February 2022 Obs/Disco

[Damage In Tolland]

50 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

The day started innocuous and drab. Hungover from a dorm party I awoke my girlfriend (soon to be wife) and trudged to an 8 am class at Washburn Hall on the quad. The air was chilly, upper 20s with a biting NE wind which made the hungover walk seem longer than usual. Washburn was home to URIs Meteorology Dept and was buzzing as I entered. I had a Physics class next to the Met room and as I passed I heard the distinct clatter of a Difax machine and stopped to look. As I peered in the Professor exclaimed this would be a storm we would remember for the rest of our lives. That immediately drew me in. I  looked at the now completed Satellite picture and saw a giant swirl of clouds located off the Delmarva. I asked the Professor what time was the storm due and how much. He was excited and said should start at noon and he said straight face I think this is a storm that brings feet of snow. Now my head is wide awake. I start thinking about my elderly parents in Westerly, and make the decision to go home to ride it out with them. I had plans to meet my girl at the student lounge at 11 after my 10 class. I stared out the window the entire  10 am class, watching the clouds lower and the wind start to crank. We met and as I was explaining to her what the professor had said, I noticed thick flurries descending across the sky from my view from the expansive windows of the Student Union. I then made a decision which proved to be a great one. I told her we needed to leave now. She protested but I insisted so we headed out. The ride started out in Kingston a 20 minute ride from Westerly, normally I would have taken the back roads but decided to take state roads and 95 back. Another good decision. As soon  as we hit Rt 138 the snow instantly became heavy, dense and wind whipped. The road quickly became snow covered. As I entered Rt 95 the visibility had dropped to less than an 1/8th of a mile and traffic although light was moving very slowly.  Driving a tank 1961 Chryler New Yorker I barged passed in the passing lane. As I  exited onto Rt 3, which now had taken 45 minutes, the snow was whipping with a velocity I had never encountered on the road. The road had 3 to 5 inches of snow which was manageable but with visibility so low I had a hard time finding the road. I entered Westerly 15 minutes later and all hell had broken loose. Cars were stranded all over. People could not make up the hills. I plowed through and made it home. We bunkered down and my parents allowed my girl to stay until it was safe to bring her home, a decision that changed my life forever. The storm raged all night. Constant thunder and lightning for hours and hours. Winds so high the house screeched, occasionally you could hear sleet hit, might have been hail. After basically a non sleeping night the morning brought sights I had never seen. My car invisible, drifts up to the roof of my neighbors house, yet the storm continued. I was astounded at the ferocity. As the day progressed the snow would lighten up and then return with full fury. The wind was constant. We started the dig out process. The snow was heavy and blown into wind slabs. Thick and hard to move. I found a level spot on the lee side of our yard and measured 28 to 36 inches of snow. After dig out it was play time. We jumped off of my parents flat roof into a 10 foot drift. The blizzard of 78 was and is the most intense terrifying yet beautiful storm I ever encountered. The next day I drove my girl in my tank through one lane plowed roads back to URI where all classes were canceled and a week long party commenced, jumping out of 2nd story dorms into massive 20 foot drifts, using dining room trays sledding down hills. Truly as my Professor said, some 43 years later, I will never forget the Blizzard of 78 as the greatest winter storm ever in my life. I have a live reminder as well, 9 months later to the day my oldest son was born, a product of 78!

 

Tip?

[Ginx snewx]

6 minutes ago, Damage In Tolland said:

Tip?

Whole thing

[Torch Tiger]

46 minutes ago, HoarfrostHubb said:

0F for my morning low.  The warmer temps this week will be welcomed

 Yeah, winters back is definitely broken.  Hate to see it go but...times they are a changin'

[mahk_webstah]

43 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

Whole thing

very Tip-like.  I love the part about the son born 9 months later.

[SouthCoastMA]

What I was referring to this morning. not much but a wintry feel nonetheless 

[Ginx snewx]

There's a lot of ice around. Holy granite ground

[Cold Miser]

'78 only gave me like a foot or so where I grew up, outside of Albany.

[Cold Miser]

10 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

There's a lot of ice around. Holy granite ground

Breaking out the entombed cars has been fun.

[CoastalWx]

14 minutes ago, Ginx snewx said:

There's a lot of ice around. Holy granite ground

Let’s throw  an inch of rain on top.  

[EastonSN+]

Looks like phase 4 is actually cold in the east in March.

[DavisStraight]

18 minutes ago, Cold Miser said:

Breaking out the entombed cars has been fun.

I'm lucky I have a big garage but I've seen cars around that are coated in ice, they looked like they were dipped in glaze, must have been a fun time getting the doors open.

[tombo82685]

20 minutes ago, EastonSN+ said:

Looks like phase 4 is actually cold in the east in March.

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I thought for march you would want feb-march-april one, not march-april-may composite. 

[EastonSN+]

7 minutes ago, tombo82685 said:

Maybe I'm wrong here, but I thought for march you would want feb-march-april one, not march-april-may composite. 

Not sure either. Maybe the MAM is for mid March on.

[Chrisrotary12]

Impressive parade of misses on GFS & Euro. Ensembles don’t look any more promising. Best hope appears to be Ginxy’s 14th storm.

[Ginx snewx]

47 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Let’s throw  an inch of rain on top.  

Great. Slip sliding away. Stuff is solid top to bottom. 

[40/70 Benchmark]

Hopefully the lockout ends soon because I am about ready to make the switch. 

[weathafella]

44 years since 78.   Great story Steve.    We all have disappointments in life and living in California and therefore missing  78 is among my biggest to take to the grave with me.

[Snowcrazed71]

Was a lack luster Winter thus far here. Not sure we see any major shifts towards a change to more a more Snowy winter. Although there were many places right on the coast that saw record snows. 

I would look to next year at this point for a good winter ( but I wouldn't rule out a few surprises though ).

[George001]

36 minutes ago, Snowcrazed71 said:

Was a lack luster Winter thus far here. Not sure we see any major shifts towards a change to more a more Snowy winter. Although there were many places right on the coast that saw record snows. 

I would look to next year at this point for a good winter ( but I wouldn't rule out a few surprises though ).

Mid Feb looks promising on the models. March also has a lot of potential if the pattern doesn’t break down.

[DavisStraight]

1 hour ago, Snowcrazed71 said:

Was a lack luster Winter thus far here. Not sure we see any major shifts towards a change to more a more Snowy winter. Although there were many places right on the coast that saw record snows. 

I would look to next year at this point for a good winter ( but I wouldn't rule out a few surprises though ).

If we can get one blockbuster blizzard that'll save this winter for me. I'm talking 18-24+ incher. We've had the cold and I've had a small pack for awhile but if we're not going to get several small/medium storms I'll hope for one more biggie.

[40/70 Benchmark]

52 minutes ago, George001 said:

Mid Feb looks promising on the models. March also has a lot of potential if the pattern doesn’t break down.

There is no pattern to break down...mid month is one transient window of opportunity amid a sea of shit. If you would like a nice March, then you NEED the "pattern" to break down.

[KEITH L.I]

1 hour ago, weathafella said:

44 years since 78.   Great story Steve.    We all have disappointments in life and living in California and therefore missing  78 is among my biggest to take to the grave with me.

The greatest storm for Long Island and New England. I was 19 years old in Babylon Long Island. Parts of the Long Island Expressway was closed for 3 days. Drifts must have been 5 to 6 feet. Way above garage door. The most snow I have ever seen.

[bkviking]

29 minutes ago, KEITH L.I said:

The greatest storm for Long Island and New England. I was 19 years old in Babylon Long Island. Parts of the Long Island Expressway was closed for 3 days. Drifts must have been 5 to 6 feet. Way above garage door. The most snow I have ever seen.

Agree with you here. I lived in Sound Beach on north shore of LI and I still consider this the standard. Of course, I was younger and didn’t know how to compare it to anything else. Been through so many “Blizzards” now in life it’s hard to compare all these 20” storms other than to say I know the 1/29/22 blizzard had nice drifting and cold temps with no mixing issues. PD2 similar - just brutal cold before the storm and kinda windy and lotsa blowing snow. Some had more turbulence with thunder and insane snow rates (2/8/13, Boxing Day); some were novel - 1996 was the first really 20 incher on years. Still in my heart - 1978 holds a special place and seeing analysis all these years later it was a classic cold blizzard with some of the strongest winds of them all and biggest drifts - for my area on North Shore of LI. 

[NorEastermass128]

When the obs/disco thread turns into a series of reminiscent posts, you know the end is near. 

[Torch Tiger]

give me one more shot at a wind-driven 10 or 20" and call it a day,  NNE can have every single 3-6" to ice/rainer 

[Typhoon Tip]

4 hours ago, Chrisrotary12 said:

Impressive parade of misses on GFS & Euro. Ensembles don’t look any more promising. Best hope appears to be Ginxy’s 14th storm.

...now gone ...  

The GEF based telecon lost the +PNA surge too - and the individual members, one can see why.  It's like the hemisphere up and abandoned.

Here comes spring D9/10 on this 12z Euro run ...Deep cold retreats N of 55 across Canada and everyone S of the border is above 0C at 850 with continental conveyor from NM to Maine...  Talking low 60s in mid Feb sun - not what winter enthusiasts want to see/hear.   

The last 6 years have seen some eerily warm spell events in February's and March's ... despite years having snow storms during those months - understood ... - the frequency began increasing going back really to 2012... I remember April was 90 on Easter sunday one of those years.  

Anyway, not saying that is the destiny this month, but I have been kind of waiting as a sidecar for early detection in the long range.  The AO is positive.  The NAO is positive.   The PNA is holding out, but lost the surge... If the latter slumps negative I'm not sure I see how we don't soar, given the "local climate era" - not delving into cause.. just monkey see monkey do    

[Allsnow]

6 minutes ago, Typhoon Tip said:

...now gone ...  

The GEF based telecon lost the +PNA surge too - and the individual members, one can see why.  It's like the hemisphere up and abandoned.

Here comes spring D9/10 on this 12z Euro run ...Deep cold retreats N of 55 across Canada and everyone S of the border is above 0C at 850 with continental conveyor from NM to Maine...  Talking low 60s in mid Feb sun - not what winter enthusiasts want to see/hear.   

The last 6 years have seen some eerily warm spell events in February's and March's ... despite years having snow storms during those months - understood ... - the frequency began increasing going back really to 2012... I remember April was 90 on Easter sunday one of those years.  

Anyway, not saying that is the destiny this month, but I have been kind of waiting as a sidecar for early detection in the long range.  The AO is positive.  The NAO is positive.   The PNA is holding out, but lost the surge... If the latter slumps negative I'm not sure I see how we don't soar, given the "local climate era" - not delving into cause.. just monkey see monkey do    

 

[moneypitmike]

4 hours ago, EastonSN+ said:

Looks like phase 4 is actually cold in the east in March.

I confess to having very little knowledge on interpreting these things so correct me where I'm wrong.  If this is showing trends of March-April-May, how can you point to just March?  Isn't it possible that March comes in above, offset by April/May?  Thanks for clarifyhing.

 

In other news, when the hell is Tip's February sun going to melt my damn driveway?

[RUNNAWAYICEBERG]

3 hours ago, 40/70 Benchmark said:

Hopefully the lockout ends soon because I am about ready to make the switch. 

Yea. It’s practically over, winter that is.

[DavisStraight]

3 hours ago, weathafella said:

44 years since 78.   Great story Steve.    We all have disappointments in life and living in California and therefore missing  78 is among my biggest to take to the grave with me.

That was the first year my father hired someone to plow the driveway because it was pretty big and he was getting tired of shoveling. The plow guy told my father to shovel out out cars (we had 3) then he would come and plow. By the time me and my father shoveled out the cars the driveway was just about cleaned so he ended the relationship with that plow guy. I think it took me and my father 4 hours Tues night shoveling that snow, we had snow banks that would make Kevin envious.