SnowenOutThere

Quick question but what is causing that central US ridge bridge to the NAO? We even seem to have a decent Atlantic and if the PNA isn’t killing us yet then what would it be?

Man now it’s just like the winters I remember on this forum.

Was this your window from a couple days ago?

If we're rating this winter I have two very different takes. From the meteorological/winter being cold angle this has been a solid B+ or A- considering its the longest I've seen snow OTG. We also have been brutally cold and had a really dynamic storm to kick off the stretch. Not to forget December also felt like a winter month again with some minor snowfalls! Really helped sell a solid three months of classic winter. One more major synoptic event and I think the winter hits solid A territory from a purely weather perspective. Now, from my personal perspective for why I enjoy winter... I cannot really but this above B tier. I think I lean B- or C+ because frankly this snow/sleet combination has sucked for all my usual winter activities. I can't go on my hikes, go out on drives to take pictures, or even move around college easily. Add onto that at college the only way to really get where I want to go (without relying on UVA's questionable bus service) is walking as the ice took my bike out of the picture and its been a somewhat miserable stretch of weather. A very unique and interesting experience but man I would kill for some 60 degree days and the ability to go on a hike or play tennis without dying on an ice rink! That said, I cannot rate it much lower than maybe C because it has delivered snow with some interesting events. I loved the December storms and our January artic squall. My hikes out to WV were great too and helped fill in the gaps but at this point I'm done with out snowcrete and looking forward to either a warmup or legitimate snowstorm. Additionally, how the Jan 25th storm shook out just sorta was a bummer and probably alters forever how I will interact with the hobby which is unfortunate but needed.

Honestly with 12z I'm not even sure if you could call the bit of low pressure in the Ohio valley a primary. From how I'm seeing the setup it appears to be an extension of the main low pressure system across the southeast states.

Went from a congrats Chicago cutter with us blasting into the warm sector to a congrats Pittsburg Ohio valley low setup. Big change is also the placement of the high from promoting the S return flow/torching to more of CAD look that allows us to maybe get a thump of snow.

Its primarily a miller A solution IMO. Looking at the H5 map of vorticity (which approximates upper air diffluence and consequently lift in the lower levels) we can see that the main energy of the system on the GFS is over the Gulf Looking at the surface pressure map around 12 hours later we can see that there is a nudge of pressure going up the Ohio valley (due to the H5 amplifying the surface across the East coast) which does indicate a bit of a miller B/C depiction. However, the real meat of the storm is in Georgia after tracking across the Gulf states. This is really just a miller A but without enough blocking in place to prevent the H5 diffluence from promoting some surface cyclogenesis in the Ohio valley. In order to prevent this storm from cutting we just need the NS to promote enough confluence to prevent the 925/850 low from going up the valley like what happened on Jan 25th. Generally we want either more confluence or the wave to eject from the SW earlier while we still have that cold air push.

Man it’s been a while since we’ve seen a classic 1-95 gradient like that.

Big Charlottesville win on this one I love to see it cause that week is hell for me school wise

While Skyline Drive unfortunately closed before I could reach it I instead explored the backcountry and foothills on my way to Whiteoak Canyon trailhead. Managed to get some beautiful sun as it set across the country which was an unexpected but welcome surprise.

Agree with this take. Phasing both streams is how we get back to Jan 25th but now without the insane cold to keep us from raining. Instead, allowing the first NS to go by gives us 1. a chance for a light event 2. cold air. Then whatever happens out west happens.

Heavy snow with fluffy dendrites outside cvill

Meh, it has the same problem. Just such a small amount of frozen.

Man that is a sad amount of frozen frozen for mid February. Either way it does work out for us

Checked the VDOT cams and its snowing lightly at the route 33 Shenandoah pass. Will be out there around 1:30

Plan to hike Shenandoah on my way home to nova around midday. Hopefully have some luck at 3000 ft

Yeah I didn’t see anything on my walk/run to class

You should send him a strongly worded pm to let him know your thoughts

We are gaining almost 20 minutes of daylight a week! Super exciting to see it still light out after 6pm. While I love the low sun angle within the 10 or 15 days of the solstice for the unique lighting beyond then I like it to be light outside.

Anyone else got some argumentative opinions to voice? I'm down to start and say that this forum is way nicer in the spring and summer.

Wait what’s the 150k a year job

This setup reminds me a good bit of our last storm (not the NC blizzard). While I've been very vocal about how that specific storm was extremely frustrating I'd take the setup time and time again as we had everything going for it on the large scale!

The other 6-8 spot is right over Cranberry wilderness WV which is home to one of the nicest hikes I’ve been on. Highly recommended a trip out there

What has impressed me about this recent cold/storm combination is how long one storm's snowfall has remained on the ground. Can't remember the last time one storm with no help lasted over a week. Even last year we had a couple events that built up the snow pack to last long.