Mount Joy Snowman

Yeah it's been slim pickings around these parts for sure. Perusing the models doesn't offer much hope either. A robust .1" of seasonal snowfall for me thus far, and that may be generous. Aye.

I big 'ol Trace here, and the only reason I can even call it that is because of a few stray flakes I saw lying on one side of the roof; otherwise, no evidence of anything anywhere.

Looks like about .04" of rain around these parts this morning. MDT running a cool 15.6 AN ha. The warmest January on record by a longshot is 1932, with a mean temp of 42.5. Second place is 1950 at 39.8. Something to keep an eye on as we near the second week of January with a mean above 47. I think we have a decent shot at scoring some white stuff Sunday night but the marginal surface temps will make for tough accumulation and a quick disappearance by Monday afternoon. As for late next week, I'm mildly optimistic but just can't get my hopes up given how tough it's been to thread the needle with coastal scenarios in recent years. My guard is up. With that said, I'll be paying close attention as we approach the 3-5 day period. National high of 87 at multiple spots in Florida and low of -23 near Seagull Lake, MN. Happy Friday everyone.

Euro teasing the MA at range......

Well, here are the annual departures for MDT for average max and min over the last five years: 2022: .7 and .6 AN 2021: 1.9 and 2.9 AN 2020: 3.6 and 3.1 AN 2019: 2.1 and 2.3 AN 2018: .7 and 1.9 AN So, avg. max was 1.8 AN and avg. min was 2.2 AN. Not as large of a gap as I thought there'd be but could go back more years to verify. I do know this disparity is more pronounced in the summer, with nighttime lows being much more AN than daytime highs due to increased moisture and cloud cover, as mentioned by others.

I am a fan of all weather, particularly of the extreme variety. I'm an equal opportunity employer. Doesn't matter the type. Just give me some oddball weather to gawk over. Then give me some more.

Yep. I've been hammering this point for years.

Howdy. Yeah I did see the Sierras were in for another walloping and was thinking of you. Things are shaping up nicely for your trip. A solid early pack indeed.......

Echoing others, was a bit disappointed with the unexpectedly wet conditions yesterday. I had some buddies over to saw down some trees and limbs and didn’t care for the dampness. But the Miller Lite was flowing soundly so things weren’t all bad ha. Plus a Penn State victory made things more tolerable. Still no rain gauge up at the new house ugh.

Happy New Year to all. Looks like MDT ended up 1.6 BN for the month and .6 AN for the year. Precip was about average. My last official measurement was 1.43” for the slop storm right before Xmas. Yes, I know I’m a bit late on this haha. Was not able to get a measurement for yesterday’s rain since I don’t have my gauge up at the new house yet and had to take it down from the old house, but it seems like we got about 1/3” from various reports I’ve seen. Struggling to find a good spot to mount my gauge at the new house, going to make that a priority for today. Cheers to all.

The flurry machine has shutoff here as dry air is invading. No accumulation, as many expected. Now we just all hope to make it through Xmas day with minimal property damage and power losses. Not sure I'll make it on here the next few days so cheers to all you weenies and merry Xmas to you are yours!

I'm tellin ya, Laporte ALWAYS makes out..... 1015 AM SNOW LAPORTE 41.42N 76.49W 12/23/2022 M2.0 INCH SULLIVAN PA TRAINED SPOTTER

What are you doing in Mount Joy!? Stay in the historic district, ya hear!

Flakes, albeit it small and scattered, officially flying through the air here in beautiful West Hempfield Township. Let's gooooooooooo!!!!!!

Well one thing's for sure, it's looking like another epic lake effect event for the Buffalo area in the coming days. Man, they are having some start to the year up there. Winds ripping here now and temp finally down into the 30s. Game on.

Where can we get 5-minute observations from the airport stations? As I recall the previous site I had been using wasn't allowing for 5-minute intervals anymore.

I echo this sentiment.

All the latest hi-res models still insistent on bringing us nearly an inch with this frontal passage. Seems unlikely but we shall see. Conditions changing rapidly.

Yeah the diurnal range for Friday is going to be something to behold. I saw Cheyenne recorded its largest temperature drop ever, going from 43 to 3 in just 30 minutes. Here is what I do know in regards to the daily average temp: simply taking the daily high and low and finding the midpoint between the two, as is the method currently used, is NOT a fully accurate representation of the temperature profile for a given day. I've said too much on this topic ha. Back to the snow and cold speak.

Me as well. After lunch tomorrow I don't go back until 1/4/23. Enjoy your vacation!

Yeah I've long thought they should use a weighted average for the daily temp. Do something like take all the on-the-hour temps and multiply each one by 1/24th then add them all together. Still not perfect but a much better picture of the day that's being evaluated. Obviously the more time periods you split it up into, the more accurate it will be (e.g. sum all 15-minute temps readings times 1/96th). Briefly touching an extreme value can have an undue influence on the daily average, especially when it occurs around midnight and affects multiple days. This works in both directions and I suppose in the grand scheme of things all comes out in the wash, but I'm a stickler for numerical accuracy. I digress.

Yeah for the most part the models really nailed the cutoff across Lancaster County. Just rain here now and roads are totally fine. Officially .1" of snow/sleet going in the books for this guy. I'll take it and hope for some fun little action tomorrow morning.

Snow has stopped here, just a very fine sleet falling. All the hi-res models are in complete agreement on a snow-squall-ish type shower passing through the Lancaster area in association with the arctic front between 7 and 10am tomorrow, which may drop a quick half inch. I dig it.

Still primarily snow here but sleet mixing in. .1" will certainly be the number for me, back-side love notwithstanding.

A pleasantly surprising coating of snow on everything here this morning. We are officially on the board in West Hempfield. Expecting a transition away from snow soon but going to enjoy it while it's here. About to test out the roads. Safe travels all!