michsnowfreak

1.5" of powder last night into today did wonders to brighten up the old crusty snow. Brings my Jan total to 8.9" and 14.4" season.

A more active gradient pattern, more traditional Nina if you will, is being hinted at on a lot of models/ensembles moving forward. This will likely bring more variable weather, more chances of rainers and thaws, but certainly more snowstorm chances as well.

DTW has recorded snow on 23 of the 25 days since December 30th. Even when its a lot of mood flakes and dusters, the Lakes spin the flakes. Snow fell at DTW on... November- 5 of 30 days December- 16 of 31 days January- 21 of 23 days so far

Remember it well. Detroit saw 12.2". This was insane for a clipper. Lots of blizzard conditions too. I remember they were already hyping it up as a clipper on steroids, I think forecasting 5-8" (most clippers are 1-3, 2-4, etc). But it wayy overperformed.

Light sugar snow fell nearly all night and now we actually have a decent last band moving through of more dendrites. Didnt get as much to the north but it definitely touched up the old crusty snow. Prior to todays new snow, the snowcover was quite variable because of last Fridays thaw, so now more protected areas have 3-4" on the ground but some areas only have 1-2". There had been lots of grass showing on salt splattered freeways, but of course, thats about as accurate a representation of snow depth as is a snowbank lol.

Yes. All regions certainly see their share of model misses, model porn, and nowcast model failures. But the midwest/Great Lakes region is susceptible to so many different KINDS of weather disturbances that it creates extra mayhem.

It also has a more active pattern, which is more important. Dont get me wrong, I love cold and snowcover (even tho its a big mangy, its better than bare ground) but the zzzs need to stop lol.

Gulf moisture transport (or lackthereof) is always something that we look for when a snowstorm is coming north into our region after originating in the south. Its a big key to whether it will fizzle out or get that moisture boost. So to literally be ON the gulf with an almost impossible setup, no surprise they got the snow rates they did.

This goes back to our conversation yesterday. ASOS is too dry in dry snow. Idk what they do to it, but theyve definitely made improvements at first order sites like DTW, but the non-first order sites (ex: DET) the ASOS still does awful (I thought I heard theres ASOS and AWOS, but not sure). My guess is that since it never snows in new orleans, their ASOS did not have the proper calibration that theyve done to correct the dry issues at more northern locations. The link you sent is exactly how I measure liquid in my snowfall, and is the traditional way the NWS does it at non-ASOS sites. Which is why ill say it again, man-power is still needed to measure snow but the ASOS is used 99% of the time for liquid. Its usually quite good, but sometimes falls short. Automation is not always the answer imo.

For sure, although down there they literally have no concept of measuring snow haha. Could also be measuring on grass (which is undoubtedly lush and squishy) and sticking the ruler in too far. Wild storm.

DTW bottomed out at -3F this morning.

Snow on the ground New Orleans, LA- 8" Burlington, VT- 2" Detroit, MI- 2" Minneapolis, MN- 1" Bismark, ND- T Chicago, IL- 0 Green Bay, WI- 0

Detroit, MI- 2" Minneapolis, MN- 1" Bismark, ND- T Chicago, IL- 0 Green Bay, WI- 0

I notice that about sleet. It just says overcast usually lol.

haha i was looking for a snowbow. it was blowing pixies and the sun was shining.

We have a 1-2 inch crust of snow on the ground and everything is frozen solid. Its an ice fisherman's dream. January has been deep winter for sure, but dry, cold winter. Lots of flakes in the air but just sitting at 12.9" on the season. Will welcome a more active pattern with open arms.

Havent winter lovers in the SE already had more winter than theyve had the last decade combined lol?

New Orleans, New Orleans International Airport 09:53 Heavy Snow Freezing Fog 27 New Orleans measurable snowfall since 1948 Feb 1958- 2.0” Dec 1963- 2.7” Jan 1973- 0.1” Feb 1973- 0.6” Jan 1985- 0.4” Dec 1989- 0.5” Dec 2009- 0.1” Idk about florida. they look to get lots of sleet. Louisiana will be the winner of this storm.

Honestly, i dont mind them getting a snowstorm. It something they literally never get to see. Let em enjoy. itll be gone in 2 days.

I would guess/assume that the arrangement is based out of necessity. Perhaps some sites are more user friendly than others to measure snow. I THINK i read somewhere it has to be 5 miles or less from the site, but im not sure. I think Philadelphias is actually measured in NJ ironically enough lol (obviously PHL is on border).

A once in 5 lifetimes event down there. Crazy.

I see Rochester, MN was -20F with 0 snow on the ground. Anyone know todays coldest readings for an area with absolutely no snowcover?

Exactly. Its not as if you dont want to do it, its that your location makes it impossible. The DTW snow site is approx 2-3 MI E of the south side of the airport. Flint also has a similar thing. Im surprised all the northern MI sites do as well, as I wouldnt think it would be as difficult as those airports, but apparently it is. Ive heard TOL is like 3-4 miles SW of the airport, but cant confirm.

I chatted with a now-retired DTX met many years ago about this exact situation, and you have said it perfectly. The FAA did such a terrible job with taking control of the weather obs, including sometimes reporting a snow measurement that was oddly high but far more often reporting one clearly too low, that sometimes the DTX mets had to make judgment calls in adjusting the snow data for official purposes by using nearby reports. They also werent super cooperative (FAA that is). Then ASOS became the end all with the FAA, and AT FIRST, they werent allow to alter ASOS data. In its infancy, ASOS did a terrible job with dry snowfall, and to this day, some of the records are stuck with ridiculous low-balled liquid totals. This particularly affected DTW during the cold winter with heavy dry snowfall of 2002-03. Some of the ridiculous data thats in the books- Dec 2 snowstorm 5.8" had 0.11" water. Dec 24/25 snowstorm 6.5" had 0.16" water. Jan 2 snowfall 5.3" had 0.11" water. Feb 10/11 snowfall 3.2" had 0.02" water. Feb 22/23 snowstorm of 7.3" had 0.14" water. Mar 5th snowfall 4.1" had 0.04" water. The winter of 2002-03 is officially listed as Detroits driest winter on record, and thats pathetic. While precip was below avg (it was almost all dry snow), I had a rain gauge by then can assure that that winter realistically was probably somewhere between 20th and 25th driest, not #1. As the years went on, ASOS improved greatly with dry snowfall and NWS could alter the liquid totals if need be. Today, ASOS does a very good job in all but the real, dry fluffy snow. But you still need all that man-power. Not just to actually measure snow, but to be a real-live weather observer. ASOS can malfunction easily. Ive also heard from another region that ASOS can have an error within 2F before they rush to fix it. Thats wild. I think RIGHT NOW, with so many dedicated snow-paid observers, weather observers, and some good NWS mets, we are in a decent spot where we can overcome any FAA fuss and still have good quality weather data. But we will ALWAYS need man-power, so FAA needs to give it a rest. Its already terrible to see how detailed weather books were 100 years ago compared to now, lets not drop any further.

Dressed real warm and thought I'd go for a winter hike in the park. It ended up being a short walk. The wind chill was too much even for me, couldnt stop tearing up.