winter_rules

What radar is this? I have given up trying to use the new NWS radar and need a new one. I don’t understand how NWS could put out such a horrible product. Maybe it’s just cheaper than other options?

I agree with you. I just didn’t (want to) believe it because I can’t think of one time where it has been anywhere near this pronounced....at least since 1999 when my brother (FlyingMXZ) moved out near Delhi/Stamford. Watching the radar seemed “normal” for a nor’easter. With that said, it’s been snowing hard for a few hours this morning. Hopefully it keeps up for a few more hours to get us up around 12”!

Interesting range in Delaware County. The eastern part seems to have been hit hard (12-15”+ and counting), but the western part (my house) has been in on/off light snow for the entire event (24+hrs) totaling around 6-8”. Thankfully we had a good snowpack to start, so it’s not a complete crusher but still disappointing. I have to admit that many of the models showed this spread across the county but I was suspicious because it’s pretty rare. Eastern areas usually get and inch or two more than us, but rarely this big of a difference. Even when we were under decent radar returns it just wasn’t snowing hard. I’m going to have to look into subsidence. I hope the Syracuse folks can get under a good heavy snow for a few hours to restore some sanity for them. THMatt may be lost already (for good reason....who moves to TH and gets skunked?!?!), but maybe this can save a few of the others!

While all eyes are on this Monday-Tuesday storm, what’s it looking like for later in the week? Warm forecasts on TWC and NWS keep getting adjusted lower. Too good to be true?

Same here. My brother’s birthday is Thursday so we’re all planning to take vacation days to snowmobile Th and Fri....in the rain. The only thing worse would be to wash away 2.5ft of snow on Christmas Eve....oh wait that also happened. Bitching aside, this has been a pretty good January for winter in the Catskills. We have been slowly building a very good base with consistently cold temps and many small accumulations continuously adding up.

Steady light snow moving in to Binghamton. Just using the old eyeball evaluation by watching the radar loop it just doesn’t seem like a 3-5” event even if we don’t mix at all. Maybe an inch followed by drizzle/flurries for hours? Hope I’m wrong! Side note: Pretty dense 6-12” or more snowpack above 1,500ft in Delaware County. Almost zero snowpack below maybe 1,200ft. Just returned to work in Binghamton (first time since Th) and was shocked to see how little snow is on the ground relative to home.

Winona?

We had 2° yesterday morning and 5° this morning. Low clouds coated all the tree branches this morning making everything look even prettier.

Just because you’re not talking to us doesn’t mean we can’t keep rubbing in our plans for sledding with the kids tomorrow! JK. To THMatt’s point, we are usually jealous of you guys so we have to get our shots in when we can! Like FlyingMXZ said, that Christmas grinch rain storm really F’d our start to winter. This would be an epic start if we hadn’t had 30” of snow wiped out in 24hrs.

Good luck BW. It sounds like you might know the culprit so hopefully you now know how to address it. I feel bad for a lot of you guys. It has been a very wintry few days in the NW Catskills. +/-5in of wet snow Sunday, snow still clinging to all the trees (above about 1,500ft), new 1/2” of snow every day to keep it fresh. Cold and sunny this weekend should make for a nice weekend to play in the snow with the kids! Not quite enough to really snowmobile, but enough for the kids to buzz around the fields and have fun sledding on the hills. Hopefully we can all start cashing in soon!

The same goes for my place! I’m starting to resent winter...

Merry Christmas and congratulations to the Buffalo folks! We just endured a pretty spectacular meltdown over the past 24-36 hours. 30” of snow a week ago compacted down to about 18” by Wednesday morning, and then steady southerly winds started Wednesday afternoon and continued through this morning. The rain started in the early afternoon yesterday and washed almost everything white away. Only snow piles and drifts remain. Basement is flooded and water is running full in ditches and across the fields and lawn. Aside from damaging weather (wind, freezing rain, etc.), this had to be the most miserable Christmas Eve and Christmas Day weather possible. We picked the wrong year to give our kids a snowmobile for Christmas... Edit: I just saw that we hit 56° some time after midnight! Down to a frigid 50° at 8:48am.

Unless the 18” on the ground is wiped out Christmas Eve into Christmas morning and then the inch falls on top of the water flooding everywhere. That’s what Christmas morning is going to be for us. WTF....

It has been a beautiful wintry stretch of weather in the southern part of the state. A few days of cold to freeze the ground, then 3ft of snow, then cold with snow showers daily to keep the snowpack looking fresh. Classic winter weather that has been so lacking down here the past few years. With that said, I’m about to be reminded that it takes days/weeks and/or a fluke snow storm to build a nice wintry scene around here and just 24hrs to destroy it.

Cleanup still ongoing in the Binghamton area. Loaded dump trucks are half the vehicles driving by our office on Rte 7. We have crews working with the City of Binghamton and with DOT day and night since we dug ourselves out on Friday. Some side streets in Endicott hadn’t been plowed as of Saturday afternoon. At home we are shoveling roofs getting ready for a lot of weight to be added to this snow. Unfortunately I think we’re going to hear about roofs collapsing on Christmas Eve.

You are absolutely correct. Most models showed my location on the NW fringe of the heavy snow, so I thought we had a good chance of getting hit pretty good with the usual NW shift....but the band went just a hair too far NW and we ended up on the SE fringe of the band! Feels like when I used to live in Parish and near Altmar and LE bands would set up JUST N or S of us! I can’t complain, though. We measured 28” on the ground in the wide open driveway!

In NW Delaware County we have been on the southern fringe of that intense band all night, after expecting to be on the northern fringe all night! I just measured 24-26” in various spots. Heavy snow continuing. 15°.

If you have already had the virus, are you still supposed to get the vaccine? Has anyone seen any evidence of more/less protection either way (vaccine vs. natural antibodies)?

I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully it’s just mild symptoms for anybody who may get it! I’m curious how you’re handling it spreading within your household. We have 3 kids ages 3-7 and figure once one of us gets it, we’ll all have it within a week. Our house setup doesn’t allow us to just lock someone in their own area for a week or two, as if you could do that at those ages anyway.

Moderate snow in downtown Binghamton. Close to an inch in the last hour. Awesome, but also pathetic how excited I am about 1” of snow in December....

Dropped to 15° last night before clouds rolled in. Left the house this morning at 24° on snow covered roads with a nice steady light snow in the air. Hopefully a sign of things to come...eventually....

Interesting. Now that you mention it, the shift to the NW has always seemed inevitable for any nor’easter type of storm even back in high school when I started paying attention to weather in the early 2000s.

I have also thought the same thing. They seem to be always trying to show cold weather just around the corner, which may have been more prevalent 20 years ago?

What do you think is driving the higher rates in Erie County? That area seems to have been a “hot spot” relative to the rest of upstate NY all year. Is it as simple as people refusing to wear masks and/or going about life as normal?

You are correct. Redfield has the reputation for receiving a ton of snow, and they do relative to most areas, but you have to go a little North of Redfield for the truly impressive snow depths. 5 miles N of Redfield is a surprisingly different winter climate than 5 miles S of Redfield.