Dec 16-17 obs/nowcast thread

[CoastalWx]

6 minutes ago, dryslot said:

Just talking to one of my customers in Lancaster NH and they got 2" from yesterdays storm.

Wx2fish said all the snow mobile weenies up north are mad.   

[dryslot]

1 minute ago, CoastalWx said:

Wx2fish said all the snow mobile weenies up north are mad.   

I'm sure, I know the ones here are the same, Foothills NW didn't see much here either, I think the best thing that happened is that most bodies of water are open, What could have been really bad is having 1-2" of ice then getting all the snow to fall on these lakes and ponds the some would think they would be able to zip across not knowing what lies beneath and could end up in a very tragic situation.

 

[OceanStWx]

4 hours ago, powderfreak said:

The liquid still boggles my mind... sure ratios were part of it but that band laid down a swath of 2-3” QPF at temps in the teens.  I’ve seen a lot of folks online just pin it on ratios but that band was extremely efficient at ripping moisture from the sky.

Both BGM and ALB cleared 2” water in like 12 hours in a snowstorm.  And those ASOS water numbers are insane.

ALB was even slightly SE of the band and ripped 0.93” water in 3 hours.  BGM’s 1.11” in 3 hours has to be one of the more incredible liquid numbers in a fronto band on the cold side of a nor’easter. That’s just choking snowfall.

Models printing that QPF get tossed on here prior to a storm because it’s just hard to fathom.

For sure. That’s what Ryan and I were kind of talking about last night. BGM didn’t have wild ratios or anything, they just maxed everything out of the atmosphere.

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

51 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

He could be totally innocuous in his measuring but just have a bad siting where the snow board location is prone to drifting or blowoff from roof or something like that which causes consistently higher measurements.

I’ve done that before. Was too close to my condo building when I was living in Danbury. 

[Greg]

[tamarack]

47 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Wx2fish said all the snow mobile weenies up north are mad.   

I may be mad but I'm not angry.  

[klw]

21 minutes ago, Greg said:

I'm glad to see my report led to a nice round area of 18+ right over my area.

[weathafella]

2 hours ago, TheSnowman said:

Oh I’m Absolutely Right with you!  That’s like Rule #1 in my Nazi Level Snow Control.  

It’s a practicality.  I’m not going to try to shovel over a foot manually in my mid 70s.   But multiple times make it less stressful on my body and overall more exercise.   

[Amped]

1 hour ago, CoastalWx said:

Because BOX keeps effing it up. 12.7" will be the official total. 

If DCA only undermeasured a major snowstorm by .4" it would be a lifelong dream come true for most mid atlantic folks.  

[Torch Tiger]

58 minutes ago, Greg said:

No one in Lowell had 15.2".  Maybe clearing every hour...

[Bostonseminole]

3 minutes ago, Dr. Dews said:

No one in Lowell had 15.2".  Maybe clearing every hour...

probably close, there is always an error bar.. 14-16" generally

[dendrite]

1 hour ago, OceanStWx said:

For sure. That’s what Ryan and I were kind of talking about last night. BGM didn’t have wild ratios or anything, they just maxed everything out of the atmosphere.

Not sure if I’m still in the system up there for Northfield 1W (pretty sure Mike made me an ID), if it wasn’t seen I’d like to add my 34.4”/1.89” for historical purposes.

The official scorecard.

[CoastalWx]

What's the easiest way to take a core with that snow? 

[dendrite]

2 hours ago, CoastalWx said:

What's the easiest way to take a core with that snow? 

I had an ice layer underneath on the driveway so I measured from there. My 2 huge 6hr samples I had to jab the outer Stratus gauge in straight down to the ice to compact it in. The 19” sample was real fun. Then I just bring it in and get the tap water really hot and pour in a measured amount from the inner stratus tube...just keep adding until all of the snow is melted. Then pour it back through the funnel into the inner tube in increments without overfilling and spilling over the 1” line. That’s why most of my numbers are around 3/4” just to be safe. 
 

As for the core outside, I clear the snow around the tube on the board (this case ice) and I have a large mason trowel that I slide under so I can lift the core up without spilling anything. I cleared a large area on the ice after this for the next 6hr sample since I was concerned about wind contamination. The wind actually never got that bad after the first sample. You could see in my pics how the dendrites just stacked up perfectly. So despite a 34” fluff bomb I’m actually very confident in my measurements.

[Torch Tiger]

11 minutes ago, Bostonseminole said:

probably close, there is always an error bar.. 14-16" generally

Nah, those are inflated totals for whatever reason(s). I was in lowell yesterday, there was no more or less snow than here, or pretty close.. and we didn't top 10". 9.5"

[Torch Tiger]

Btw with compaction, down to 7" or so pack already.

[Bostonseminole]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Dews said:

Nah, those are inflated totals for whatever reason(s). I was in lowell yesterday, there was no more or less snow than here, or pretty close.. and we didn't top 10". 9.5"

i ended up with 14" but yeah compacted quickly.. it was also hard to measure, so maybe the measured next to a drift lol

[wx2fish]

I think MarkO posted something like 12.5 from Lowell 

[Patfan1987]

No one in Lowell had 15.2".  Maybe clearing every hour...

I had 7in a five minute drive from Lowell. No way in heck they got 15.

[Patfan1987]

I had 7in a five minute drive from Lowell. No way in heck they got 15.

Or weather just does crazy things haha.

[CoastalWx]

6 minutes ago, Patfan1987 said:

I had 7in a five minute drive from Lowell. No way in heck they got 15.

Is this from the water treatment plant there? They are known to be slanty. 

[weathafella]

I want if melted from all paved surfaces.   PITA otherwise.  It can stay in the woods and the hills and dales.  Just get it the fuk off sidewalks.

[CoastalWx]

1 minute ago, weathafella said:

I want if melted from all paved surfaces.   PITA otherwise.  It can stay in the woods and the hills and dales.  Just get it the fuk off sidewalks.

[backedgeapproaching]

2 hours ago, klw said:

The reports from Ludlow,/Windsor area on the Public information statement or around 40" were all from early enough in the morning yesterday that I would have thought they got at least 10+ more.  Have any newer reports from that area come in?

I haven't seen any.  the 44" Ludlow got reduced to 41" by NWS after an error by observer I guess.

Not to far from me though still in the running for state record.  I saw a pick from their yard and there was definitely 40-42" OTG. And it happened in like 12 hours really-crazy.

 

 

[klw]

In terms of the Vermont record, was the January 1947 Peru claim of 60" not recognized?

[backedgeapproaching]

6 minutes ago, klw said:

In terms of the Vermont record, was the January 1947 Peru claim of 60" not recognized?

Was it 24 hours?

[backedgeapproaching]

Speaking of Peru. New VT record if verified.

COOP observer with 44.8".  That COOP has been around for 80 years. His reports never seem out of line after events either.

 

[OceanStWx]

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

Not sure if I’m still in the system up there for Northfield 1W (pretty sure Mike made me an ID), if it wasn’t seen I’d like to add my 34.4”/1.89” for historical purposes.

The official scorecard.

He stopped short of giving your a ICAO ID but you’re in there.

1 hour ago, dendrite said:

I had an ice layer underneath on the driveway so I measured from there. My 2 huge 6hr samples I had to jab the outer Status gauge in straight down to the ice to compact it in. The 19” sample was real fun. Then I just bring it in and get the tap water really hot and pour in a measured amount from the inner stratus tube...just keep adding until all of the snow is melted. Then pour it back through the funnel into the inner tube in increments without overfilling and spilling over the 1” line. That’s why most of my numbers are around 3/4” just to be safe. 
 

As for the core outside, I clear the snow around the tube on the board (this case ice) and I have a large mason trowel that I slide under so I can lift the core up without spilling anything. I cleared a large area on the ice after this for the next 6hr sample since I was concerned about wind contamination. The wind actually never got that bad after the first sample. You could see in my pics how the dendrites just stacked up perfectly. So despite a 34” fluff bomb I’m actually very confident in my measurements.

Now that I’ve started CoCoRaHS, I’m loathing the 4” gauge. I miss my WFO 8” bucket.

The 4” nearly overflowed with snow twice during this event.

[CT Rain]

Just now, OceanStWx said:

He stopped short of giving your a ICAO ID but you’re in there.

Now that I’ve started CoCoRaHS, I’m loathing the 4” gauge. I miss my WFO 8” bucket.

The 4” nearly overflowed with snow twice during this event.

Do you leave the gauge out for snow? I always take it in and just do cores with the snow board. 

[backedgeapproaching]

15 minutes ago, klw said:

In terms of the Vermont record, was the January 1947 Peru claim of 60" not recognized?

Over 4 days..