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Surprise snowstorm hits SE MI, N OH, ON


michsnowfreak

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I have never seen anything like it. Yesterday nobody in Southern Michigan had anything more than a 30 to 40% chance of snow showers forecast today. Snow chances upped to likely with forecasts of up to an inch when last evenings grids came out. And now when East Lansing residents woke up to 8" of unexpected snow and the storm is strengthened, DTX issued a Winter weather advisory and now upgraded to a warning for Detroit's northern suburbs for 6 to 10". Calling for 3 to 5" here. It's a Winter wonderland outside. Way beyond my expectations but to think 10 inch amounts are possible north of Detroit from a little system that just developed out of nowhere. This is like 1950 era stuff where forecasters had zero clue and were surprised in nowcast time.

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Between a quick hit of snow from the deformation and low to mid-level frontogenesis late this afternoon and evening and some lake enhancement tonight into early Tuesday, looks like parts of NE OH will see several inches by tomorrow morning as well.  This has been hinted at for a day or two here, definitely not the surprise parts of Michigan saw!

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33 minutes ago, Chicago Storm said:

You guys just had your version of our post Xmas ‘09 event from around here.


.

Yeah it does seem similar for sure. I haven't got out yet, so I don't know what we have here but eyeballing out the window it is a couple of inches already.

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A couple of thoughts...first thought is the 850mb fgen band that pounded MI this morning looks to move E and skirt the northern shore of Lake Erie and slide perhaps towards BUF and likely just south of the GTA this evening.  This will bring a few hours of intense lift (with that occurring in the DGZ) through a deep layer to go along with steep lapse rates from about 800mb to 400mb.  There appears to be enough lift and over a deep enough layer for charge separation and possibly some lightning this afternoon and evening, though I'm not sure if it'll directly impact any posters here.  I'd expect that band to continue to drop warning criteria snow amounts in excess of 6", though that'll likely be south of Toronto.  The NAM hinted at that band of great lift just north of the 850mb low yesterday...but it had the low over northern OH and had the band over Lake Erie and grazing north-central OH, but it ended up a good bit farther north this morning.  A few of the 0z hi-res models did pin-point a corridor of 0.2-0.4" of QPF this morning near Lansing...likely a bit more liquid fell, but with some ratio magic that does suggest several inches.  It was a sneaky potential that come down to nowcasting...hard to pin down in advance.

For northern OH, there's a brief period (less than 3 hours) of lift through a deep layer (with steep lapse rates to boot) including the DGZ that quickly moves west to east late afternoon/early evening along the mid-level cold front that could produce a nice burst of snow...with some weak deformation between about 400mb and 700mb keeping light snow going well through the evening.  Thinking a general 2-3" of synoptic snow in the northern couple tiers of counties in north-central and NE OH.  Lake enhanced conditions improve this evening and could keep moderate snow going until after midnight in the higher terrain immediately downwind of Lake Erie from the Cleveland metro points east...with some generally light lake effect lingering into Tuesday (perhaps briefly heavier under a Huron connected band).  Think the lake enhanced/effect snow will push storm totals to 3-6" in the Cleveland area and snowbelt south and east of Cleveland, heaviest in the higher terrain.  I could see someone in the higher terrain in NE OH or NW PA squeaking out 8", but for a time this evening after the initial burst of snow along the mid-level fgen the unstable layer with the lake enhancement is below the DGZ, so ratios may be poor for a while before it gets colder later at night and ratios improve again.  Either way, nice little surprise event.

 

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A couple things

1) obviously these last minute massive surprises don't come around as often nowadays, but there was actually one earlier this month in/around southeast Missouri with something that didn't look like much and ended up way overperforming.  Didn't get as much attention because of the lack of posters from there

2) I am so not surprised that Michigan is the beneficiary of this one lol

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17 minutes ago, michsnowfreak said:

Around 3" or a tad more so far. It's on the wet side when shoveling but it's a bit drifty. Should grind for several more hours. Thinking 3.5-4.0 total here. It would have been awesome to be in those narrow intense bands but considering the nature of this surprise I'm quite pleased!

THIS!

 

20180129 GRR Snowfall by radar image.png

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10 minutes ago, OHweather said:

A little surprised DTX dropped all the headlines while accumulating snow was still ongoing...and then promptly issued a SPS for up to 2" of additional accumulation.  Just extend the headlines for a few more hours? 

Higher sun angle and lighter precip rates cleared the roads up really quickly here, locally.  That's my guess anyways.  

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3 minutes ago, Frog Town said:

Higher sun angle and lighter precip rates cleared the roads up really quickly here, locally.  That's my guess anyways.  

That makes sense I guess.  Just thought it odd they let the advisories and warnings expire but still thought it necessary to issue a SPS right after. 

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1 hour ago, Snowstorms said:

Coming down quite steadily here in downtown Toronto. The commute is going to be terrible. 

Looking good for 2-4" across the area with higher amounts in Mississauga and further south based on the latest surface analysis. 

 

So far haven't been too impressed with rates or ratios. Haven't been out in it yet. Maybe it's just the view through the window.

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Sounds like a lot of the Detroit area got 3-4" with pockets of 5-8" in some northern burbs and isolated amounts near 10" in Flint. As temps dropped the NW wind blew and drifted the snow around a lot, and its a winter wonderland outside as temps fall through the teens. Suddenly its deep winter again. Storm total here was 3.8", now at 33.0" on the season. DTW's 3.4" puts them at 31.7" on the season. FNT was right in that band and picked up a shocking 9.7", so they are at 43.6" on the season, only about 4 inches shy of average for an entire season yet we are just past the halfway mark.

 

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3 hours ago, snowstormcanuck said:

Nah. Definitely not getting the frontogenetic bands like were happening back in MI.

Doesn't affect us in Toronto as the 2-4 call still looks fine. But I doubt the warning area to the south is verifying. Hamilton/Niagara may pull it out overnight if LES develops.

Snow band's slowly weakening across the GTA from north to south. 

Looks like a general 2-3" fell across the area. Nothing impressive versus SE Michigan, but enough for a nice winter wonderland. We may need to monitor the Wednesday event for a general 1-3" across the area though I would assume because of down-slopping, we may not see anything? 

 

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