Maestrobjwa Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 5 minutes ago, North Balti Zen said: Can't speak for Maestro, but Balt City peeps are still chasing their first verified Warning-level snowfall since Jan. 2016 (no, we did not get there in the Jan. 2019 dealie). For my part, I would like a Watch into a Warning that verifies for Balt City. Been quite awhile up here... Indeed it has...2019 was a total troll with 4.8" being tallied, lol It has been almost 5 years...time for the WDI! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frd Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 To me the Euro took a step back. Its active but not cold enough. Hard to say what will transpire. Not worth the time to think it over, hopefully after the 25th its clearer. By that time wave breaking will be working it's way through the modeling and a more realistic outcome will present itself, whether it is more rain or snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestrobjwa Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 13 minutes ago, 40westwx said: I remember getting a foot of snow on new years day one year.. not sure which year it was.. but it happened Whenever it was it probably didn't happen down my way...don't have any record of that amount...but again, that would be awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Pimpernel Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Just now, Maestrobjwa said: Ha, well I don't know who was saying that about the 3rd week of January...because if you look at our history that around the time when the money period starts! But yes, as WSW breakthrough would be nice! When it became apparent that there was something very possible around that time in Jan. 2016, I vaguely recall some discussion that for whatever reason those middle 2 weeks (or there about) of January had a relative lack of good snow events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVclimo Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 36 minutes ago, Maestrobjwa said: Not sure I wanna get sucked into this "potential"... Last week of December is a historically bad time for us to get good snow (more than a couple inches). If you look at our snow history...I don't recall seeing any dates between Dec 26th and Jan. 9th where we got WSW level stuff at BWI/DCA (anybody got any record on that?) I'm not sure whether it's just coincidence or what...but for some reason we don't seem to get warning level snows during that time period. Would love for this trend to suddenly break this year though...It's 2020, so why not? Lol BWI had 6"+ on Christmas day 1969. About 6" on New Years Day in 1971. Around 5" on 12/27/1990. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormchaserChuck! Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 What a -WPO! Sometimes a -WPO around Dec 22/23 leads to a -EPO/-WPO around Jan 10-15, at the least not a +EPO at that time, I think. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ji Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 26 minutes ago, jaydreb said: Euro getting closer for the DT storm (12/29). lol its about 20 degrees to warm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psuhoffman Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 I think we need to stop focusing on getting the PERFECT pattern and look at what works in a Nina. We likely are not getting a picture perfect pacific pattern. Nor do we need the ABSOLUTE perfect block to get a snowstorm. We do if we want a HECS. But we likely aren't getting a 20" HECS storm either...there has only been 1 of those (1996) EVER in a Nina going back to 1900! But we have had plenty of warning level snowfalls in a Nina. This is the composite of 6 of the best Nina snowstorms since 1950 between Dec 15 and Jan 30 at BWI. I left off really early and after Feb 1 storms because our snow climo wrt what works is slightly different very early and later in the season. So these are good "models" for what works this time of year in a nina. All of these were warning 5"+ events at BWI and some of them were very nice ~10" events in our area. Here is what I take away from that look, and what has worked in past Nina's to get snow. Notice that trough in and around AK. No that is not ideal but its acting to suppress the pacific ridge associated with a Nina. In that regards...its actually helping more then its hurting assuming it stays centered WEST of AK. If it shifts east too much its a problem and we get flooded with pac puke. Centered west of AK and it damages the thermal profile of the CONUS yes but its not fatal. There can be just enough trough into the east to get domestic polar air into the northeast. It is what it is...you lose that trough there and the central PAC ridge goes APE and its all over...you get a trough in the NW and ridge out in the east. The -NAO is critical to this because it helps retrograde that trough out of western North America just enough to make this workable. Lose the -AO/NAO and the Nina PAC ridge can exert itself and that trough in AK shifts east into NW NAM and its last year all over! Notice also the NAO is centered east of ideal there. But what is critical to get that to work is to have SOME extension of the ridge west towards Hudson Bay. But...that said...there are some analogs in there where the NAO blocking is centered pretty far east (2000 is one recent example) and still managed to work out. There are also numerous other decent snowfalls...advisory in the city and warning NW that I didn't bother to include but that show a similar picture in terms of how to get snow in a Nina and what typically works. 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymengineer Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 23 minutes ago, Maestrobjwa said: I had the blizzard of '96 in mind...but I see I was off by a couple days--so Jan 6th! But I picked that date because that was the earliest in January we had ever gotten a big hit (I think)--kinda unusual (usually our hits come from mid-January through President's day, and the occasional March hit). Without going too far back, DC also had notable (WSW criteria) snowstorms 12/31-1/1/71, 1/4-5/80, and 1/8/88. 1/77 had a 3-day sequence early in the month that would total WSW as well but they weren’t all one storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestrobjwa Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 8 minutes ago, WVclimo said: BWI had 6"+ on Christmas day 1969. About 6" on New Years Day in 1971. Around 5" on 12/27/1990. Ah ha...my mom has told me about this, and I was about to mention it as a possible exception...I was born two days before that (Dec 24th), and she tells me she stayed in the hospital an extra day because of it, lol (so literally my first time outside there was snow on the ground! ) Where did you look up that record? Or did you just happen to remember? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Pimpernel Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 1 minute ago, psuhoffman said: I think we need to stop focusing on getting the PERFECT pattern and look at what works in a Nina. We likely are not getting a picture perfect pacific pattern. Nor do we need the ABSOLUTE perfect block to get a snowstorm. We do if we want a HECS. But we likely aren't getting a 20" HECS storm either...there has only been 1 of those (1996) EVER in a Nina going back to 1900! But we have had plenty of warning level snowfalls in a Nina. This is the composite of 6 of the best Nina snowstorms since 1950 between Dec 15 and Jan 30 at BWI. I left off really early and after Feb 1 storms because our snow climo wrt what works is slightly different very early and later in the season. So these are good "models" for what works this time of year in a nina. All of these were warning 5"+ events at BWI and some of them were very nice ~10" events in our area. Here is what I take away from that look, and what has worked in past Nina's to get snow. Notice that trough in and around AK. No that is not ideal but its acting to suppress the pacific ridge associated with a Nina. In that regards...its actually helping more then its hurting assuming it stays centered WEST of AK. If it shifts east too much its a problem and we get flooded with pac puke. Centered west of AK and it damages the thermal profile of the CONUS yes but its not fatal. There can be just enough trough into the east to get domestic polar air into the northeast. It is what it is...you lose that trough there and the central PAC ridge goes APE and its all over...you get a trough in the NW and ridge out in the east. The -NAO is critical to this because it helps retrograde that trough out of western North America just enough to make this workable. Lose the -AO/NAO and the Nina PAC ridge can exert itself and that trough in AK shifts east into NW NAM and its last year all over! Notice also the NAO is centered east of ideal there. But what is critical to get that to work is to have SOME extension of the ridge west towards Hudson Bay. But...that said...there are some analogs in there where the NAO blocking is centered pretty far east (2000 is one recent example) and still managed to work out. There are also numerous other decent snowfalls...advisory in the city and warning NW that I didn't bother to include but that show a similar picture in terms of how to get snow in a Nina and what typically works. Lovely alliteration there, intentional or not (picture perfect pacific pattern)!! At any rate, good discussion of how we can get decent moderate events, if one is not so hung up on HECS chasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldie 22 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 10 minutes ago, Ji said: lol its about 20 degrees to warm so 52? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psuhoffman Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 4 minutes ago, Always in Zugzwang said: Lovely alliteration there, intentional or not (picture perfect pacific pattern)!! At any rate, good discussion of how we can get decent moderate events, if one is not so hung up on HECS chasing. Thanks... I am going to straight up drop kick the first person who complains if we get a 6-10" snowstorm in the 95 corridor. It's a Nina. Expectations!!! 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinterWxLuvr Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 8 minutes ago, psuhoffman said: I think we need to stop focusing on getting the PERFECT pattern and look at what works in a Nina. We likely are not getting a picture perfect pacific pattern. Nor do we need the ABSOLUTE perfect block to get a snowstorm. We do if we want a HECS. But we likely aren't getting a 20" HECS storm either...there has only been 1 of those (1996) EVER in a Nina going back to 1900! But we have had plenty of warning level snowfalls in a Nina. This is the composite of 6 of the best Nina snowstorms since 1950 between Dec 15 and Jan 30 at BWI. I left off really early and after Feb 1 storms because our snow climo wrt what works is slightly different very early and later in the season. So these are good "models" for what works this time of year in a nina. All of these were warning 5"+ events at BWI and some of them were very nice ~10" events in our area. Here is what I take away from that look, and what has worked in past Nina's to get snow. Notice that trough in and around AK. No that is not ideal but its acting to suppress the pacific ridge associated with a Nina. In that regards...its actually helping more then its hurting assuming it stays centered WEST of AK. If it shifts east too much its a problem and we get flooded with pac puke. Centered west of AK and it damages the thermal profile of the CONUS yes but its not fatal. There can be just enough trough into the east to get domestic polar air into the northeast. It is what it is...you lose that trough there and the central PAC ridge goes APE and its all over...you get a trough in the NW and ridge out in the east. The -NAO is critical to this because it helps retrograde that trough out of western North America just enough to make this workable. Lose the -AO/NAO and the Nina PAC ridge can exert itself and that trough in AK shifts east into NW NAM and its last year all over! Notice also the NAO is centered east of ideal there. But what is critical to get that to work is to have SOME extension of the ridge west towards Hudson Bay. But...that said...there are some analogs in there where the NAO blocking is centered pretty far east (2000 is one recent example) and still managed to work out. There are also numerous other decent snowfalls...advisory in the city and warning NW that I didn't bother to include but that show a similar picture in terms of how to get snow in a Nina and what typically works. I got 20” in either 14 or 15. Can’t remember. Wasn’t at least one of those a weak Nina? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Pimpernel Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 10 minutes ago, psuhoffman said: Thanks... I am going to straight up drop kick the first person who complains if we get a 6-10" snowstorm in the 95 corridor. It's a Nina. Expectations!!! Haha! Give 'em the Ray Guy treatment!! That person who complains might be (ahem)JI(ahem)!! (ETA: and to keep up with the alliteration, you can refer to those who complain as "Nattering nabobs of negativism!!") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osfan24 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 4 minutes ago, psuhoffman said: Thanks... I am going to straight up drop kick the first person who complains if we get a 6-10" snowstorm in the 95 corridor. It's a Nina. Expectations!!! Poor Ji. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osfan24 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 1 minute ago, WinterWxLuvr said: I got 20” in either 14 or 15. Can’t remember. Wasn’t at least one of those a weak Nina? Pretty sure it was the Valentine's Day storm in 14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Wiggum Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 5 minutes ago, psuhoffman said: Thanks... I am going to straight up drop kick the first person who complains if we get a 6-10" snowstorm in the 95 corridor. It's a Nina. Expectations!!! But 95-96!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormchaserChuck! Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 It's been a long time since we had a +500dm -NAO (March 2018 maybe). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldie 22 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 8 minutes ago, psuhoffman said: Thanks... I am going to straight up drop kick the first person who complains if we get a 6-10" snowstorm in the 95 corridor. It's a Nina. Expectations!!! Maybe we can get 2 or 3 of them 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George BM Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 5 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said: I got 20” in either 14 or 15. Can’t remember. Wasn’t at least one of those a weak Nina? It was the Feb 12-13, 2014 event. Cool Neutral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Pimpernel Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 2 minutes ago, Ralph Wiggum said: But 95-96!! Hahaha! Well, "best pattern since '96" might surpass "transient" as the most over-used word/phrase for this winter!! 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George BM Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 BTW, here's the ONI data since 1950 for those curious. https://origin.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/ensostuff/ONI_v5.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVclimo Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 22 minutes ago, Maestrobjwa said: Ah ha...my mom has told me about this, and I was about to mention it as a possible exception...I was born two days before that (Dec 24th), and she tells me she stayed in the hospital an extra day because of it, lol (so literally my first time outside there was snow on the ground! ) Where did you look up that record? Or did you just happen to remember? Those were from memory. But if you really want to spend some time, this site has climate records from thousands of stations in the US: Utah MAPS - Utah Climate Center (usu.edu) 1. find a station (you can enter a town and a map will show you the stations on record) 2. customize your report (make sure to select English, unless you want the metric conversion) 3. download an Excel file (they will ask for an email, but reports are generated quickly.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weather Will Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 We had our chance, sun angle issues start next week... 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psuhoffman Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 31 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said: I got 20” in either 14 or 15. Can’t remember. Wasn’t at least one of those a weak Nina? No 14 was neutral 15 was weak Nino 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestrobjwa Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Just now, Weather Will said: We had our chance, sun angle issues start next week... Or as Bob Chill once called it...the dumb angle, lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psuhoffman Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Btw there is a chance (which is typical) we are rushing this. It’s possible we get one of these waves in the next 13 days to hit...but it’s also true we usually do better as blocking regimes relax or break down. The guidance (all 3 majors) are building the -AO/NAO and even improving the pac some (which is linked) into early January. And given the evidence right now there is no reason to think it’s a fantasy. The AO and NAO have not been hostile this year. There is a chance our best window comes in January. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George BM Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 7 minutes ago, psuhoffman said: No 14 was neutral 15 was weak Nino Fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psuhoffman Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Close... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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