vortex95

Here is some obs strings in the pre-METAR format (SAO) that I saved in real-time back in the day. I'll post more separately on the same thread w/ time. The SAO format is more concise than METAR, and some differences. The key ones I will note here: X means sky obscured. -X mean sky partially obscured. W is vertical visibility. Since these are pre-ASOS/AWOS, they are manually-taken obs which i kind of miss b/c you could better quantify what was going on, esp. in snowstorms b/c of the sky obscuration and viability. ASOS/AWOS do not report anything less than 1/4 mi and does odd things w/ sky obscurations at times. It seem less impressive than manual obs. Visibility for manually-taken obs would go lower than 1/4 mi and get reported in 1/8 and 1/16 incitements when below a mi. And you could get zero visibility reported, so you really knew when it absolutely pounding S+! SNINCR was reported as SNOINCR x/y/z - x means the last hr, y is the amount since the last synoptic hr, and z is SOG. SOG is reported 904xx. 24 hr pcpn is a 2xxxx group. Obs start w/ the earlier at the bottom, and latest at the top. Any questions, please ask. BANTER time for CoastalWx! NORLUN for PWM Mar 1992 21-MAR-92 PWM RS 1153 29 SCT M55 OVC 7 132/27/25/0208/992/SE46/ 21271 15// 90411 25 20079 RADAT ZERO PWM SP 1129 -X M8 BKN 20 OVC 11/2S- 0507/991/S4 PWM SP 1116 -X M3 OVC 1/2S 0209/991/S7 PWM RS 1052 W1 X 3/8S 127/27/25/0309/990 PWM SP 1037 -X M1 OVC 1/2S 0308/990/S5 PWM SP 1008 M14 BKN 27 OVC 1S- 0307/989 PWM SP 0953 -X M1 OVC 5/16S 0310/989/S8 SNOINCR 4/10/11 PWM SP 0858 W0 X 1/16S+ 0112/988 PWM SA 0851 W0 X 1/8S+ 120/28/27/0109/988/SNOINCR 3/7/7 WND SHFT 0757/ 20749 90407 PWM SP 0834 W1 X 1/8S+ 0505/988 PWM SP 0812 -X M2 OVC 1/8S+ 0707/987/S8 PWM SP 0758 W0 X 1/16S+ 0406/987/WND SHFT 57 PWM SA 0752 W0 X 1/8S+ 117/28/27/3412/987/SNOINCR 3/4/4/ 98661 PWM SP 0702 -X M2 OVC 13/4S- 3208/987/S3 PWM RS 0650 M7 BKN 20 OVC 21/2S- 113/30/27/3204/986/GRDL WND SHFT PWM RS 0550 10 SCT M21 OVC 3S- 113/30/27/1308/986/ 60308 15// 90401 35 PWM SP 0529 10 SCT M17 OVC 2S- 1309/986 PWM SP 0504 -X 7 SCT M19 OVC 11/2S- 1410/986/S2 PWM RS 0451 -X M7 BKN 20 OVC 11/2S- 113/30/28/1408/986/S2 PWM SP 0438 7 SCT M19 OVC 3S- 1510/986 PWM SP 0415 5 SCT M13 OVC 4S- 1408/986 PWM SP 0404 -X M5 BKN 8 OVC 4S- 1406/986/S1 PWM RS 0352 -X M7 BKN 21 OVC 3S- 113/30/28/1506/986/S1 SNOINCR 1/1/1 PWM SP 0336 -X M8 BKN 27 OVC 2S- 1607/986/S2 PWM SP 0329 -X 8 SCT M27 OVC 1S- 1607/987/S2 PWM SP 0312 -X M7 OVC 1/2S 1706/987/S6 PWM SP 0306 -X M17 OVC 2S- 1706/987/S2 PWM SA 0252 M27 BKN 31 OVC 8S- 117/30/26/1807/987/SB0148E03B14/ 00300 15// PWM SP 0229 21 SCT M27 OVC 10SW- 1707/988/PCPN VRY LGT PWM RS 0153 M30 BKN 40 OVC 15SW- 118/31/22/1708/988/SB48 PWM SA 0051 M28 OVC 15 115/31/21/1508/987 PWM SA 2350 M29 BKN 60 OVC 15 113/31/20/1609/986/BINOVC OVHD/ 217 15// 35 RADAT ZERO NORLUN for CHH Feb 1993 19-FEB-93 CHH SA 2045 OVC 2SW- 21/M/0214G20/997 CHH SA 1955 OVC 1SW-BS 22/M/3415G20/996/ 90418 CHH SA 1855 OVC 1BS 22/M/3415G22/995/ 90418 CHH SA 1755 X 1/16SW+BS 22/21/3415G26/995/ SNOINCR 2/9/18 CHH SA 1655 X 1/4S-BS 25/M/0118G26/994/ 90416 CHH SA 1550 X 1/2SBS 24/M/0318G25/994/ SNOINCR 1/3/16 CHH SA 1450 X 3/4S- 25/M/0115/993 CHH SA 1345 W0X 0S+ 24/M/3415G22/992/ SNOINCR 2/2/15 CHH SA 1245 X 1/8S+BS 23/M/3515G25/991/1/4/13 SNOW CHH SA 1145 X 1/16S+ 24/M/3513/985/9 INCHES -4 INCHES LAST HR. CHH SA 1045 X 1/4S+ 24/M/3215G25/985 CHH SA 0945 OVC 1/2S- 24/M/3213G26/985 CHH SA 0845 OVC 1S- 24/M/3513/985 CHH SA 0745 OVC 3S- 26/M/3513/985 CHH SA 0545 BKN 7 26/M/0205/984

I didn't catch that. When did that occur? Later in the storm as well like SE MA? Long Island certainty has done well this month! That S Coast/Cape Cod storm earlier this month dumped up to 9", and now up to 8" w/ this past storm.

That's the right attitude! Each storm has exceeded your expectations!

BOS avg December snowfall (1991-2020) is 9". So that's likely your avg accounting for further S and inland a bit. Better than recent Decembers, no? I would say the area bounded by BOS-PVD-ORH-CON-PSM has not cashed in as much as Cape Cod, the South Coast, western New England, and a large part of northern New England for snowfall so far this season. We are doing it piecemeal in the region The fact CoastalWx's area has been lame is irrelevant to the big pix. IMBY syndrome...want me to call the WHAN-bu-lance? You can't expect every winter or storm to be the PT level, like Bliz of 97, 05, or 13! And then this response, "but it is been so lousy for so long!" I don't know what to tell you. These periods happen. And CoastalWx knows this from when he was a kid in the 80s. And in the here and now, we seem to be on the right track overall. Like I said before, If Jan-Feb acts like Dec, it's going to end up a pretty good winter for most!

Saw 3 reports from Weymouth -- 4.2, 3.5, and 3.3. Which one was CoastalWx? Overall, a quite good event for Dec, esp. CT/RI/SE MA where ocean temps often are a big issue this early. Many locations now have above avg snowfall for Dec. Couple that w/ the solid snowfall in NNE, best winter month for the region in some time! So I don't want to hear it from CoastalWx!

I looked further after you mentioned the dry slot. Now this is whacked. While the sfc low was just E of the Delmarva, the center of the 700 low was close to KRUT! What? So wait, the sfc low by conventional standards is too far S for a SNE hit, yet the 700 low is well N which reeks of big dry slot and pcpn flip. So we ended up w/ the "CoastalWx Quandary." We were fighting dry Arctic air mass at low-levels and at the same time loss of RH at mid and upper levels is moving in? Lose both ways? A squeeze play, dry air storm! And a surprise wild SNOINCR event in CT. Once again, the weirdness of this storm sticks out.

39 CGs between 00 and 04z. Not bad!

Then there's the 18z ECMWF..."hope floats!"

Mid-level circulation still quite intact just W of ALB now. Parts of MA may get a "wild turkey surprise" from this. Things could get weird w/ this thing interacting w/ OES later.

DXR probably close to 3" in one hr. METAR KDXR 262353Z VRB03KT 1/2SM SN VV005 M06/M08 A3002 RMK AO2 SLP171 P0019 6//// T10561083 11033 21061 58021

Does the 6" in Weymouth sound that far off now?

But the mid-level mesoscale feature in NY! It just has to propagate to NZW!

Hmmm, rotation enhances pcpn rates. And that's really far N of the sfc low. Since this system is falling into the mean trough position, this feature may not wane as much as we think, esp. being mesoscale.

I knew CoastalWx was a big weenie after the Dec 9, 2005 "snowcane" event. He couldn't stop talking about the roar of the wind that woke him up when the wind shifted NW in GHG and then turned to +SN! He couldn't get enough of my wx archives I had for text products and obs at work. Actually, given the recent NORLUN, I will post on a separate thread in the next few days the obs from the Mar 1992 PWM event and the Feb 1993 CHH event, plus some other events.

Yes. And thanks for putting up w/ my verbosity and dogmatic statements at times on NESC! I try to word my posts very careful. It's all in the delivery and presentation. Social is tricky these days.

IIRC far NW tip of Wilmington?

So much for the CoastalWx dry air issues. FGEN FTW!

I worked w/ CoastalWx for over 10 years at WSI. Now work as contractor for NESDIS in College Park MD. Grew up and lived in N Woburn until coming here. I am contemplating moving back when I retire (not for a while still though).

"The Spider"

Worried about a dry slot when the sfc low passes more than 300 mi S of you?

6" so you can officially declare that stupid no 6" snowfall drought OV-A!

Sounds like a Richmond VA area complaint from "MIDLO!" So mild just to the W. 95% of the CONUS currently has 500 heights AOA 540 dm. And w/ 554 dm heights over NE PA? What do they expect?

And the next thought? "OMG, last one was in the 95-96 winter!!!!!" Make this winter a LOCK!!!!"

Some other thoughts on this event. It's not a typical clipper as it moves SE the entire time. It also can't rapidly develop offshore, at least initially b/c it is too "crowded." The strong cold front and disturbance aloft the gave the SN to northern New England yesterday? That system rapidly developed last night S of Nova Scotia and is now intense (see 12z sfc map attached). So when it is crowded like this, another trough/disturbance so close behind it often has no "room" to develop much, and will get forced more SE rather than E. As I mentioned yesterday, this is a *darn* good snowfall for such a weak low pressure. The sfc low does not get below 1006 mb as it passes. Usually, a snowfall of this magnitude has low pressure below 1000 and more often closer to 990. And aloft at 500, it is nothing special either. Just a little "dent" in strong WNW flow. The strong Arctic high pressure to our NE supplying a wedge of low-level cold air damning to the SW over the region makes all the difference here. Who would have thought having the mean trough position too far *east* for an East Coast weenie blockbuster could do this? CoastalWx recently told me, "this pattern BLOWS!" Ok, does it now? And it is not a case of the ambient pressure field in place prior keeping the low from not getting that "deep." The sfc high to the NE is "only" 1033 mb and center well NE near Labrador, and, as I said above, nothing much at all at 500, and even at 850, it barely cuts off one contour, so not a low-least beast like a Gulf wave often is. The 18z HRRR is forecasting up to 18" in central NY (Cooperstown area). There is no lake effect snow involved here and elevation in that area is not a factor (no little bulls-eyes on the higher areas, it's a broad 12-18" area), so 12-18" is a lot for such a weak storm like this. That much synoptic snow from a clipper? And another factor I think? It's been very mild W of New England across a large part of the country, and very wet storms have been impacting the West, so more moisture in the mean is available overall and associated w/ the clipper. So you can "blame" the more snow here from mild winter temps partially! Imagine that.

Not a "tickle?"