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March 27 SpringBlizzard Discussion


Ji

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Springtime snows used to be fairly common out this way, but they've gone away here too. Some notable events at MRB:

4/3-5/1987: 4.5"

3/29/1984: 8.0"

4/9/1982: 3.0"

4/6/1971: 4.0"

4/12/1959: 4.0"

3/29/1942: 12.0"

4/28/1928: 10.0":o

Hello 1928 redux coming our way LOL

BTW: Happy Birthday craig :thumbsup:

But don't forget, "If we get snow this week, I have been saying it was likely for a few weeks."

There you go, thats the line

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Springtime snows used to be fairly common out this way, but they've gone away here too. Some notable events at MRB:

4/3-5/1987: 4.5"

3/29/1984: 8.0"

4/9/1982: 3.0"

4/6/1971: 4.0"

4/12/1959: 4.0"

3/29/1942: 12.0"

4/28/1928: 10.0":o

So no springtime snows in the 1990's or the 2000's. So we are due. Three in the 1980's. Any of them La Nina years?

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So no springtime snows in the 1990's or the 2000's. So we are due. Three in the 1980's. Any of them La Nina years?

5 out of those 7 were -AMO yrs. Noticed the great arctic outbreaks/late season snows tend to happen more frequently in the -AMO or neutral rather than the +AMO.

1959 was technically neutral/weak negative, though 1942 was raging positive, so perhaps 6 out of 7 is actually the way to go.

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Can there be a distinction made between climo for La Nina years and climo for non-La Nina years. Or is climo considered the same for all years?

Yes to some degree. You have a lot smaller sample though and the pre 1950 stuff is an educated guess.

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Hello 1928 redux coming our way LOL

BTW: Happy Birthday craig :thumbsup:

Dave, I appreciate the b'day wishes.:drunk:

I questioned the data when I first came across that 1928 event. I mean, isn't the end of April roughly the equivalent of mid-August with the sun angle ? I posted about it at the time on euswx and guys from the western Carolinas chimed in that they too got smacked from that storm. Pretty amazing.

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So no springtime snows in the 1990's or the 2000's. So we are due. Three in the 1980's. Any of them La Nina years?

This area had some minor (generally less than 2") events in very late March and April of 1990, 1996 and a couple inches on 3/30/2003.. But yeah, spring has really changed these past 20 years.

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yeah but that's 50 years ago. if you look at any trendline for late season snow it is a downward slope. i mean it's tough since the late-season sample is small anyway (even during the heyday). it is somewhat academic of course, and i'd be personally skeptical of any threat in this range even in our prime snow period.

the set you mention might be interesting to look at if you would like to post it.

Yup, late season snowfalls are going the way of November snows...and annual sub-zero lows. Oh well.

It's interesting that the 3/29/42 14" snowfall in Baltimore happened on a day with a high of 35 and low of only 32. It took a staggering 2.28" of liquid to get the job done, though.

The GFS and EC's suggested high of 29/30F is at least remotely possible for the 27th. That is when considered in the context of the 28F recorded on 3/24 1906 and the multiple 33/34F highs for DC and Balt (a century ago) in that last week of March. While a lot's changed the sun is only a bit stronger now than it was then. On the other hand...while -6C at H85 is cold, it's not all that cold so pulling off a sub freezing day in late March will be an interesting challenge.

I've only scanned through the hourlies for the "impressive late season snowfalls" from both Balt and DC, but one thing stands out. I couldn't find any example of a >4" snowfall after March 21st that didn't start at least a few hours before dawn.

I've attached the data. Well, most of it. I compiled it on multiple computers between home and work. Unfortunately I'm only finding the workbook that had Dulles' snowfalls pair with the AAM, its tendency, stage/phase/etc. I can't find the finalized workbook that included the various enso regions and their temps along with that same information for all the major city's snowfalls. I really hope I haven't lost that final workbook, it was the product of a lot of work.

There are two workbooks if you follow the links below. One is for the "Grouped Snowfalls" where I've taken each city's many snowfalls and attempted to group consecutive days of measurements into snowstorms. The "Discrete Snowfalls" are just a listing of all the snowfalls and their date of occurrence. There's a good chance that the individual sheets might be incorrectly sorted so make sure you check for that.

Grouped Snowfalls

Discrete Snow Events

I'll update those two when I find the final workbooks.

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the set you mention might be interesting to look at if you would like to post it.

P.S. In my hiatus you've become arguably more pessimistic than I am. You used to be ever so slightly more optimistic. I'm not sure what this implies, but I'm assuming it has something to do with my advancing years and compounding mental deficiencies.

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P.S. In my hiatus you've become arguably more pessimistic than I am. You used to be ever so slightly more optimistic. I'm not sure what this implies, but I'm assuming it has something to do with my advancing years and compounding mental deficiencies.

Fear of disappointment, or becoming a seasoned Washingtonian.

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Yup, late season snowfalls are going the way of November snows...and annual sub-zero lows. Oh well.

It's interesting that the 3/29/42 14" snowfall in Baltimore happened on a day with a high of 35 and low of only 32. It took a staggering 2.28" of liquid to get the job done, though.

Baltimore recorded 22" in that storm, though. 3/58 had an even more incredible amount of liquid-- almost 4"-- for only 5" of snow at DCA. Of course, higher places within the city got well over a foot, and NW Montgomery County was over 20".

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Baltimore recorded 22" in that storm, though. 3/58 had an even more incredible amount of liquid-- almost 4"-- for only 5" of snow at DCA. Of course, higher places within the city got well over a foot, and NW Montgomery County was over 20".

Well look at that, they sure did. How'd I miss that...argh!

That 1958 storm was amazing as was the 4/14 storm back in...1882 or 1884. Something like that. An amazing 20+ across the northern tier of Md.

EDIT...I think I know how I missed it. Well, maybe. Was it the Custom's House or another location that recorded the 22"?

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P.S. In my hiatus you've become arguably more pessimistic than I am. You used to be ever so slightly more optimistic. I'm not sure what this implies, but I'm assuming it has something to do with my advancing years and compounding mental deficiencies.

I'm definitely more pessimistic the more I learn about wx forecasting and climo. I don't think it's always as helpful as it seems to be pessimistic though. Not everything falls into a realm of the known or expected obviously. Thx for the other info and data in the previous post.

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00z GFS looks like a snow/mix to rain south of DC... could be wet snow N MD/Mason Dixon line

Also nice storm forming at 162. Jet Streak in Wyoming and a stronger confluence zone probably means a bomb further south than 18z.

Kicker sorta ruins this run. but still plenty of precip.

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the mar 29 looks mightly mid-winter like in this range. no amplification, more energy right on the s/w tail. good thing SNE got a thaw or CT Blizz's house might have been buried.

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Too bad we have that 12 hr jump from 180-192... but that looks like snow :lol:

it probably is dc area and north at least

the dt fantasy storm might produce some backlash with a stacked low just east. n and e would still be favored.. and it's 400 million days off.

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