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Central PA Winter 2024/2025


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2 minutes ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

Ukie with a nice coastal track that gives like 6-8" to us easterners and drops off as you head NW to about 3" around State College.  Biggest totals of a foot around coastal NJ and DE.  Still has room to be pulled in.  A nice result.

 

snku_024h-imp.us_ma (16).png

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1 minute ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

Ukie with a nice coastal track that gives like 6-8" to us easterners and drops off as you head NW to about 3" around State College.  Biggest totals of a foot around coastal NJ and DE.  Still has room to be pulled in.  A nice result.

Yeah, a little further east than 0z but in the ballpark. Small changes aloft won't be sorted out for a few days and those subtleties will have big implications on the final result. 

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38 minutes ago, Itstrainingtime said:

Not to be argumentative, but it actually looked to me like this had an opportunity to be a WHOLE lot better. The low was only about 1004mb off the east coast. It hadn't really bombed out on this run until it was gone. 

Edit: It definitely went nuclear after that! 

Not sure anyone disagrees, but at this juncture, you surely know all we can do is look for a growing consensus, before we parse over details.  

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When it comes to forecasts, most locals I talk to or overhear usually cite output from WGAL or WHTM (and rarely, the NWS, sadly).  

I'm guessing most of our family, friends, coworkers, etc know we're weather weenies and look to us as "being in the know".  So when you provide the latest to them, what's your method?  Average the latest model runs in your head and customize a forecast?  Weight output from the NWS a little heavier?  A favorite source here or elsewhere?  Don't touch the subject with a ten foot pole?

 

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1 minute ago, Festus said:

When it comes to forecasts, most locals I talk to or overhear usually cite output from WGAL or WHTM (and rarely, the NWS, sadly).  

I'm guessing most of our family, friends, coworkers, etc know we're weather weenies and look to us as "being in the know".  So when you provide the latest to them, what's your method?  Average the latest model runs in your head and customize a forecast?  Weight output from the NWS a little heavier?  A favorite source here or elsewhere?  Don't touch the subject with a ten foot pole?

 

I take it all in.  All of it ha.  Then just try and come up with a very broad high-level view of what's most likely to happen and go with that, while hedging a bit to known biases or extremes.  A blended model approach is usually a solid way to go.

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3 minutes ago, Festus said:

When it comes to forecasts, most locals I talk to or overhear usually cite output from WGAL or WHTM (and rarely, the NWS, sadly).  

I'm guessing most of our family, friends, coworkers, etc know we're weather weenies and look to us as "being in the know".  So when you provide the latest to them, what's your method?  Average the latest model runs in your head and customize a forecast?  Weight output from the NWS a little heavier?  A favorite source here or elsewhere?  Don't touch the subject with a ten foot pole?

 

Personally, I go with my localized climate and also 50+ years of history. I remember everything. After that amount of time and data collection, general trends start to emerge. I know that in Lanco we should never count on a clipper due to downsloping unless the track is roughly through NOVA. I know that big east coast storms generally mix here much faster and more often than any model will show...I learned that the hard way and also from Horst years ago. Someone questioned him why he was calling for sleet when no other forecaster or model showed it, his reply was they were all wrong because there's nothing to impede that flow off the ocean in our area. Things like that stick with me. And my notes. As far as actual forecasters, I do rely on MU the most but also factor in what some mets in here say. @MAG5035 is someone whom I trust and respect and heed his calls. Also, @MillvilleWx is another, and I think he was a disciple of Eric. 

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11 minutes ago, Festus said:

When it comes to forecasts, most locals I talk to or overhear usually cite output from WGAL or WHTM (and rarely, the NWS, sadly).  

I'm guessing most of our family, friends, coworkers, etc know we're weather weenies and look to us as "being in the know".  So when you provide the latest to them, what's your method?  Average the latest model runs in your head and customize a forecast?  Weight output from the NWS a little heavier?  A favorite source here or elsewhere?  Don't touch the subject with a ten foot pole?

 

I agree with your assessment in sentence 1.  WGAL is the most watched and listened to weather "forecaster" in the area.   Many people who just want to know the weather for their daily needs would not like the dry and often changing NWS Zone forecasts and do not know how or want to look at the AFD.   I always assumed most here use models vs. forecasters.  

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7 minutes ago, Bubbler86 said:

I agree with your assessment in sentence 1.  WGAL is the most watched and listened to weather "forecaster" in the area.   Many people who just want to know the weather for their daily needs would not like the dry and often changing NWS Zone forecasts and do not know how or want to look at the AFD.   I always assumed most here use models vs. forecasters.  

I think that's accurate. And I'm admittedly the dissenter from that group. I maintain that a very good met trumps models the vast majority of the time because an excellent local met is going to give weight to models and then factor in nuances like I started mentioning in my post above that models simply miss. We've had countless storms that mixed in Lanco that not one single model picked up on. 

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1 minute ago, Itstrainingtime said:

I think that's accurate. And I'm admittedly the dissenter from that group. I maintain that a very good met trumps models the vast majority of the time. An excellent local met is going to factor in nuances like I started mentioning in my post above that models simply miss. We've had countless storms that mixed in Lanco that not one single model picked up on. 

I think part of my reasoning is that if we used forecasters it would not be as fun of a hobby (for some.) re: if someone is just parroting DT or MU is that really fun when it comes to informing friends and family?   This is specific to the question from festus, where would you get info to pass to others.   Frankly WGAL, which I have on in the back ground most nights, gives as much or more detail as any other forecaster.  They are the "weather authority" for TV around here.  LOL.  

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2 minutes ago, Bubbler86 said:

I think part of my reasoning is that if we used forecasters it would not be as fun of a hobby (for some.) re: if someone is just parroting DT or MU is that really fun when it comes to informing friends and family?   This is specific to the question from festus, where would you get info to pass to others.   Frankly WGAL, which I have on in the back ground most nights, gives as much or more detail as any other forecaster.  They are the "weather authority" for TV around here.  LOL.  

Understood. I'm here for the same reason. I just tend to give more weight elsewhere. Totally agree about WGAL - I think they are leaps and bounds ahead of the Harrisburg stations. 

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