Jump to content
  • Member Statistics

    17,597
    Total Members
    7,904
    Most Online
    DAinDC
    Newest Member
    DAinDC
    Joined

Jan 6th-7th 2022 Second Chance Storm


John1122
 Share

Recommended Posts

This could be one of those "sneaky" systems for Chattanooga. We laugh because we are prone to getting shut out of snow but it's sort of like poker. You always remember the bad beats but never talk about the 1 or 2 outer you hit to win a big hand.

This is not a wishcast at all, but I've seen several times the moisture was more than predicted and Chattanooga was just on the line of rain/snow. If we happen to get this thing a hair south and hit the transition zone and be on the snow side with rain just to the south of us, I've seen some really heavy snow here when this happens. I'm not writing this one off yet. I'm actually intrigued with a possible surprise here but as we all know in our area, everything has to be perfect. Maybe this will be one of those times. We will know come Thursday!

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Uncle Nasty said:

This could be one of those "sneaky" systems for Chattanooga. We laugh because we are prone to getting shut out of snow but it's sort of like poker. You always remember the bad beats but never talk about the 1 or 2 outer you hit to win a big hand.

This is not a wishcast at all, but I've seen several times the moisture was more than predicted and Chattanooga was just on the line of rain/snow. If we happen to get this thing a hair south and hit the transition zone and be on the snow side with rain just to the south of us, I've seen some really heavy snow here when this happens. I'm not writing this one off yet. I'm actually intrigued with a possible surprise here but as we all know in our area, everything has to be perfect. Maybe this will be one of those times. We will know come Thursday!emoji3587.png

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk
 

Yep. These systems with a weak Low always seem to be sneaky. We are only dealing with tenths of inches so asking a global model to hit it on the head even 3 days out is asking too much. Which is why @Carvers Gap hit it on the head a couple posts up about smoothing the edges out.  Add .1-.2 inches across an area with 10-15:1 ratios and that's a significant uptick in snowfall.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, John1122 said:

Thanks for the video! For a second I was confused by the video title since I live on a road named "Horseshoe Dr." and the video title is "Explaining 'horseshoe' snow forecasts in East Tennessee".

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I say the system could be under-done(earlier post by me), but it is possible that this system also could run out of gas.  IMBY, I see this from time to time.  The system looks robust to my west, and then just kind of runs out of steam.  [mention=16126]Holston_River_Rambler[/mention]is correct I think.  This just gets strung out. It may have been shredded by the Apps as the snow axis is almost over the Apps at 12z.  That would cause moisture transport issues.

Maybe there’s a handoff coming that hasn’t shown up yet? Mods get confused during an active pattern.


.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, PowellVolz said:


Maybe there’s a handoff coming that hasn’t shown up yet? Mods get confused during an active pattern.


.

If there is a hand off, I just don’t want an early (or -non) whistle.  LOL.
 

All kidding aside, I need to go back and look.  When there is an slp east of the Apps, almost always some type of handoff as you know.  To me it just looks like the operational just ran out of gas.  Ensemble looks healthier.  I tend never to discount wonky Euro runs, because sometimes they are right.  But that precip shield is an outlier for sure.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So much to discuss. It does looks like a decent situation state-wide.

1. Sounding is from near the rain/snow line so yes it has a warm nose. What I'm seeing above that is a saturated DGZ. Looks like an isentropic lift event along all the right surfaces.

2. Chattanooga could benefit from dynamic cooling aloft; however, surface temps should remain mid-30s during snowfall if it snows. Signal and Lookout will be snow.

3. @8283 El Nino Baby welcome to Tennessee! Rose Bowl effect in Chattanooga today - I know that's Southern Calif. Chattanooga got blanked but snow sits on local mountains. I used to forecast for several California newspapers including the LA Times and San Jose Mercury News. California micro-climates rock! We will try to satisfy you here in Tennessee.

4. Yeah the banding on the Euro is probably forecast banding of snow. Of course those locations are subject to change. 

5. There's still time for East Coast weenies. Our last system surprised them. Can we get two in a row in DC for Ian?

As others have noted a less amped slider would really help Chattanooga proper. However it might put us in conflict with Memphis - where snow is quite possible this time.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best pure snow events for the valley areas almost always seem to be upglide situations. The systems that are prone to produce big events are almost always prone to mixing issues. The rare times they don't is when you see huge totals in lower elevations. But most major valley cities have fewer than 15 10+ inch snow events in the last 100 years or so.  So once again, uncommon. I'll always take a 3-6 inch all snow event vs a risky mix or 12 inch gamble. 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If there is a hand off, I just don’t want an early (or -non) whistle.  LOL.
 
All kidding aside, I need to go back and look.  When there is an slp east of the Apps, almost always some type of handoff as you know.  To me it just looks like the operational just ran out of gas.  Ensemble looks healthier.  I tend never to discount wonky Euro runs, because sometimes they are right.  But that precip shield is an outlier for sure.

Just like in Tennessee athletics, I’ve always got the “what could go wrong” outlook on things. Maybe I’m wrong but I can’t ever remember a handoff going well for the valley. They always seem to transfer from Birmingham to Charleston.


.
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

From OHX for Mid State. 

 

215 PM CST Tue Jan 4 2022

...Significant Snowfall Likely Thursday into Thursday Evening...

A storm system moving over the region will bring snow to the mid-
state once again Thursday and Thursday evening. The precipitation
may start as a mix early, with even minor ice accumulation south
of I-40. But it should quickly change to all snow, and end
rapidly in the early evening.

Amounts at this point look to range from around one half inch
southwest to as much a 4 inches along the Upper Cumberland. This
snow will be followed by frigid temperatures on Friday.

Check back often for later updates as snowfall amounts are subject
to change.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, tnweathernut said:

Weenie rule number 62.  Never, and I mean NEVER............ use anything the NAM throws out beyond 36,42 hours.  lol

Oh no doubt, it wasn't in response to that NAM run. Just could see something similar happening with this event that did with Monday's snow. Too warm on the Eastern part of the state then lack of precip once snow mixes in. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=MRX&issuedby=MRX&product=AFD&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1

 

"Precipitation will begin to move in near Chattanooga around sunrise
on Thursday, and as the system progresses to the east, precipitation
will spread northeastward during the day. Still some big question
marks with how soon precipitation will start making it to the
surface as initially we`ll have some very dry air in place, and
won`t really be advecting much low level moisture into the area. So
the column will need to saturate from the top down. Some of the
forecast soundings show in the Valley that this will happen closer
to around 18z, while others are holding off saturation to the
surface till closer to 00z. How fast this column can saturate will
have major impacts on how much precipitation and snowfall makes it
to the surface."

 

 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, wrt my question earlier, the only notable enhancement to lift they mention is :

 

"additionally think the Plateau counties up into southwest VA will also see higher
amounts as they`re near the PVA which will help bring down the
precipitation at a much faster rate. Further down in the valley
things are much more uncertain specifically because of uncertainty
in how fast the column saturates and how warm they get during the
day."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...