09-10 analogy

Liking the trend. I'm all in on the Tenleytown Massif reaching 5". And given the insomnia I've been having recently, I ought to be up for it. Watch tonight be the *one* night when I get continuous stage 3 sleep, though. So better stay up and drink so I'll be there, if not coherent, for the ETA. 

BIg fat flakes with the best rates so far and the wind is ticking up. Observable stickage ought to commence soon. It may be now but it's hard to see out of my rain-covered window. 

EDIT It is sticking on car windows and *some* grassy weenie areas. 

Flakes beginning to appear in up NW, but still mixy overall.

42 minutes ago, Ravens94 said:

HRRR shows a definite chance for thundersnow 

Wedges in Bermuda.

Well we can dream of booking a room at the Lodgepole Lodge in Sequoia NP. 4-6 feet of snow with 75 mph wind gusts forecast above 5000 feet. I think the Lodge (I've stayed there before; Sequoia might be my favorite place I've ever been) is around 6000 feet. Of course it's probably closed, but this would be worth breaking in for. 

Overall, one heck of a storm for central and southern CA. 

Closest WU station to me got down to 15.

One thing about this storm: the shoveling session to accumulation ratio is out of hand. I've had .. what 4.5 to 5" ... and I've shoveled three times. Third time just now and then just stood there and zenned out. Hell, even during the blizzard with its 25", I think I only shoveled three times. Of course during that one I must have jebwalked about 10-12 miles that Friday night and all day Saturday. Haven't done that this time. Walked around the block a couple of times. I think, at least with me, the physicality of challenging a heavy prolonged windy snow is part of the allure. King Lear in the snow, ranting about the gods, and all that. Something more sedate like today (and the other day, as well) and I don't have the need ... or desire ... to go all forced-march mode. 

1 minute ago, pazzo83 said:

Yeah Rodman's is legendary.

And unlike many "legendary" things, it lives up to its hype!

14 minutes ago, pazzo83 said:

i was shoveling while it passed - not too much damage.  i'll probably put down some ice melt.  Man the Tenleytown Ace hardware store has been a life saver - I freaking love that place.

They got it at Rodman's too. They have everything there. They're even selling booze now and not just wine and beer. Rodman's has been my life saver more times than I can count! 

Looks like I may get a little love from Boomlet #2 after all? 

Re: refreeze tonight. That's why we postponed taking the kid up to uni in CNY until Sunday. Did not want to deal with conditions tomorrow morning, since we get up early to get there. 

The little boomlet that sliced the District caved my sidestreet and all the sidewalks residents had so dutifully shoveled. The bigger streamer looks to brush just to my north. 

Unofficially about 4.5" but waiting on confirmation from other reports nearby.

Squall boomlet! Complete with what today has lacked so far: a bit of wind. 

I’m in the green on radar! Now I know why green has always been my favorite color

Just went out to shovel and “measure” a few times. Anywhere between 2.9” to 3.3”. Normally wouldn’t shovel so quickly but my wife still recovering from a bad sprained ankle and my daughter has lower back caused doubtlessly by stress about going back to uni and dealing with her roomie, which has, in the immortal words of Hirohito announcing japan’s capitulation after the a-bombs, “has not necessarily worked out to (her) advantage.”

driving her back up tomorrow. Ought to be a wintery trip!

and the rates here now are as good as they’ve been since I woke up.

Light snow starting up again in t-town.

44 minutes ago, ovechkin said:

Yeah, combo of rates and temp and flake type as well. 3/9/99 was an entirely daytime event and accumulated 8 inches in DC proper b/c it was ripping fatties all day long. 3/5/15 to a lesser extent as well. But tiny flakes with light rates will even have issues in midday in January. At least this week the snowcover and cold should help going in. How this potentially juices up to be something beyond a light event I'll defer to the smart kids here. 

I don't think I've ever seen a darker sky in winter than during that March 1999 event. One of the coolest mid-tier storms ever. It just ripped like hell for several hours. I don't remember it being that well forecast, but I'm not sure on that one. 

Bit envious of all those who got down to single digits, but that's price I pay for living inside the Beltway. Nearest WB station to me got down to 13. (I really need to get my own someday.) Went out for a quick morning stroll, however, and my body prolly thinks any such difference is academic. 

Really is invigorating though. 

8 hours ago, WVclimo said:

Great spot to watch thunderstorms approaching also.  I spent many late summer afternoons at Ft Reno Park looking westward.

 

Oh yeah. In the 20+ years I've lived here, I must have seen dozens of storms come in. Popped up there right before the Derecho and will never forget the light show, not to mention the sprint down the hill and back to my car to get home before it hit. Spent a couple hours up there during Isabel, bracing myself against the wind and getting drenched. Back in my running days, I'd cross train by sprinting up the hill. And when my pups were alive, on a summer night, I'd sometimes go up there with them and hang out, and watch the planes approach into National and listen to the summer sounds. Doggies loved it too. And of course, put in serious time all around the park during the early to mid 2010s legendary snowstorms, not only walking around during the storms, but going sledding with my daughter. Got lucky that when she was growing up, we had our share of events: 2009-10, the winters of 2014 and 2015, the blizzard of 2016, the Valentine Day's sleet storm of 2007 (when we almost slid into Fessenden, we were going so fast). We'd watch fireworks from up there, I'd get a good book on a hot summer day and go up there and read while baking in the DC furnace. The summer concerts were fun, I occasional watch a bit of the Jackson-Lee team on the baseball field if I'm walking that way. That park is just wonderful, regardless of the season.

(Moved this to banter from the obs thread, since my response was too long, but I wanted to post it. Prolly a better way of doing it.)

8 hours ago, pazzo83 said:

yeah and the last couple frames show it expanding back over the District as well.

Between 4 and 5" here.

That lines up nicely with what I measured off the back deck. Between 4.25" and 5".

11 hours ago, stormtracker said:

Are you in Georgetown, South Carolina?

Maybe Georgetown, Guyana.

Just a few random stabbings of my ruler into the back deck, yielded measurements in the 2.75 to 3.25 range. Not exactly the gold standard of snow measurements. I doubt it would pass muster in peer review -- if we've reached the point where snow measurements by weenies and "weather hobbyists" have to be subject to the kind of scientific rigor used by the Manhattan Project to make sure the Gadget at Alamogordo didn't set the atmosphere on fire  -- but my philosophy has always been is to shade (?!#4a) toward the higher measures based on an admixture of snow psychosis, snow goggle-eyes, and snow elitism that is a function of location and, secondarily, elevation. None of these three -- let's call them "pillars" of biases that may affect snow measurements -- can be quantified, but all of which should be considered in any kind of qualitative study (whether peer-reviewed or not) of the psychology of individuals making reports of snow accumulations. Said study would be multi-dimensional, bringing together the disparate fields of psychology and meteorology, and probably a few dozen others, depending on author's ambition and vision. 

Maybe.

Is this a topic screaming for some ambitious student's grad or PhD. thesis treatment? Or is it doomed to the intellectual ghetto of X- (nee-Twitter) thread-unroll posting?   

22 minutes ago, konksw said:

Weird. It’s puking snow in Mt Pleasant. 

Yeah it's coming down with semi-aplomb in up NW. 

I'm surprised someone isn't saying, "Why are we wasting a nighttime event when it's this cold, and the sun angle isn't working against us? We should be saving these nighttime snows for March."

Welcome back, snowcover. Where the heck you been?

Some flurries. If there was a bit of snow on the ground, I'd call it wintery looking now. a

Winds are pretty good.