Festus

For Lancaster, looks like Tuesday is our only chance to get above freezing in the next 7 days at least. If we don't get there and the rest of the week goes as forecast, that would break the existing record of 15 straight days below freezing endured in both 1961 and 1979 with records going back to 1914. Historic cold indeed. https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-county-breaks-14-day-streak-of-temperatures-under-freezing-which-last-happened-in-1979/article_fce945ba-f5a3-11e7-92db-938a3f30ea7c.html

Local WU site bottomed at -1.7 at 7:20. Even with geothermal, looks like a $300 electric bill next month. First time in the 26 years we've lived here.

Similar deal here. Got to exactly 0 at 3:00 AM but then rose to 5 when a little breeze came through. Now back to 2.

This gyrating model action is getting stressful. I'm going with the giant rodent forecast on Monday and be done with it.

Winds starting to kick up but I see zero signs of drifting here. We ended up with a nice crust on top so that should tame the drifting potential. One less pita to contend with.

Looking at the 0Z GFS, there's actually a shot we don't get above freezing for the entire run. The last time we were above freezing here was Friday the 23rd. So if true, that would realize a stretch of 24 consecutive days below freezing obliterating the previous record of 15 straight days. We better have a nice Spring after this! "The longest consecutive stretches of temperatures remaining below freezing in the Millersville/Lancaster County area are 15-day periods, occurring from Feb. 5–19, 1979, and Jan. 20–Feb. 3, 1961."

Given what's fallen, what's to come and the temperature forecast, is it better to wait and clear it all at once tomorrow or clear now and again tomorrow? Have a blower so weight is not a factor. This storm seems so unusual and trying to avoid a base ice layer before arctic reinforcements arrive.

My snow/sleet ratio is flipping between 20/80 and 80/20 like every 5 minutes. Must be right on the edge.

13 and heavy sleet but the visibility has dropped in the past 10 minutes. Looks like some chewed up flakes amongst the ice pellets.

Just started here. Everything has insta-caved. 14/4.

Millersville Top 25 snowstorms since 1926. I'd say good but not guaranteed chance to make the list. Millersville/Lancaster (1926 - 2025) Event # Month(s) Day(s) Year Snowfall Amount 1 Jan 7-8 1996 30.0 2 Jan 22-23 2016 26.7 3 Feb 11-12 1983 24.0 4 Feb 16-17 2003 24.0 5 Feb 5-6 2010 24.0 6 Feb 15-16 1958 20.0 7 Feb 9-10 2010 19.0 8 Mar 13-14 1993 18.0 9 Mar 20-21 2018 17.5 10 Jan 16 1945 17.0 11 Feb 3-4 1961 17.0 12 Feb 13 2014 17.0 13 Jan 29 1928 16.0 14 Feb 20-21 1947 16.0 15 Dec 19 2009 16.0 16 Feb 19 1979 15.0 17 Mar 16-19 1956 14.5 18 Mar 7-9 1941 14.0 19 Jan 19-20 1961 14.0 20 Jan 13 1964 14.0 21 Feb 11-12 2006 14.0 22 Nov 6-7 1953 13.5 23 Dec 7 1959 13.5 24 Mar 19-20 1958 13.0 25 Feb 6-7 1978 12.3

From Mark Ellinwood in the Mid Atlantic thread. This dude is pretty sharp...

Sticking with 17.0.

17.0

We can manage some shallow warm intrusion if we maintain rates. Makes for some cool half dollar size flakes that are only partially melted.

So was just outside prepping for the weekend and was roasting in my standard winter coat. It's gorgeous out there. South facing lawn is about 50/50 green/white. And come in to see this. Crazy times.

Low of -2 so far. No shot at the record as today marks the lowest recorded temp at Millersville: -18 in 1994. I'm usually half decent at guessing the temperature based on feel but I think my meter bottoms out at around 10. Anything lower just gets labelled as effing cold and that's that.

One nice thing coming out of a relatively cold pattern is a day like today feels like 75 where 3 months ago it would have felt like 45.

My annual tradition of noting tomorrow is Perihelion day - the Earth is closest to the sun officially at 12:15 EST. And as a double bonus, tomorrow is also a supermoon (full moon while the moon is at or near perigee). This combo won't happen again until 2045. So when that time rolls around, be sure to tell your kids (or grandkids, or great-grandkids, or anyone who will listen) that you were there in 2026 and it was a rollicking event.

Seems like right on the edge here - precip overhead per radar, slate gray sky, temp 32, dp 29.

Watch hoisted for the whole forum. More than 48 hours in advance - might be a new record for CTP. Heavy mixed precipitation possible. Total snow and sleet accumulations up to two inches and ice accumulations between one tenth and three tenths of an inch possible.

Per Millersville archive, we received 3.5" on December 26, 1947. Geez, getting fringed even way back then.

5"+ for Lanco. Definitions, Thresholds, Criteria for Warnings, Watches and Advisories

As I'm fond of noting, today is the earliest sunset. It's another month or so for the latest sunrise. The discrepancy is the difference between true solar time and the chronological time we use.

Flurries at the moment. Temp 32.4. The only thing caved so far is expectations.