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Carvers Gap

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  1. @TellicoWx, you need to post more. LOL. That is some good stuff on the QBO, MJO,...stuff. You are bringing it this morning. You too, Holston.
  2. Descending simply means moving down to lower altitudes. Check. So, looks like a preponderance of high altitude winds in that area of the world have switched to the east. Looks like it has almost flipped at 30 which has decent correlation to high latitude blocking of which were are seeing some signs now in the longer range. Last year, the positive QBO(westerly) was taking over and I think that had something to do with our warm second half of winter(that and the SSW that dumped West). As Jeff has noted, the actually movement of the index is likely the trigger vs the actually raw negative or positive number....though, it going negative is not going to hurt. There is also some research that indicates that solar cycle state also influences the QBO. In other words, it behaves differently(quite differently) during maxs and mins which is why sometimes the QBO doesn't line up cleanly with surface weather. But in general, very good sign.
  3. Very good trends on overnight modeling...As John noted, the EPS has cold in here by the New Year. The ridge begins to erode on December 28 around hour 204 with a full latitude trough in place by 300+. Let's see if the full latitude trough idea is just the ensemble trying to figure out which area of NA to put the trough - meaning some members may be west and some east, thus creating the false appearance of a full latitude trough. That could mean a continuation of the trough out West, trough east , or the rare feature which is the full latitude trough. Light years better than 48 hours ago. It is not so much that the model has flipped. It has not. It is simply that we are are now far enough along to see the end of the pattern. It also might be a hair quicker. The Weeklies give me greater confidence that we indeed have a shot at getting out of this. A word of caution, sometimes models will hurry a pattern and we don't know if this is just a relaxation of the current warmish pattern. That said, the change would be very representative of several Nino analogs including the 14-15 analog that someone mentioned in the thread(Tellico or Holston or Boone?). Additionally, we need to keep an eye on the MJO as it was not favorable yesterday. Would be pretty rare to get a cold snap with it stalled in phase 6 or 7... Also, unless I am reading this incorrectly, looks like the QBO is almost(edit...evidently I can't read a graph) negative at 30. It is also common for 30 to flip prior to 50. Let's get that MJO headed in the right direction so we don't get a head fake with this look. Will look at it later. Note: That said, this site lists the QBO as negative(easterly). Looks to me like that is positive at 30. Any ideas on why that is? I mean that is awesome if it is already negative, but that is now how I read it at 30. https://acd-ext.gsfc.nasa.gov/Data_services/met/qbo/qbo.html
  4. The Weeklies feature a fairly significant break in continuity and one that actually connects well to the afternoon Euro run(Weeklies are derived from the morning run). Last year, the Weeklies rarely matched what was actually on the EPS. These match. Let's see if this break in continuity actually holds. Been far too many false starts this winter for me to buy in just yet...but that pattern on the 12z EPS and the Weeklies is probably better than just a "good pattern." Would like to be able to say, "That is the break we have been looking for...." Not ready to say that yet, but that those two model runs have "winter" written all over them. Indeed, they look like....November. Now, if we can just get the atmospheric river event out of the way before the Rose Bowl Parade is held!
  5. Euro Weeklies looked good...entire run. Big grain of salt... Looks like the pattern is cold into the northern Rockies that kicks eastward.
  6. I don't see anything on the 12z GEFS run that inclines me to think any cold outbreaks are headed our way for quite some time. My week two cool-off is severely in doubt. Warm run. edit: Not even one cold front makes this way after hour 54.
  7. I do think we get a transient shot of cold air during the second week of January...that will be a window to watch as the STJ has not relaxed a bit. There are sort of two camps regarding good snow patterns.... 1. Those who want plenty of cold air in repetitive shots... 2. Those who want an active precip pattern... I don't think the first choice is going to be an option for some time. But that second choice is probably going to be in place for some time. Any cold shot from here on out probably is going to have winter tracking with it. Those cold shots are likely very transient. However, it won't take much cold with an active STJ for things to get interesting. IMHO, we could see some snow chances in January despite AN temps. Just need one or two cold shots, even if just 3-4 days at a time. I think February will be a good month. Tellico has a good analog to support that. And the current pattern should have run its course by then provide we don't get some SSW that dumps into the West like last year. You all keep the fires burning for the next couple of days...going to be helping with loading the band's equipment for the Rose Bowl Parade. Shipping 300+ instruments and all of their gear cross country is like moving a house!
  8. Good post. I think that year is an excellent analog...a lot of similarities in both timing and how the actual pattern evolved. The QBO should be working for us very soon as well. I would not be surprised in the least to see a similar evolution with this year's pattern. I think if/when the pattern flips...it will be a pretty stunning reversal. Last year, obviously that did not happen but the atmosphere was dealing with a La Nina hangover. I said it last winter and I will say it now...this is exactly why I don't like El Nino winters. Just takes forever until we actually get to prime months. Then, if things don't work out...kick in the pants for sure. Pretty much during El Nino winters, we head into the bottom of the ninth down 3 with the bases loaded w/ the heart of our line-up on deck. No guarantee of a win, but you have had to sit through the entire game just to get to the best part - and it still might not work out.
  9. Man, I hate brining the heat...LOL. Yes, agree we likely flip cold at some point, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a substantial flip. Not seeing the flip yet...but 14-15 saw a super warm December I think that eventually flipped cold. The Indian Ocean deal is probably my biggest concern regarding any flip, but Nino climatology supports a cold second half of winter. That said, last winter's scars make me less confident. LOL. I feel like we looked for a flip that never came. I do think this winter will be different. While repeating weather patterns are not an uncommon phenomena...they do end. And I shouldn't be surprised at the warm December after mentioning it months ago...just not any fun talking about it. Hopefully, the rest of that forecast from June will come to pass with a cold second half of winter. Again, I am actually not that discouraged with the past two runs of the EPS.
  10. It is official. The GEFS has caved 100% to the Euro in the LR. I will be interested to see where the Euro Weeklies go with the pattern tonight, not so much after week four, but where it would take the pattern week 3 and 4. They were workable on Monday. What the "cave" by the GEFS means?...the EPS is likely hitting form as it has been locked onto this pattern for a couple of weeks. Also, when I talk great winters...I mean great snowstorms. Many of those are found between mid-Jan to mid-Feb. I think at this point, there is nothing we can do. We will just try to sort out when/if this pattern is going to change before winter is over. Hoping for a flip. That is not very scientific, but is about all we have at this point.
  11. Convection is found across the entire Indian Ocean basin as of mid-day.
  12. Changing wavelengths prevent a bad pattern from locking-in often during shoulder season. Once the winter season settles-in, those drivers have a lot more strength. This is an ugly pattern coming up, but I think folks have been fairly warned for some time that multiple indices soured a couple of weeks ago. This warm-up and its duration should be no surprise. Nino winters generally start warm, sometimes very warm. That is in my notes from June about winter. Can't get more warning than that. LOL. Now, some don't like the 12z EPS. Looks good to me as it lowers heights in the East. We will get a temporary cold shot I think during the second week of January followed by more warm. What is tough is that we all think about last year and worry about a repeat. These Nino winters can and do flip on a dime, and they don't care about past statistics. I fully expect a flip to happen similar to what happened during fall. It gets old repeating that flips do happen, especially last year when it didn't happen at all. That said, I still suspect we see a very sharp reversal at some point...but make no mistake, we have plenty of warm weather before we get there. But it is always wise to remember, some of our best winters were had after VERY warm starts to winter, even including large portions of January. Might happen and might not this winter...but I can just about guarantee we will see multiple( great winters during the future that begin warm.
  13. LOL. No surprise at all....not that the EPS is much better during d10-15. Unless we get a surprise, IMHO at least a couple of more weeks before we leave this hostile pattern.
  14. And the 18z GEFS is why I will never share a foxhole with that model during a model war. It caved to yesterday's EPS. Today's 12z EPS doesn't look so bad. They kid of sort of switched roles today...The EPS has made a natural progression to an eastern trough while the GEFS just flip flopped. I actually thought the 12z EPS looked quite decent. Now, the 18z GEFS should bring back some pretty bad memories. Going to be a while before we get out of this pattern.
  15. So, the moral to that story^^^^, the Atlantic is our only hope. Like that Star Wars tip of the hat?
  16. Looks like the Indian Ocean has re-fired...lots and lots and lots of convection. That usually signals anomalous warmth over the eastern US down the line. At this point, really getting tough to find any indicators outside of the ENSO state that favor cold in the East. That said, I do think ENSO is a trump card...beats all others. The MJO looks like both the American and Euro suites now like the idea of the MJO moving into phase 7 and stalling. The EPS today did look a bit better. The GEFS is its usual and biased Arctic self. Overall, I think whatever cold shot we get in early January is now appearing as if will be a relaxation of the current warm pattern for eastern NA vs being a new base state cold pattern. I still think we see winter...but man, really don't like seeing what is going on in the Indian Ocean. That sunk us last winter. I have said that the current warm pattern would last 3-5 weeks. I think we see cold by the end of the first week of January...then the warmth returns for a significant amount of time. I think by the end of January, we will see maybe two weeks of seasonal weather...the rest warm....just kicking around that idea. January is a transitional month during Ninos and makes for a wicked tough month to get a handle on things. If the MJO verifies...isotherm's forecast is money. My confidence in seeing significant, sustained cold prior to February is pretty shaky. I don't like banging the warm drum...climatology based on ENSO is about the only thing we have going for us. The EPS, while it looks better, blocks cold from entering NA with low pressure at high latitudes. So, we finally get the block...no source region - at least on today's model run.
  17. Some baby steps by the 0z EPS this AM...still a warm pattern but one can see how we might get out of it. The thing that concerns me right now is that the trough inexplicably really wants to go into the West on the Euro Weeklies even after we cool down in early January. The Weeklies are likely swinging wildly after week four, but we are at the time of year where the Euro Weeklies have some weight. The GEFS is way out on a limb. I think this AM one could make a case that the EPS maybe moved towards the GEFS a hair. That said, just when you think one model caves...everything goes haywire. The GEFS is a much different solution and is juxtaposed the EPS. In the end I think the slower EPS is probably the right way to go, and that the GEFS has sniffed out a potential pattern change OR instead of a pattern change... just that the western trough/eastern ridge pattern relaxes for a week or so. So right now(fingers crossed), looks like the first week of January is a transitional period...and the second week of January cold. The third and fourth week of January are up for grabs. Again, we need to really hope the GEFS is correct. It is quicker by four or five days regarding the pattern change...but it has cried wolf for about four weeks so difficult to trust it.
  18. I did see that...I would personally clean up his statement by saying the EPS has a hard time seeing cold regarding its 2m temp pattern any time of the year and also during shoulder season. Its 500 pattern is very understandable given the nature of the convection in the eastern IO. The GEFS is at the time of the year where it whiffs pretty badly. I have noted, and USAF in the MA forum noted this tonight, that the GFS/GEFS sniffed out the cold in November first. That said, it is a completely different time of year. I think we turn cold by the second week of January as I think the GFS/GEFS is too quick and is an outlier among global models and their ensembles right now. Bottom line: In the d10-15 one model is going to be badly, badly incorrect on a pretty epic level - and I am not sharing a foxhole with the GEFS in a model war. The GEFS has a chance of being right, but let's not forget that it has basically been cold for all of December during d10-15 and been woefully wrong. TRI sits at +2.7 for December....not in torch territory but pretty close. The GEFS never saw it coming.
  19. Man...if the GEFS/GFS combo could score a coup just one freakin' time during mid--winter, this is the one!!! That is a ball of fire in the North Atlantic at 500. I am with you, John. Let's just get this over with...LOL. Totally agree that some truly great winters have had wicked warmth in December.
  20. The 12z EPS and GEPS maintain an eastern ridge throughout their runs...IMHO was a major step back today, especially for d10-15. If there is any silver lining, the EPS looks nearly identical to the Weeklies which lift the trough out during week 2 temporarily and allow for a pretty severe cold shot. Basically, the trough in the West connects to one over central Canada as depicted on the EPS. The Weeklies then "yank" that trough out of their very quickly during week 1. It is a very fast transition. So what we want to see in the coming days is a progression like that. I was worried when I didn't see the model moving up the eastern trough on the EPS...now it is just gone. Let's hope the Weeklies are correct. The GEFS is out on a limb. It has been handling the MJO very differently. I frankly discount the model right now as an outlier. That said, I think it is just too quick. The progression is right, but too quick which is common for it...but it might be tipping its hand in a positive way. One of my concerns is that western trough set-up seems to often take several weeks to break down. I said 3-5 weeks from this past Monday...and I think we switch-up around the second week of January. That said, if today's EPS is correct...I have concerns that the time for a cold transition is closer to 5 weeks than three weeks. Major break(for the bad) in continuity today.
  21. Pretty cool. I think the reason that works is because severe wx during winter indicates sharp wavelengths where the ridges and troughs really dig. Pretty cool somebody figured that out years ago, likely without a weather map within 100 miles of them. The saying goes(at least how it was shared with me) that thunder in the western North Carolina mountains during winter means snow will fall within ten days(some say 14 days). There are some other interesting "sayings" as well...if snow is on the ground for three days, it is waiting for another(snow). I don't know about the second rule...but the thunder deal is pretty interesting. I am pretty sure that the blizzard of '93 was preceded by a very severe tornado outbreak across E TN about twenty days earlier. While that doesn't follow the rule exactly(occurred three weeks later), it might be around that time that I noticed that rule might actually have some merit. But hey, congratulations on the snow!!!
  22. BIG rumbles of thunder IMBY...maybe that Saturday system has some merit? LOL. That rule is going to be severely tested this time around. Ten day clock has started tickin'.
  23. I think I had to unfollow Hugo because he was posting so much. LOL. Either that or my mind filters him out. Been several folks posting about it today on multiple platforms.
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