            Mar total 8.3

Seasonal total     17.0

[showmethesnow]

Running total:

12/9 - 2.0"

12/13 - .25"

12/15 - .75"

12/30 - 2.0"

1/4 - .75"

1/8 - .25"

1/13 - .1"

1/16-17 - 1.5"

1/30 - 1.0"

2/5 - 2.5"

*** 2/7 - .3" (Ice storm) *** Not included on snow totals

2/17 - 1.4 (Out of town, derived from avg of spotter reports 1.3 and 1.5)

3/12 - .25"

3/20-21 13.5" (snow depth at end of event)

4/2 - .1 (out of town, no spotter reports, going by an observation of friend)

Snow Total: 26.35"

[psuhoffman]

On 3/22/2018 at 10:47 AM, EastCoast NPZ said:

Ryan Maue needs some help with his maps.  No where close to 6" of snow in this part of Fred Co., although is to-date seasonal total map looks right.

 

On 3/22/2018 at 11:41 AM, Sparky said:

That can't be right.

One possibility is that map is qpf snowfall equivalent at 10-1. The wxbell ones he used to make were that. And that would explain it. 

And ratios were very elevation dependant. I had significantly more snow then places just 2 miles away at lower elevations. Also some measure depth and some measure snowfall. I had 17" snowfall. I never had more than 14.5" depth at any given time. So some of those 15" reports if they were depth could easily been 18" snowfall. I saw a couple 17-18" reports and York county has some higher elevated areas that ratios might have been higher. 

[Jandurin]

I wonder what's the more useful measurement.

Snowfall or depth.

I'd say snowfall as depth is dependent on so many other factors.

Depth obviously matters more from a logistical aspect, though.

[psuhoffman]

5 hours ago, showmethesnow said:

Snow Total: 26.35"

I am at 35.5" but that is using snowfall not depth so we aren't as far apart as the number indicates.  But it does seem my area gets consistently a little more even though I am a few miles south of you.  Elevation ftw.   I am only an inch off from highstakes numbers and he is less then a mile away but about 250 feet lower so seems about right.  

I agree with you that depth matters more but I use snowfall for the normalizing process.  That is what official recording sites use so if I record depth then I am short changing my location when it comes to snowfall records compared to other locations.  There is also the issue with depth of how to record storms where snow falls in different periods and there is melting in between.  Snowfall takes care of that...depth would lead to misleading numbers sometimes.  Both are worth recording and most official sites do keep both but they are different things.  They aren't interchangeable so using depth as your official snowfall numbers is probably shorting your seasonal totals a bit since you are comparing that number to other people's and locations snowfall numbers. 

[showmethesnow]

28 minutes ago, psuhoffman said:

I am at 35.5" but that is using snowfall not depth so we aren't as far apart as the number indicates.  But it does seem my area gets consistently a little more even though I am a few miles south of you.  Elevation ftw.   I am only an inch off from highstakes numbers and he is less then a mile away but about 250 feet lower so seems about right.  

I agree with you that depth matters more but I use snowfall for the normalizing process.  That is what official recording sites use so if I record depth then I am short changing my location when it comes to snowfall records compared to other locations.  There is also the issue with depth of how to record storms where snow falls in different periods and there is melting in between.  Snowfall takes care of that...depth would lead to misleading numbers sometimes.  Both are worth recording and most official sites do keep both but they are different things.  They aren't interchangeable so using depth as your official snowfall numbers is probably shorting your seasonal totals a bit since you are comparing that number to other people's and locations snowfall numbers. 

When possible I try to do both. But unfortunately many times I am unable to snow board on a consistent basis. So that leaves me sticking with snow depth as my official measurement through the year. Except for the late March storm with it's long duration (where snowfall was probably 2-3 inches more then ground truth), I think for the most part snow depth through the winter was in fact a fairly accurate representation of true snowfall. So actual snowfall was probably closer to 29 inches vs. the 26.35 snow depth. So that leaves me 6-7 inches behind you which is pretty much spot on with the 20-25% reduction in totals (from your yard to mine) I have come to expect over the last 15 years.

[EastCoast NPZ]

48 minutes ago, Jandurin said:

I wonder what's the more useful measurement.

Snowfall or depth.

I'd say snowfall as depth is dependent on so many other factors.

Depth obviously matters more from a logistical aspect, though.

For my personal selfish reasons, I only care about depth.  Snow that melts or compacts does not interest me in the slightest.  I only care about what I can go play in.

[winterymix]

2 hours ago, Jandurin said:

I wonder what's the more useful measurement.

Snowfall or depth.

I'd say snowfall as depth is dependent on so many other factors.

Depth obviously matters more from a logistical aspect, though.

The problem with depth is lack of standardization for the temporal factor.

If you get 4 inches of wet heavy snow and it is 34 degrees out and you measure when it is winding down and get 4", 4 it is.

If you measure two hours later, the snow depth will be less for certain.

[George BM]

On 1/25/2018 at 12:57 AM, George BM said:

IMBY (38.97N , 77.41W)

12/09/2017: 4.0"

12/15/2017: 0.2" snow/graupel

12/30/2017: 0.3" 

1/04/2018: 0.5"

1/16-17/2018: 0.5"

As of January 25, 2018: 5.5"

2/17/2018: 1.2"

3/20-21/2018: 4.3"

Total as of April 3, 2018: 11.0"

[Round Hill WX]

Round Hill Virginia:

13" for the 2017/18 season. Less than half of climo for the 2nd year in a row.