September Discobs 2022

[mappy]

11 minutes ago, H2O said:

I wish Va did have one.  I'd stare at it for hours.  FX Co has a LIDAR elevation map which is fun.

LiDAR is the best. MD's viewer is all LiDAR derived. 

[IronTy]

2 hours ago, Hank Scorpio said:

That looks like a cool app. I have a website I always use for rough elevation info, and now I'm wondering where they're all getting their topo data from. 

https://en-us.topographic-map.com/maps/blrg/Meadow-Mountain/

I went to the location for our property on the website and it seems to more or less match Onx.  Maybe the listing was being generous with the height, I never bothered to confirm the exact value but I guess I will do that this weekend.  

 

I like the Onx map because you can view property boundaries in conjunction with your exact GPS location which is nice because it's a large property and sometimes I don't know where I am in the forest.  

[RIC_WX]

1 hour ago, IronTy said:

I went to the location for our property on the website and it seems to more or less match Onx.  Maybe the listing was being generous with the height, I never bothered to confirm the exact value but I guess I will do that this weekend.  

 

I like the Onx map because you can view property boundaries in conjunction with your exact GPS location which is nice because it's a large property and sometimes I don't know where I am in the forest.  

Looks like you are in an awesome spot.  First time you spend a night up there in a winter storm, the wind is gonna knock your socks off.  I hope you are a sound sleeper.

[SnowenOutThere]

2 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

Yeah, this is awesome.  https://lidar-fairfaxcountygis.opendata.arcgis.com/apps/lidar-elevation-viewer/explore

Still funny that the highest elevation in the county is the landfill mound.  

I'm in the orange near Tyson's which is great for really marginal elevation snows and extending growing seasons, and terrible for always finishing any exercise by going up a hill.

 

I’m out past the peak of the elevation in western fairfax, it goes from 450ish a little up the road to 370ish at my house in a short distance, do you think this has any effect on the local climate with storms and such? I’d imagine the higher elevation out to the east helps block the rain snow line a tiny bit. 

[nj2va]

81. Feels nice outside with the DPs still manageable. 

[H2O]

It’s nice at the beach

[MN Transplant]

7 hours ago, SnowenOutThere said:

I’m out past the peak of the elevation in western fairfax, it goes from 450ish a little up the road to 370ish at my house in a short distance, do you think this has any effect on the local climate with storms and such? I’d imagine the higher elevation out to the east helps block the rain snow line a tiny bit. 

Not sure about storms, but I bet you cool off much easier at night in clear conditions.  

[hstorm]

12 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

Yeah, this is awesome.  https://lidar-fairfaxcountygis.opendata.arcgis.com/apps/lidar-elevation-viewer/explore

Still funny that the highest elevation in the county is the landfill mound.  

I'm in the orange near Tyson's which is great for really marginal elevation snows and extending growing seasons, and terrible for always finishing any exercise by going up a hill.

 

Fascinating backstory about the random high point in Great Falls:

Quote

 

The landfill was in use from 1970 until 1989 and served as a place to dump old tree stumps, earning it the nickname “Stump Dump,” as well as a dumping ground for waste from the CIA and certain foreign embassies, according to a Fairfax County report.

Both the CIA and the Russian embassy used to dump garbage there.

“The Russians arrived every few months, paying the dump fee in cash or bottles of vodka,” according to the Washington Post. “A landfill employee would then call the FBI, whose agents would soon arrive to paw through the discards, usually restaurant receipts and parking tickets but once a stripped-down, brand-new Russian car.”

The almost 69 acres of land was also once a zoo with giraffes, zebras, kangaroos, gazelles, buffalos and other non-carnivorous creatures, according to Fairfax planners. The previous owner also wanted to bring lions and bears to the property, but Fairfax County wouldn’t allow it, Peter Murphy, the chairman of the Planning Commission, said. 

 

https://www.restonnow.com/2019/10/07/great-falls-then-and-now-lockmoor-farm/

[MN Transplant]

11 hours ago, hstorm said:

Fascinating backstory about the random high point in Great Falls:

https://www.restonnow.com/2019/10/07/great-falls-then-and-now-lockmoor-farm/

That’s wild.

Models are looking decent for rain Mon/Tues.

 

[Eskimo Joe]

2 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

That’s wild.

Models are looking decent for rain Mon/Tues.

 

I'm mobile at a horse show all day. What are we looking at?

[Kmlwx]

On 9/2/2022 at 9:17 AM, mappy said:

LiDAR is the best. MD's viewer is all LiDAR derived. 

It blows my mind every time. I just saw your post this morning and I'm scrolling through the map. Thanks for sharing! Amazing that you can see little lumps where houses are and stuff. 

[yoda]

2 hours ago, MN Transplant said:

That’s wild.

Models are looking decent for rain Mon/Tues.

 

12z model suite has some disparity:

 

12z GFS likes i66 north in MD... 1-1.25 for most of MD except for 2"+ in W MD

12z FV3/12z 3km NAM both have no rain for pretty much anyone through 00z TUE (both runs end there out to 60 hours)

12z RGEM decent for most... 1-2" with some pockets of up to 3" mainly in W MD

12z NAM shoves much of the heavier rain (i.e. >0.5") north of the M/D line

12z CMC has a precip hole near DC lol... but is 0.5"-1.0" for most but 1-2" for W MD and C VA (down towards CHO and SW portions of LWX CWA)

 

 

 

[Eskimo Joe]

1 hour ago, yoda said:

12z model suite has some disparity:

 

12z GFS likes i66 north in MD... 1-1.25 for most of MD except for 2"+ in W MD

12z FV3/12z 3km NAM both have no rain for pretty much anyone through 00z TUE (both runs end there out to 60 hours)

12z RGEM decent for most... 1-2" with some pockets of up to 3" mainly in W MD

12z NAM shoves much of the heavier rain (i.e. >0.5") north of the M/D line

12z CMC has a precip hole near DC lol... but is 0.5"-1.0" for most but 1-2" for W MD and C VA (down towards CHO and SW portions of LWX CWA)

Sounds like more drought.

[WxUSAF]

2 hours ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Sounds like more drought.

1-2” of drought on the euro

[IronTy]

On 9/2/2022 at 11:30 AM, RIC_WX said:

Looks like you are in an awesome spot.  First time you spend a night up there in a winter storm, the wind is gonna knock your socks off.  I hope you are a sound sleeper.

3037ft according to my GPS.  I must've transposed 3300 and 3030 in my brain.  

That's the main reason we bought the land...snowshoeing and a cozy log cabin with the wood stove going during boss storms.  

77F right now, was randomly kinda humid mid afternoon.  Supposed to be tstorms tonight and tomorrow.  

[RIC_WX]

47 minutes ago, IronTy said:

3037ft according to my GPS.  I must've transposed 3300 and 3030 in my brain.  

That's the main reason we bought the land...snowshoeing and a cozy log cabin with the wood stove going during boss storms.  

77F right now, was randomly kinda humid mid afternoon.  Supposed to be tstorms tonight and tomorrow.  

Siting of your chimney will be super important.  We had to raise ours and install a purpose built wind resistant cap after the first storm filled my cabin with smoke - it blew furiously back down the chimney - to the point I aborted the fire and threw flaming logs out the door into the snow.  It turned out ok in the end, but a learning experience and somewhat shocking how little the supposed experts (my chimney was professionally installed by the only outlet here I could find to do it) know about solving this problem.

I fully recognize most of us are up here for the snow and cold but the wind is what comes with it and it has been our nemesis on several fronts.  I have to believe your location is as least as exposed as I am.

[BlizzardNole]

1 hour ago, IronTy said:

3037ft according to my GPS.  I must've transposed 3300 and 3030 in my brain.  

That's the main reason we bought the land...snowshoeing and a cozy log cabin with the wood stove going during boss storms.  

Congrats and enjoy!  I grew up in Calvert so I understand the winter pain LOL

[Eskimo Joe]

2 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

1-2” of drought on the euro

Let's see what it says this time tomorrow. We've been burned before by the Euro this summer.

[nw baltimore wx]

3 minutes ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Let's see what it says this time tomorrow. We've been burned before by the Euro this summer.

It’s been up and down since last week. 3” down to 1” but seems to have settled in the 1-2” range. Gfs during the same runs has given me 2” to as little at .10” but has been better for north of 70 the last few runs.

Regardless, I won’t believe it until I see it.

[CAPE]

3 hours ago, WxUSAF said:

1-2” of drought on the euro

Looks like some decent juice with some lift across the region.

[nw baltimore wx]

18z gfs says I may have to cut the hay again.

[Eskimo Joe]

1 hour ago, nw baltimore wx said:

18z gfs says I may have to cut the hay again.

Yes 18z GFS is good. Let's hope this holds. Would really like to see 1.5" - 3" regionwide over 36 hours. Even the reservoirs in Baltimore, Howard, and Montgomery counties are getting low.

[Deck Pic]

80/62...

[Eskimo Joe]

7 minutes ago, Deck Pic said:

80/62...

Running well ahead of what the GFS has for us. Gonna really need rates tomorrow to cool the column.

[Eskimo Joe]

Looks like the heaviest rain will be north of the PA border. Probably less than an inch for everyone.

[aldie 22]

2 minutes ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Looks like the heaviest rain will be north of the PA border. Probably less than an inch for everyone.

Final call?

[Eskimo Joe]

4 hours ago, leesburg 04 said:

Final call?

Yea, not looking too good. Hope I'm wrong and we get the goods.

[mappy]

On 9/3/2022 at 11:36 AM, Kmlwx said:

It blows my mind every time. I just saw your post this morning and I'm scrolling through the map. Thanks for sharing! Amazing that you can see little lumps where houses are and stuff. 

LiDAR is awesome 

[jewell2188]

31 minutes ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Yea, not looking too good. Hope I'm wrong and we get the goods.

Looks like we’re in for a dry fall! I own a 167 acres where i cut trails through down to a normally wide flowing creek,to ride atv’s….it’s all but dried up last month or so. Cant even go out and enjoy some riding without it being a dust bowl!!!

[North Balti Zen]

54 minutes ago, Eskimo Joe said:

Yea, not looking too good. Hope I'm wrong and we get the goods.

SO, you are calling for a shutout? Final call? No rain? 

Or is this a case where we get an inch and you claim it is disappointing and a waste of time. Because my yard could sure use a good long soaking inch of rain.