gravitylover

Well, my outlook on snow changed pretty dramatically a few days ago. On Friday afternoon I was just puttering around the house and had a pretty significant heart attack Then when they were dealing with that they screwed up and punctured my iliac artery and it drained a few pints of blood into my abdomen and legs so it's going to be a long drawn out recovery. I can't shovel at all for the next 3 months at least so I'm hoping it plays out like 2012. Sorry guys

That said, I'm feeling pretty darned good and made my way around the hospital room by myself a few hours ago Unfortunately I'm in the hospital for New Years and all by myself because they don't allow visitors in the ICU overnight HapHappy New Year to the interior crew and have one (3?) for me. 

1 minute ago, North and West said:

We had one (!) snow day in my entire elementary school career, courtesy of the March 1993 storm. I used to think Christmas movies lied since they would show snow. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We had quite a few in the 70's but other than Jan/Feb 78 only a couple were truly justified. 

Just now, TriPol said:

Don't be so sure. Our climate is much warmer today than it was in the 80s and 90s. Even a 1 degree (celsius) variance in temperatures could mean the difference between a 1001 low sitting off the coast and a much bigger, more potent storm.

And any of those bigger storms could end up being exceptionally wet rather than white. Sure there's pulling down cold and all of that but it's going to get really hard to overcome a warmer ocean with air that's not as cold as it used to be. More potent may not be a good thing, look at those intense thunderstorms in Feb 16. I had snow on the ground when it happened and we ended up with ~3" of rain one afternoon. Yup there was cold involved, that's why they were so potent, but it wasn't cold enough. I think we'll see more of that  

2 hours ago, Snow88 said:

I just want wall to wall cold and snow

 

Is that hard to ask for ?

Not hard to ask for but it is nearly impossible to get. We've come close a few times over the last 25 years but that big wet thing to our east is gonna win no matter how hard you wish for it not to. 

50 minutes ago, LongBeachSurfFreak said:

I would think it would be a long term investment. While it will definitely go back up it may stay low for a long period.

If the politicians and oil companies have their way they'll tap that 90 billion barrels under the now nearly completely melted arctic ice cap and oil prices can stay reasonable for decades to come. Between that, new more affordable ways to recover more from existing fields and decreasing need due to alternative energies coming online over the next few years there will be plenty to go around. I think the days of big returns from oil are probably over. 

Boy you young'ns are so spoiled  You'd all lose your minds if you had to go years between snowstorms of more than an inch or two or if every storm started with some sort of frozen precip and ended as rain. That's what it was inside of 287 for most of the first 28 years of my life. When it goes back to that, which it inevitably will, what are you all going to do? 

56 minutes ago, LibertyBell said:

Brooklyn and Queens are part of Long Island.  Some people are just geographically challenged lol- it's funny- I used to tell people this when I was in grade school and some very smart people had no idea what I was talking about when I said Brooklyn and Queens are part of Long Island.  Long Island is an island, not a political designation.  New York City consists of all or parts of three islands and one mainland county (The Bronx).

 

This has always driven me nuts. I've gone so far as to pull out a map and show people but they still argue that the actual geography doesn't matter   When I worked downtown it was also a struggle to explain that just because rocks stick out of the ground in the Bronx that doesn't make it upstate. They'd say if there are mountains then it's upstate...

Well it started snowing hard enough that it's accumulating again on snow that's already on the ground. It has almost entirely melted off paved/concrete areas but is nice and thick on everything else. 

^^ @donsutherland1 We have a little bit more than that 35 miles north and it stuck to the trees better, pavement about equal. There's a definite Hallmark Card kind of quality to it. 

It has been snowing lightly since my last post, not quite enough to overcome melting so I don't know if it will get to 1", sure would be nice though just because...

36 minutes ago, bluewave said:

It depends on which regions outside the cities you are talking about. Even Montgomery up in Orange County is a top 5 warmest minimum. Although the record goes back to 1999, the top years are similar to around NYC. Albany airport about 7 mi NW of the downtown is similar.

#1...22...2015

#2...17....2012

#3...15....2011

#4...14.....2018...2006

#5....12.....2014

Albany

#1....22...2015

#2...18...2012

#3....15...2001

#4....14...1928

#5....13...2018...2011...1911

 

 

I think Brian hit on something there. It is a continuation of the high minimums that we've been experiencing since late last winter. It sure doesn't seem like it for the last 20 days or so though with temps in the teens and twenties most nights and sort of warm days but nothing exceptional. I hate when numbers prove anecdotal obs wrong 

4 minutes ago, bluewave said:

Spots around NYC are on track for a top 5 warmest December monthly minimum temperature.

NYC

#1....34...2015

#2...28....2012

#3..26.....1974

#4..25.....1984

#5..24.....2018....2014....1908

EWR

#1...33...2015

#2...25...2012....1974

#3...23...2018...2014....2011

 

Thankfully that's not the case outside the cities. We've seen mid teens a few times this month. While it's not especially wintry it has snowed (and stuck) a few times now and it doesn't feel like an extended autumn like some years do.

.8 and still flurrying. With it stuck to everything it looks very Christmasy  

Just got down to 32 a little while ago. Looking forward to 1-2".

58 minutes ago, North and West said:

I wish there was an option to love this comment. I was thinking yesterday with the solstice observed, when can we begin weaving in sun angle mentions?

Tomorrow

I still want the quieter cordless, there are some places where I do trailwork that a feature like that is important. If you want to jump through all the hoops and get work approved then get permits and such it could be a year or more just to cut out downed trees. Most times you're better off just going out and getting it done but the noise of a gas saw will get ya busted. As I research these I'm finding that a good reciprocating saw will do pretty much everything I need including cutting trees/branches up to a foot diameter and be more versatile therefore more useful so I might go that way. I'll be tackling a bathroom remodel next year and have some other projects that a sawzall is necessary for so I might just go that way.

7 hours ago, Hitman said:

Why not just get a gas one?  I have a small stihl I got last year after my old one got crunched.  Totally fine for everything but big trees and I’m not touching those by myself anyway.

I'm tired of them retiring early because I leave it for too long with modern crap ethanol gas and the carb needs to be rebuilt and I don't feel like dealing with mixing the fuel anymore. I also want one for doing trail work because they're lighter for transport miles into the woods and they're quiet. 

2 hours ago, wdrag said:

fwiw, tomorrow midday, I may begin a snow accumulations OBS ONLY thread for the Sunday night cyclically advertised snow ne PA, newd through nw NJ/ se NYS into SNE. 

Someone started one a little while ago. Glad to see you're mostly on board with it happening  

I thought I saw a few while I was out cutting up the tree that came down yesterday. Boy, talk about wrong tool for the job. I was using a 30 year old electric chain saw with a pretty dull chain and ran out of chain oil after the first major cut so had to drip bike chain lube on for the rest. I cut enough up that it's not suspended and under tension or leaning on other trees anymore, gotta get a real saw to finish it though. 

On to chainsaws  Does anyone here have any direct experience with some of the new high power rechargeable saws? I see a nice 60 volt Craftsman and a few other nice looking pieces from Stihl and Milwaukee. Any thoughts...? Does anyone have a mill I can borrow for a day or two? I might just get a Granberg Alaska Mill and make a few nice slabs.

7 minutes ago, Brian5671 said:

December snow shutout incoming.   Pattern looks better in January, but we remain 10 days away still

Well, at least I've had coatings a few times, ground intermittently frozen and temps cold enough to make it feel wintry. Two of those coatings were enough that the town sent plows out on the hilltops. 

11 hours ago, Hitman said:

2.39” here.  I drove back from nj over the tz and it was totally socked in.  They had the bridge lit up though and it looked cool.  What wasn’t cool was the saw mill being closed northbound.

Yeah all you have to do is think about rain and that road closes.

So with a gov't shutdown what aspects of the NWS will stop working? NOAA, NCEP...?

2.9" of soggy including last night before midnight. Mosquitoes are out and there are a variety of small crawling insects that I don't usually see this time of year too.

Just about at 2" now. When the wind kicks up big branches fall, it's sketchy out there. Soooper soggggy too  

19 hours ago, Nibor said:

I’m so sick of rain. 

I was sick of rain before Memorial Day, it's only gotten worse since. 

8 minutes ago, LibertyBell said:

southeast winds can actually be much more damaging than northeast ones.  the wind is really whistling out there

Yeah the trees aren't as resistant to winds from that direction. This one was weak and mostly dead anyway, it's a good thing the neighbor decided to store his RV for the winter or it would have sustained some damage. 

61*, 1.8" so far and it's pouring. I lost a good sized tree in the yard this morning, fortunately it didn't land on anything.

While the temps are pretty well above freezing the clouds have inhibited ground thawing so it's still frozen here. At least in the beginning of the storm I expect a fair bit of the rain to just run off which will make any flooding problems worse. As the ground thaws we'll get down to the mud and thoroughly saturated ground and whatever new falls will have nowhere to go. It's going to be a mess.

Yeah the fact that all of the drainages are frozen and are also already bankfull will be a problem especially considering how much of the snowpack is still soft and will degrade very quickly. 

Damn, one of my kids is up in VT skiing with a group from her college and will be leaving there Friday afternoon to head home in the school van. Sounds like some wonderful traveling conditions.