LibertyBell

How long do you see this upcoming good period lasting Chris? 2-4 weeks? Do you think it can actually hold on into the first half of March?

You dont even need to go that far back, it was MUCH warmer when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

it looks like it will be sunny most of the time too, which is just fine in my book. No more rain please.

How long do you see this good period lasting? At least 2 weeks to maybe 4 weeks?

PD1 was in 1979 not February 1983....which occurred on the 11th-12th.

This reminds me of January 1994 too when we got into the mid 50s a day after hitting zero or lower.

why is it so hard for everyone to be cold at the same time? when was the last time that happened-- 1979?

why aren't we getting northwesterly flow behind storms to clear the skies out like we usually do?

Do you know why, with all our technology, we might not be able to prevent an impact? Asteroids coming in from sunside like Chelyabinsk completely blindsiding us. Have you seen the videos of that event? Both amazing and scary at the same time--thousands of people injured when windows got blown in or out and it really was blindingly bright as it streaked across the skies. We were all looking out for an asteroid coming in from the other side at the same time and it snuck up on us.

I take it neither Central Park not JFK got 10" in that 1/1987 event. 1/1988 I don't remember at all, did Central Park get less than JFK did? All those winters were pretty nondescript here, I guess it shows how different the climate is on eastern Long Island vs western Long Island. 89-90 is considered one of the worst winters here and the Hamptons had 2 footers lol

That was the one that caused the crane to fall in Manhattan that killed someone wasn't it, Chris? And it's why we had snow on the ground for the Superbowl that year. I seem to remember there was another one that February too. Parts of Long Island received 50 inches of snow that season.

and there were other storms after that which came close to clobbering NYC including the one in February that buried Long Island in a foot plus of snow.

Yes 2015-16 was amazing in this respect to have a come back like it did. That below zero low on Valentines Day was amazing too, you don't ever see a below zero low after that kind of December.

I had roses blooming in my backyard in 2001-02 right up to New Years. And the first crocuses bloomed in my front yard in late February. The shortest nongrowing season I have ever experienced. Can you confirm this, Chris.... what was the shortest interval between our first freeze and our last freeze, was it in 2001-02? That was an unreal "winter" even with our recent trend towards warmer winters, nothing has come close to matching it. Sort of like how even with our trend to warmer summers none has matched 2010 yet.

We need snowy Decembers more than we need snowy Marches Chris. Most of our snowy winters started with a snowy December.

the chances of next winter being a lot better are higher than March of this year being good.

you missed 1995-96? wow you missed our best winter by a wide margin

That's because most of our winters have sucked in the last few years anyway. There's very few good winters when it doesn't snow in December.

Our best indication on whether the winter will be snowy is if it snows in December. If it doesn't snow much in December, consider it at least 80% odds the rest of winter will suck too.

April 2018 was very good too.

That's wild but makes sense because 70% of the earth's surface is covered by oceans so there's probably a lot of these large craters we haven't discovered yet.

2001-02 is the benchmark "winter" for records like this, but 2001-02 was a lot more bearable; for example, it hit 70 in 2002 in late January.

I wasn't aware that OES was even a possibility this far west. I thought it only happened on Cape Cod and eastern Long Island?

stupid east wind I don't think anyone is all that excited to see a few flakes in the sky. We should either get 6"+ inches of snow or sunny dry weather.

Here is a complete review of this camera including very compelling and complete tests performed using it. I love this site for their full featured reviews: https://www.photoreview.com.au/reviews/advanced-compact-cameras/fixed-lens/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fz300/ some highlights Who’s it for? Cameras in Panasonic’s FZ series have always been popular with travellers, partly because of their relatively long zoom range but also because their lenses are usually faster than those attached to smaller-bodied digicams. The constant f/2.8 maximum aperture provides a bright image that will be particularly useful for wildlife photographers, particularly birders. Although the small sensor limits background de-focusing, at the maximum optical zoom range, background blurring is better than we expected for a small-sensor digicam. We took the review camera on a camping trip that included kayaking on flat water. Because it has splash- and dust-proof sealing, we felt confident it could be used for shooting from the kayak as well as in heavy mist and light rain. The camera justified these beliefs and performed well, even in near-freezing conditions. Support for 4K video recording is another reason to buy this camera, even if you don’t have a 4K TV set. The ability to record movies with 3840 x 2160-pixel resolution allows you to extract 8-megapixel frames from the clips and produce acceptable A4-sized print, should you wish. The camera also supports normal 1920 x 1080-pixel video recording with progressive and interlaced scanning and a choice between 50 and 25 frames/second, which is ideal for playback on widescreen HD TV sets. What’s New? Although it retains the same sensor and lens as the FZ200, the FZ300 introduces some significant advantages, which are listed below. 1. Splash- and dust-proof sealing enables the camera to withstand harsh weather conditions and makes it suitable for outdoor photographers. 2. The latest Venus Engine processor is faster and more capable, delivering superior noise reduction at high ISO settings, adding diffraction compensation for small lens apertures and enabling the FZ300 to provide 4K video recording (see below). It also enables a fast 12 frames/second (fps) shooting rate at full-resolution with the mechanical shutter or 60 fps shooting with the electronic shutter. 3. Five-axis Hybrid O.I.S.+ stabilisation can compensate for horizontal, vertical and rotational movements as well as pitch and yaw. Its full capabilities are only available when recording movie clips at 1080p or lower resolutions. In addition, the built-in Level Shot Function can detect horizontal lines in the scene and maintain it even if the camera is tilted, a handy feature when recording movie clips. 4. Both the monitor and EVF screens have higher resolution. The monitor’s resolution has increased from 460,000 dots in the FZ200 to 1,040,000 dots and it includes touch control. The EVF has been upgraded to an OLED display with 2,360,000 dots (compared with 1,312,000 dots in the FZ200). It also has a proximity sensor that switches between the monitor and EVF when you raise the camera to your eye. The monitor can be used as a touch-pad for setting focus while framing shots with the EVF. 5. The 49-area AF system is based upon Panasonic’s G-system cameras and features the latest Light Speed AF, which includes the Depth From Defocus technology, which was introduced with the GH4. The system has a refresh rate of 240 frames per second and includes predictive AF algorithms that make focusing roughly twice as fast as in the FZ200, particularly for tracking AF. Low-light AF performance is also improved and the system can operate as low as -3EV with Starlight AF (which is automatically initiated if the camera detects stars in the night sky). 6. An electronic shutter has been added, augmenting the mechanical system with a top speed of 1/16,000 second. Additionally, the mechanical shutter can operate at 1/4000 second when the lens is stopped down below f/4, something not available with the FZ200. 7. 4K recording functions are the same as in other recent Panasonic digicams, with a top movie resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels at 24 or 30 frames/second. Like other recent 4K-enabled Panasonic cameras, the FZ300’s 4K photo mode uses the camera’s movie-recording function to capture 8-megapixel still images at 30 frames/second, with recording beginning when you half-press the shutter button. The 4K Pre-burst and 4K Burst modes are outlined in our review of the Panasonic G7. A new 4K Burst(S/S) mode lets you add a marker to a movie clip. Up to 40 markers can be added, enabling you to skip from one to the next in playback mode. 8. The FZ300 also offers the same Full HD and HD movie recording options as the FZ200, including a high-speed video recording is available in HD quality (720p), with a frame rate of 100 frames/second or with VGA quality at 200 frames/second. Clips played back at normal speeds reveal dramatic slow motion sequences. Photos taken with the burst modes are automatically organised and can be played back either in the camera or on a computer using the bundled PHOTOfunSTUDIO software. 9. Built-in Wi-Fi enables the FZ300 to interact with a smart device loaded with the Panasonic Image App and supports remote controls of the camera’s focusing, shutter release and image playback functions as well as sharing of images and movie clips via social media. Geotagging is available using data from the smart device and Android and iOS devices can pair via a QR code on the camera’s display. 10. The dedicated macro mode supports autofocusing down to 1 cm from the subject at the lens’s widest angle of view. In addition, the Macro Zoom setting provides further magnification of up to 3x via the Digital Zoom control, also at 1 cm from the subject at the widest angle of view. 11. Panorama shooting has been moved from the Scene pre-sets to the mode dial, where it’s been dubbed ‘Creative Panorama’. The function is essentially unchanged and works like the Sony Sweep Panorama function. You simply select the direction of the pan, choose between standard and wide sizes and pan across the scene to capture wide-field views. The camera stitches the frames together automatically. 12. In-camera raw file processing is also available, although the resulting images can only be saved in JPEG format. However, adjustments can be made to exposure levels, white balance, Photo Style, highlight and shadow rendition and a number of other parameters. Performance For its relatively small image sensor, the review camera was generally a good performer. It was as at least as responsive to operate as previous Lumix Super-zoom series cameras. Autofocusing was generally fast and accurate in all AF modes, with the fast lens undoubtedly making a contribution at longer focal length settings. Low light autofocusing was very fast and accurate and noticeably better than most digicams we’ve tested. The addition of 4K movie recording provides higher-resolution movie files with more potential for editing plus the ability to produce 8-megapixel frame grabs. This augments the already excellent movie recording quality we found with the FZ200. Contrast and saturation were slightly boosted in movie mode and the continuous AF setting minimised re-focusing times when zooming or moving between subjects. The quality of the soundtracks was similar to the FZ200 movies. Our timing tests were conducted with a Panasonic 16GB Extreme Pro SDHC U3 memory card, which was supplied with the camera. The review camera powered-up in just under a second, which is slightly faster than its predecessor. Shut down time was virtually instantaneous. Capture lag was essentially negligible, even without pre-focusing. Shot-to-shot times averaged 0.55 seconds without flash and 1.9 seconds with. JPEG images took 2.1 seconds to process, while RW2.RAW files took 2.3 seconds and RAW+JPEG pairs 2.4 seconds. Recording high-resolution images with the high-speed burst mode, the camera matched specifications, capturing 50 frames in 10.1 seconds without showing any signs of slowing. Processing appeared to be on-the-fly. For raw file bursts, the buffer limit appeared to be 30 frames, which were captured in 4.8 seconds. Processing of this burst was completed within a further two seconds. When RAW+JPEG capture was selected, the buffer filled by 24 frames, which were recorded in 3.7 seconds. Processing was completed within a further 1.5 seconds. Conclusion Three years ago, when the FZ200 was released, it was one of the fastest cameras in the super-zoom category. The FZ300 improves upon that performance and also delivers higher resolution, better stabilisation and 4K movie recording in a more robust, weather-sealed body.