Amped Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Forecasting snow totals on grassy surfaces has improved greatly over the past several years. However the predictions of when snow will start accumulating on roads (AKA the actual important part of the forecast) could still use some improvement to put it politely. A general 50% chance of snow by 3pm is not usefull in deciding whether school or work needs to be cancelled. I was wondering if there are any presentations or met writups that address the topics such as thump snows, virga, white rain. A couple of thump events (oops, enjoy your 3 hr 5 mile trip home) 12/30/2000 4/7/2003 12/6/2003 1/26/2011 10/29/2011 White rain events (Oops cancelled school/work for nothing) 2/5/2010 in Maryland. The first 8" of snow melted as it hit the ground. My 28" would have been 36" 2/25/2010 In Philly Virga events (Oops cancelled school/work for nothing) 12/19/2009 in the NYC metro. 2/17/2003 NYC metro 12/21/95 NYC metro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2Otown_WX Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Forecasting snow totals on grassy surfaces has improved greatly over the past several years. However the predictions of when snow will start accumulating on roads (AKA the actual important part of the forecast) could still use some improvement to put it politely. A general 50% chance of snow by 3pm is not usefull in deciding whether school or work needs to be cancelled. I was wondering if there are any presentations or met writups that address the topics such as thump snows, virga, white rain. A couple of thump events (oops, enjoy your 3 hr 5 mile trip home) 12/30/2000 4/7/2003 12/6/2003 1/26/2011 10/29/2011 White rain events (Oops cancelled school/work for nothing) 2/5/2010 in Maryland. The first 8" of snow melted as it hit the ground. My 28" would have been 36" 2/25/2010 In Philly Virga events (Oops cancelled school/work for nothing) 12/19/2009 in the NYC metro. 2/17/2003 NYC metro 12/21/95 NYC metro Cool topic but I feel like this might be the wrong sub-forum. Anyway, 12/19/09 was definitely a memorable virga event. I remember one of the meteorologist's on a local AM station here kept coming on the radio talking about how it would be starting soon and it might be snowing if you're up on a hill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huffwx Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 You did not have 8 inches melt on 2/5.10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amped Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 You did not have 8 inches melt on 2/5.10 So call it 3" if you want. The main point was that the roads weren't a problem until 8hrs after the snow started. The forcast called for snow developing 1-3" by early evening. Do you let out of work early? Tough call. You would have been fine until 7 or 8pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famartin Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 White rain events (Oops cancelled school/work for nothing) 2/25/2010 In Philly While its probably true that there wasn't much accumulation on the roads in Philly during this event, there was a signficant lack of actual precipitation which probably caused that "fail". Less than half an inch of liquid fell during that whole two-day event. I remember some guidance was predicting an inch or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amped Posted September 26, 2012 Author Share Posted September 26, 2012 While its probably true that there wasn't much accumulation on the roads in Philly during this event, there was a signficant lack of actual precipitation which probably caused that "fail". Less than half an inch of liquid fell during that whole two-day event. I remember some guidance was predicting an inch or more. Yes the long duration light snow event struck. One of my least favorites. If its above 30F with February the sun can take care of those 1/4" inch per hour snowfall rates all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huffwx Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 So call it 3" if you want. The main point was that the roads weren't a problem until 8hrs after the snow started. The forcast called for snow developing 1-3" by early evening. Do you let out of work early? Tough call. You would have been fine until 7 or 8pm. Huge difference between 3 and 8-- just saying. I tend to ere on the side of caution and let people out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shaw Posted November 16, 2013 Share Posted November 16, 2013 New NWS guidelines on how to measure snow, including snowboard procedures. Official NWS document, dated September 2013 Follow this link:: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/coop/reference/Snow_Measurement_Guidelines.pdf Kevin the snowywalrus of Gaithersburg, still waiting to see my first flake of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eskimo Joe Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 This: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REDMK6GLI Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 This: that storm was awesome! don't remember too much as I was only 10 at the time. part of the reason why I want another 96' redux so I can experience that kind of storm again anyway, biggest thump of all time was 12/25/02- forecast to get 1-3" after changeover, got 14" in 6 hours in the heaviest snow and also thunder I experienced in my life thus far. biggest bust- probably for ALOT of people on this board excecpt NE, march 2001- forecast 24 hrs. before event 24-30" only ended up with 8" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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