coastalplainsnowman

1982/1983 would be a backender too if memory serves. Christmas ‘82 was the opposite of Christmas ‘83. The first really warm Christmas Eve in my memory - followed by minimal snow, until the Blizzard of ‘83.

Same here. The problem now, as much as it may also be true that fewer kids, generally, might be interested in venturing outside, is lack of opportunity. When I was a kid, there was only one guy on the block with a snowblower. Now it seems like 75% do, and we all take care of the 25% who don't. Also, the days of the 15 year old landscaper with a nice clientele of 8 lawns are mostly over as it became tougher to compete with adults who could do the same at scale. Then there's newspaper delivery, where a similar thing happened. I understand why all those things happened, but a definite side effect was less opportunity for kids to get some real life work experience.

20+ years on this and predecessor boards and I've never asked this sort of question, but I'm desperate so here goes: Relative has a flight from LI to FL tomorrow afternoon, returning back here late Friday night. With respect to the timing of the storm impacts, those seem like maybe the least awful timeframes given the circumstances, but wondering folks' thoughts on the likelihood those flights will be impacted due to residual delays, impacts in other cities the planes might be coming from etc. Maybe it's as much a bad weather travel experience question as much as a weather question. Would really appreciate any insight!

How many times in the past 20 years was there, if not total consensus, then at minimum majority opinion that the next three weeks looked bleak, only for things to turn on a dime and for an actual snowy pattern to emerge out of the literal blue within a week? The answer: frequently enough. For that reason I really try not to ride the daily highs and lows here. The mood here is too somber. C'mon, the season just started! Let's enjoy the ride. Since I have nothing real to add here will just say happy holidays to all and all the best for 2023.

There seems to be a new law of the universe which states that the NYC metro area *must* receive at least one Christmas mood killing 60+ degree day each year roughly during Christmas week. Has this not been frequentlyl true for the past dozen or so years? Look at that 12/23 abomination. If recent history is a guide, that baby will manage to hit 60. Granted, I"ll take it if the subsequent 6 days turn out as depicted.

I was joking lol. If you took me seriously then I gotta say that you showed considerable restraint and patience in your reply.

Uh, of course it's intermittent. Take today, for example, it was dark until just a few hours ago.

Hi Don, just wondering, how much is this due to the fact that a 6", or especially 10", December, on its own would put much of our area so far ahead of our paltry pace that even a subsequent average Jan-February would necessarily result an above normal year? Or is it the case that in years with a snowy December, that Jan and February months themselves also tend to be above normal? Thanks.

First frost in 1977 was late. Three months later was the Blizzard of '78. There's hope!

The areas which will hate this the most are the western edges of the timezones. Columbus, Ohio, for example, will have roughly an *8:50AM* sunrise for most of December/January. Are there studies which really show that pretending it is later than it is all year will have a statistically significant effect on energy usage? Does that outweigh the side effects, such as the legitimate concern that all the kids will be going to school in the dark - the concern that largely squashed this years ago? On a non-scientific note, if this happens, I'll miss the early sunsets in the fall/winter. It was always a sign that snow/holidays/family season was upon us. Plus the Christmas lights can be on as early as 4PM and be noticeable. Ramble over.

Unusual look on radar this morning. Looks like rain developing in opposite directions to the east and west away from us. Not counterclockwise, but more like building and pulling away in opposite directions. Looks unusual to me anyway - first time I've seen it at least..

Lord, let it rain, but not yet.

Been hoping for good weather early to mid next week but hasn't looked great. Didn't realize it reflected a storm close to the coast. Jumped on here and seeing some signs that it may be strung out and/or OTS? Unlike the winter, hoping for this trend to continue and that the models don't start to 'bring it back.' P.S. If this post has so much wrong in it you don't know where to start, I understand.

Saw this on Twitter and immediately thought of this forum. I hope it's not true.

The label on the thread is very fitting today

My wife snapped this interesting pic of the sky a short while ago. Sort of an upside down rainbow overhead in the wispy clouds. Said photo doesn't do the color justice. Thought this might be interesting to some folks here. Have a good day.

Shoot I thought I checked that! In fairness, those would still be some heavy lanternflies.

lol

180 elephants, at 7,500 lbs each, equals 13.5 million lbs. If 180 elephants = 1.2 million lantern flies, then each lanterfly weighs 1.125 pounds. I honestly did this just to get a witty put down from Will.

Definitely. Outside tonight has the feel/smell of a winter storm that was just a bit too warm for snow.

Some rough data (weather underground history for Ronkonkoma LI) supporting the "winter's been starting late and ending late" theme: 2016 - 2021, Median High Temperature: Week preceding Christmas: 60.5 Week preceding Easter: 64.5

Nowadays it seems that every other day sites like Accuweather will have an Air Quality Alert for NYC metro, often rating it as Poor, and I see similar alerts, though not as frequent, from Upton as well. I realize the Accuweather thing is recent, but I don't remember seeing so many alerts from NWS either, say 5-10 years ago. I don't remember alerts or official warnings like this other than an occasional 'smog' alert once in a blue moon in the 80s/90s. Is this just because we run more sensitive tests now, and that if we had today's tests running 30 years ago they'd be lighting up every day?

Underrated post. This is freaking cool.

Was just reading NOAA's definition of a blizzard, because reading through this thread and the clips from 1982 I was surprised to see that the April '82 storm was actually a blizzard, which apparently it was around here. Saw that the definition of a blizzard on NOAA's site includes the line "Sustained wind OR frequent gusts to 35 miles an hour or greater." (my emphasis.) How is 'frequent' defined?