wxeyeNH

Light snow and blowing snow  -14.6F

I'm surprised it clouded up and light snow for the past 30 minutes.  Vis less than 2 miles

I am now approaching the 2016 temperature record for me.  Perhaps later this evening I will take some boiling water out and see if I can make some snow.  I will record it on the phone.  Just got to get it a bit colder

Mt Washington did it.  -100F windchill

8 minutes ago, 78Blizzard said:

Having lived in New England most all my life...we do get these extreme cold spells we are having here now..Yes it is cold…brrrr.. but it's not like it is some novel event never experienced here before. Yet that is what the media act like.

In the 32 years of living up here in Central NH it has never been -12F at 4:30pm.  So for this point of the day it is an extreme event.

It's finally cooling off nicely up here.  From the late morning till early afternoon I hung around 0F.  Over the past hour temperatures have been falling.   Down to -6F with the aid of a lot of Cu/virga so we are not in full sun as earlier.  Winds are roaring through the trees.

Pack is a solid 11".  Glaciated  with that sleet we had in the last storm.  The snow slides off our metal roof but I have been doing some roof raking in the flatter areas just to keep the extra weight off  in the event of future big storms that I really don't see right now.   Looking forward to later this evening.  Models show me bottoming at -22F but I doubt that will happen.  Years ago I had a -19F and I think in 2016 about a -14F.

Noon it is -1.2F  Very meh.  I was hoping for a -4 to -6F by this time.  The sun is doing it's job.  Solar noon is exactly at noon today so from this point on the temp should start to fall more rapidly

-.5F

During the past hour the temperature has continued a very slow downtrend.  Wind has picked up.  Sky is about 50% filled with Cu/Virga.   Would this be a setup for Diamond Dust this evening?

10 minutes ago, MarkO said:

entered the negatives at the cabin -0.1F, 14.4F in Lowell

We are just behind you,  +.9F and going down.  We got a 1/4" squall around 2am.  Peak wind was 26mph.  Although trees and the hill block me from the NW there is still very little wind.  Mostly 2-12mph on the Davis at 10 meters above ground.

Although we don't have kids I decided to call our school district superintendent's office to suggest cancelling school.  Up here 125 miles north of Boston the cold is going to be well established by school time.  Anyhow I got the superintendent's secretary.  She thanked me for my concern but the tone in her voice was like, this guy is a nut!  I don't think school systems have any guidance in place for cancelling schools except for snow type events.

I'm looking at these temperatures up here.   CF comes through early enough that it is -10F by 8am and stays well below 0F all day.  Do you think the kids should have a "snow" day?  Seriously bitter cold waiting for the buses if they start.  Am I over reacting?

1 hour ago, wokeupthisam said:

Two invasive insect species of concern in NE could have significant mortality of this year's population, if we can get cold enough.  Both the Emarald Ash Borer (EAB) and Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) populations are susceptible to anomalous cold events, especially as temps approach -20F.
"...researchers from the U. S. Forest Service and Minnesota Department of Agriculture found that the supercooling temperature for the Minnesota EAB population was about -13°F. Based on these results, a model was created that predicts that about five percent of EAB larvae should die when temperatures reach 0°F, 34 percent at -10°F, 79 percent at -20°F, and an impressive 98 percent should die at -30°F. (Venette, R.C. & Abrahamson, M. (2010) Cold hardiness of emerald ash borer  PDF , Agrilus planipennis: a new perspective.) 

Studies on the HWA show similar results.  Also their mortality is higher when the cold occurs after a period of relatively milder conditions, as the insects gradually adapt their supercooling ability in sustained cold periods, so this event holds promise for a (temporary) setback for these insects in 2023 in NE.  I'm cheering for -20F here overnight Friday for that reason alone.  Seems like an ideal setup to hamper those invasives for a season anyway, while not prolonging the severe conditions for people and wildlife.  Bring it!

 

In addition perhaps the Moose ticks will be killed.  Winters have been so mild.  A quick freeze job for them too!

Here are the mins for the cold wave comparing 12Z to 6Z Euro

12Z Euro is about -2F colder across the board compared to 6Z

Friday afternoon should be the coldest I can remember up here.  These are crazy low temperatures when people are out and about.  The cold front is through here by early morning with potential snow squalls with temps near 0F and just drops all day from there.

We have a deep snow cover and that will help keep it cold.  If we are going to get cold we might as well go big.  It is in and out.  I can take that.  It is the endless cold that I hate.  This is at 5pm

850mb is actually a bit colder for at least Brian and my area.  Even so the min's are a bit warmer than 6Z temps.  Is that a function of the wind staying up Friday night?  

Euro looks about the same, maybe slightly colder as compared to 0Z

My lowest up here on my hill is -19F.  That was over 20 years ago.  I do remember a -13F or -14F within the last 5 years.   I'm glad it will be in and out.  It will be interesting to see how my electric car does as it stays outside.

11 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

-34C at BOS. Meh. 

Since there is little to talk about do you want to start a thread on this cold?

Snowmobilers are everywhere today.  Conditions are good but they need one more storm to make conditions great.  Don't see anything of significance this week more than some fast flow moisture starved systems.

That signal for real cold remains for next weekend.  Euro has even got a bit colder with the 12Z runs.  For most of us it has a -25 to -30F morning next Saturday rising to a high of -15F during the day.  In the longer range things seem amplified but even if you took  ten degrees off to account for that it still would be crazy cold.

EDIT:  I posted this before I even read the forums.  I now see it discussed in detail in the Feb thread.

GFS looks out of it's mind for the end of next week.  It always seems to do this in the extended.  Amplify things.  I can see our first true shot of arctic air but these temperatures?  Seems very extreme.

18 minutes ago, MarkO said:

Snowpack is down to about 3" in Lowell. About 1/2" of frozen, followed by about 1.5" of rain. Currently sitting at 36.1F.

I'm guessing we got around 4" of snow last night up at the cabin, followed by an hour or so of sleet, then about 1/4" of rain. I'm guessing a little compaction, but the rain that fell probably got absorbed by the recent snow. Temps rose to 33 by this morning and holding steady at 32.

Yeah compacted to 4" here.  Trees are glazed but snow is deep.  We had a nice layer of sleet so it is powder underneath

9 hours ago, mahk_webstah said:

The CAD from Gene to Jeff, and to some extent to Brian is remarkable.  We are 30/28 here.  I CAD pretty well, as this whole area does, but Brian and Gene are at another level.

Finally at 8:15am I have hit 32   Snow to sleet to end as freezing rain here.  I didn't not measure during the storm but now it is an ice crusted 4"

21F Moderate snow. Sleet looks to be 5 miles south but really slowing it's advance north.

21.1/18 Heavy snow. Temp and dew continue to drop.

28 minutes ago, dendrite said:

It means something. We have a bit of a barrier jet going and we’re advecting some of that low level cold in Maine our way. I’m at my low for the day now…25.9° and a steady drop. So we’ll torch aloft over the next few hours, but we’ll hold sleet and eventually ZR for awhile.

I’m waiting to clear the mess. I’m hoping we just crust the surface and hold the snow consistency at the bottom through the duration. 

I am waiting till AM too. Interestingly the strong wind has stopped. No more roar in the trees. Temp and dew still at their lows

22.7/19  Moderate snow, blowing snow

It is kind of interesting that the temperature still inches down and the dewpoint has dropped from 22 to 19F.  Maybe that doesn't mean anything.

Decision time.  Do I snow blow the couple of inches I have now so it is easier in the morning if it gets sloppy or wait till then?  I think I will wait.  I kind of am envisioning a powdery snow with a top thin sleet and freezing rain glaze vs some heavy rain soaking into a 6-8" pack making snow blowing difficult.