March Discobs 2023

[Stormfly]

21 minutes ago, RDM said:

The reference to Heathkit weather stations brings back memories.  Built my first weather station in 75, which measured 70+mph gusts during the blizzard of 78.  Hard to tell exactly how fast the wind was blowing because the anemometer was analog with a manual gust needle that measured "peek" readings.  

Yep, that would be the ID-1290 with the four dials.  No way to know peak unless you saw it.

Now we can just look at our phones LOL!

But I still like to watch the cups/blades spin on the anemometers even if it's by remote camera.

 

 

[MN Transplant]

Interesting, now the 18z HRRR has a different evolution, with the most intense pulse of wind coming through mid-afternoon prior to the front with SW winds.  That is a less common big wind direction around here.  Still gusts in the 40s/50s with the front, but I'm skeptical of the mid-50s winds pre-frontal.  We will be well-mixed, however, so can't rule it out.

[WinterWxLuvr]

Celebrating damaging wind perplexes me 

[Kmlwx]

7 minutes ago, MN Transplant said:

Interesting, now the 18z HRRR has a different evolution, with the most intense pulse of wind coming through mid-afternoon prior to the front with SW winds.  That is a less common big wind direction around here.  Still gusts in the 40s/50s with the front, but I'm skeptical of the mid-50s winds pre-frontal.  We will be well-mixed, however, so can't rule it out.

Tend to have more widespread damage with unusual gust directions it seems - trees not "used to" it

[MN Transplant]

2 minutes ago, Kmlwx said:

Tend to have more widespread damage with unusual gust directions it seems - trees not "used to" it

True, but I wonder if SW vs W/NW really matters much.  The Isabel-like SE winds, absolutely.

[MN Transplant]

8 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said:

Celebrating damaging wind perplexes me 

Same as all the other weather events.  We celebrate snowstorms even though they often result in some fatalities (crashes, heart attacks, etc.).  Can't do anything about it, so might as well follow interesting weather.  I thoroughly enjoyed March 2018's windstorm.  This isn't in the same ballpark, but we haven't had anything to track forever.

[Kmlwx]

2 minutes ago, MN Transplant said:

True, but I wonder if SW vs W/NW really matters much.  The Isabel-like SE winds, absolutely.

That's a good point - that Isabel damage was other-worldly. 

[Kmlwx]

12 minutes ago, WinterWxLuvr said:

Celebrating damaging wind perplexes me 

We do seem to have this come up a few times a year. I think the best way to view it is that nobody is like "F YEAH A TREE TOOK MY NEIGHBOR OUT" - but if mother nature is going to bring us exciting weather - we are going to track it out of fascination as weather enthusiasts. We have no control over whether it happens or not. 

[MN Transplant]

Another twist on the new 18z NAM Nest.  Winds maybe not as impressive, but the NAM is throwing out UH signals for some cells that pop up E of 95.

[Kmlwx]

19 minutes ago, MN Transplant said:

Another twist on the new 18z NAM Nest.  Winds maybe not as impressive, but the NAM is throwing out UH signals for some cells that pop up E of 95.

Yeah....NAM nest has elevated supercell composite and sigtor parameters for the area tomorrow around 20z. Wow. 

[MN Transplant]

4 minutes ago, Kmlwx said:

Yeah....NAM nest has elevated supercell composite and sigtor parameters for the area tomorrow around 20z. Wow. 

LWX mentioned in the discussion that there would be a better chance of convection to the east where the moisture hadn't been removed by the later morning dry line.

[high risk]

3 minutes ago, Kmlwx said:

Yeah....NAM nest has elevated supercell composite and sigtor parameters for the area tomorrow around 20z. Wow. 

     (Should this discussion be in the SVR subforum?)      What changed in the 18Z NAM Nest is that it now backs the sfc winds in the afternoon which allows low-level dew points to ramp up before the front arrives.    This creates a thermodynamic and kinematic profiles that support supercells.    it's quite a change from the earlier runs which had sfc winds veering by midday and low level dew points lowering significantly in the afternoon.     I need to see this idea show up in the 00Z cycle and see it in other models before buying in.

[EastCoast NPZ]

1 hour ago, WinterWxLuvr said:

Celebrating damaging wind perplexes me 

It is the absolute worst of weather.  I'd rather have 1 month straight of triple-digit heat than this shit.

[Stormfly]

Different strokes for different folks I suppose.
I love the wind. Love the roar through the forest and the wind chimes going.  Which is the case right now with the southern-ish breeze.

Speaking of rarities with direction, strong winds out of the south will make the weather stripping on my front door buzz like a kazoo.  Very loudly once they hit 50 mph.  Isabel was quite the hoot, she played way past her welcome that day! Last time I heard a toot from the door was the morning of April 12, 2020. Prior to that would be Jan 25, 2010.  As you can see, rather rare indeed because the wind has to be primarily out of the south.

When I spent time at sea I always preferred a bit of rocking and rolling.  Of course when it's waves on top of waves and it's impossible to sleep and do other things that gets old fast!  As with most things we tend to get enjoyment out of there are always limits.

When the trees start cracking, skies lit up from faults, et al, then it's a bit much.  Multi day power outages are burdensome.  The diesel genny certainly eases the pain but the fuel cost is a splinter in the other foot.

Same thing with snow.  A foot even two perhaps is OK.  Anything more than that in one serving is just too much. (Yes I'm referring to Jan 23, 2016 where we had 37" here!)

[jayyy]

Pretty dynamic storm out in the plains. Blizzard warning in the twin cities for 6-12” and tornado warnings in Iowa.

[MN Transplant]

Winds already kicking up.  Gust to 44 at IAD.

[87storms]

I don’t care for wind on the regular because it messes with my jumpshot, but for the sake of being a weather hobbyist I don’t mind a localized, temporary event.

It’s getting a little breezy near the Catoctin hills, but still generally light…for now.

[WEATHER53]

Another solid wind event coming.  Like about 5 now with 50+ gusts last 6-8,weeks  That seems high but don’t know 

[snowfan]

Nice thunderstorm rolled through here around 5:55am. 

[southmdwatcher]

Two small thunderstorms have rolled through here in the past 30 minutes.  

[GramaxRefugee]

March total 1.42" for me .

Highest temp 80  ,  lowest 22

Not a very exciting report.

[wxdude64]

My numbers for the month of March, 2023

Total precip was 1.67 inches vs a normal of 3.52 inches, a - 1.85 below average and falls into 4th driest behind 2006's 1.03, 1988's 1.20 and 1981's 1.59 inches. Wettest day was the 4th with 0.65 inches. There were 10 days with measurable, 3 'T's and 18 dry days. Total snowfall for the month was 1.1 inches vs a normal of 4.5 inches, a -3.4 inches below normal but not in top 5 as 1982/83/89/97/00 all had goose eggs. The snowiest day was the 13th with 1.0 inches falling. There were two days with measurable, 2 days with a 'T' and 27 days without snowfall. The average high temp was 56.4 degrees vs a normal high of 54.4 degrees, a + 2.0 degrees above average. The warmest day was the 24th at 75.7 degrees. The average low temp was 31.9 degrees vs a normal of 30.0 degrees, a +1.9 degrees above normal. The coldest temp recorded was 16.0 degrees on the 21st. Overall average temp was 44.2 degrees vs a normal of 42.2 degrees, a + 2.0 degrees above normal. The highest wind recorded was 41 mph on the 15th. Three new records, a new 'cool max' set on the 20th, and new record lows set on 20th and 21st. Overall a warm (except for around the 20th) and dry month and quite windy, recorded 19 days with winds exceeding 25 mph.