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Upstate NY/North Country + adjacent ON, QC, VT: End of Fall/Into Winter!


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2 shots at lake effect snow for Metro Buffalo. I think top totals are a little over a foot in the hot spots of both lakes.

 

EXPECT A BAND OF LAKE EFFECT RAIN TO DEVELOP FROM BUFFALO TO BATAVIA
AFTER ABOUT 2 AM AS COLD AIR BEGINS TO DEEPEN. THIS BAND WILL SINK
SOUTHWARD TO SOUTHERN ERIE AND WYOMING COUNTIES AND THE CHAUTAUQUA
COUNTY LAKESHORE BY DAYBREAK SUNDAY. BY THIS TIME THE AIRMASS WILL
GROW COLD ENOUGH TO ALLOW SNOW TO MIX IN...AND PROBABLY CHANGE TO
ALL SNOW ACROSS HIGHER TERRAIN.

EXPECT A FIRST PEAK IN BAND INTENSITY SUNDAY MORNING AS THE SNOW
SINKS INTO CHAUTAUQUA AND CATTARAUGUS COUNTIES. FOLLOWING THIS...
EXPECT THE SNOW TO BECOME WEAKER AND DISORGANIZED FOR AT LEAST A FEW
HOURS FROM MIDDAY SUNDAY THROUGH LATE AFTERNOON AS DRY AIR AND SOME
SHEAR INCREASE OVER LAKE ERIE. EXPECT SNOW AMOUNTS OF 2-4 INCHES
LOCALLY FROM VERY LATE TONIGHT THROUGH LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN
PERSISTENT BANDS WITH VERY UNEVEN COVERAGE. THOSE AMOUNTS WILL BE
CONFINED TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN...WITH THE LAKESHORE SEEING LITTLE
ACCUMULATION DUE TO THE WARMING INFLUENCE OF THE LAKE AND NO BENEFIT
FROM UPSLOPE FLOW.

OFF LAKE ONTARIO...

EXPECT A BAND OF LAKE EFFECT RAIN MIXED WITH WET SNOW TO DEVELOP
ACROSS JEFFERSON COUNTY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING INCLUDING NEAR
WATERTOWN. THIS BAND WILL SETTLE SOUTH ACROSS THE TUG HILL PLATEAU
DURING THE DAY. BOUNDARY LAYER TEMPERATURES REMAIN MILD THROUGH MUCH
OF THE DAY AT LOWER ELEVATIONS WITH A RAIN/SNOW MIX AND LITTLE
ACCUMULATION. A CHANGE TO ALL SNOW WILL BE CONFINED TO THE TUG HILL
PLATEAU WHERE A FEW INCHES MAY ACCUMULATE DURING THE DAY. SIMILAR TO
LAKE ERIE...THERE MAY BE A PERIOD OF DISORGANIZATION DURING THE
AFTERNOON AS DRIER AIR BUILDS OVER THE LAKE.

BOTH THE LAKE ERIE AND LAKE ONTARIO BANDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE BEST
ORGANIZED SUNDAY NIGHT...MORE ON THAT IN THE SHORT TERM SECTION
BELOW.

 

OFF LAKE ERIE... CONTINUING TO DIAL IN THE PLACEMENT OF THE LAKE
EFFECT BAND OVERNIGHT. THE MEAN STEERING FLOW IS VERY WESTERLY... AT
ABOUT 270 TO 280 DEGREES. THUS THE WESTERN SOUTHERN TIER IS MOST
LIKELY TO SEE THE GREATEST SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. LOCATIONS ACROSS
SOUTHERN ERIE COUNTY AND SOUTHWESTERN WYOMING WILL LIKELY BE ON THE
NORTHERN EDGE OF THIS BAND AND SHOULD SEE OVERALL LESSER IMPACTS
THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. CURRENTLY EXPECT NIGHTTIME ACCUMULATIONS
IN THE HEAVIER LAKE EFFECT SNOWS FROM 4 TO 6 INCHES... WITH THE
HIGHER AMOUNTS ACROSS HIGHER HILLS OF CHAUTAUQUA AND CATTARAUGUS
COUNTIES. EXPECT THIS TO PUSH STORM TOTAL AMOUNTS INTO THE 6 TO 10
INCH RANGE IN THE HEAVIEST LAKE EFFECT SNOWS IN THE WESTERN SOUTHERN
TIER... AND THUS HAVE POSTED A LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING THERE. FOR
SOUTHERN ERIE AND WYOMING COUNTIES... EXPECT LESSER STORM TOTAL
AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES... AND THUS HAVE POSTED A LAKE EFFECT SNOW
ADVISORY THERE.

OFF LAKE ONTARIO... AGAIN CONFIDENCE IN LAKE EFFECT BAND PLACEMENT
CONTINUES TO INCREASE FOR SUNDAY NIGHT. JUST AS IN LAKE ERIE...
EXPECT SNOW BAND ORGANIZATION AND SNOWFALL RATES TO INCREASE
OVERNIGHT... BEING AIDED BY INCREASED DIURNAL CONVERGENCE ON THE
LAKE. WHILE THE BAND MAY IMPACT WATERTOWN BRIEFLY IN THE EVENING AND
OSWEGO BRIEFLY MONDAY MORNING... THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME IT WILL
REMAIN CENTERED OVER THE TUG HILL. AS IS USUALLY THE CASE...UPSLOPE
FLOW ON THE TUG HILL LOCALLY ENHANCE SNOWFALL RATES AND AMOUNTS.
LAKE ONTARIO WILL SUPPORT SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES... WITH
THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS CENTERED ON THE TUG HILL... TAPERING OFF QUICKLY
TOWARD WATERTOWN ON THE NORTH SIDE AND OSWEGO ON THE SOUTH SIDE.

BY MID-MORNING MONDAY... EXPECT LAKE EFFECT BANDS OFF BOTH LAKES TO
DECREASE IN INTENSITY AND LIFT NORTHWARD AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING
SHORTWAVE IN THE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW BEHIND THE MAIN TROUGH AXIS. THE
BUFFALO METRO AREA SHOULD PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO HOW THIS MAY
IMPACT THE MONDAY MORNING COMMUTE. CONFIDENCE IS NOT HIGH IN HOW
STRONG THE BAND OF SNOW WILL BE WHEN IT SWINGS NORTH ACROSS THE
BUFFALO AREA... AND ANY SNOW ACCUMULATIONS MAY ONLY BE AROUND AN
INCH OR SO... BUT IT COULD BE TIMED WELL TO BRING A BURST OF
MODERATE SNOW MAKING FOR A MESSY MORNING COMMUTE. THE NORTHWARD PUSH
OF THE LAKE ONTARIO BAND WILL LAG ABOUT 2 TO 3 HOURS BEHIND THE LAKE
ERIE BAND... AND SHOULD GET INTO WATERTOWN BY MID TO LATE MORNING IN
A WEAKENING STATE.

EXPECT A BRIEF BREAK IN THE ACTION THROUGH MID-DAY MONDAY BEFORE
SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS INCREASE AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING SHORTWAVE.
SYNOPTIC FORCING AND MOISTURE SUPPLY INCREASES SHARPLY IN THE LATE
AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE AREA. THE WELL ALIGNED AND COLD
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW SHOULD PROVIDE A LAKE ENHANCEMENT OFF LAKE ERIE
THAT WILL COINCIDE WITH THE LIGHTER SYNOPTIC SNOW. AS THE ASSOCIATED
SURFACE FRONT PLOWS THROUGH IN THE EVENING... EXPECT ANOTHER BURST
OF MODERATE SNOW ACROSS NIAGARA FALLS AND BUFFALO METRO AREAS AS IT
MOVES QUICKLY SOUTHWARD BACK INTO SKI COUNTRY OVERNIGHT. TIMING
REMAINS A LITTLE UNCERTAIN... BUT THIS BURST OF GUSTY WINDS AND
MODERATE SNOW COULD BE AGAIN TIMED TO HIT THE LATTER PORTION OF THE
EVENING COMMUTE IN NIAGARA FALLS AND BUFFALO.

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LES warning cancelled off Ontario. Low/Mid level ridging is going to murder the attempt of West flow and moisture is awful. Hopefully this won't be the trend this season

 

Yeah the dry air just killed this event. The last 2 days of model runs definitely worried me. The popcorn type LES showers never amount to much accumulations. It's starting to blossom a bit now, but believe the winds go directly south soon which would keep most of it offshore overnight.

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Some places in the southern tier are at or over 15" on the season between the 3 events so far this year. Average November snowfall down there is probably 15-25".

 

NEW YORK

...CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY...
5 NE GERRY 4.5 200 PM 11/22 TRAINED SPOTTER
ELLERY CENTER 4.5 200 PM 11/22 DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

 

...CATTARAUGUS COUNTY...
LITTLE VALLEY 3.8 700 AM 11/22 COOP OBSERVER

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Some places in the southern tier are at or over 15" on the season between the 3 events so far this year. Average November snowfall down there is probably 15-25".

 

NEW YORK

...CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY...

5 NE GERRY 4.5 200 PM 11/22 TRAINED SPOTTER

ELLERY CENTER 4.5 200 PM 11/22 DEPT OF HIGHWAYS

 

...CATTARAUGUS COUNTY...

LITTLE VALLEY 3.8 700 AM 11/22 COOP OBSERVER

That's about right, i did a quick detour yesterday and drove through the band and the snowcover was depedent on the elevation, not even a trace of snow near Fredonia while 6 miles SE of it had about 4-5" of snow on the ground.

 

Little Valley,NY

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Cherry Creek,NY

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Long term looks decent actually for December so far. It's not a completely dominant pac flow.

 

I'm not seeing what you are seeing, heading into December looks dismal to say the least.  I'm already writing off December.  Hoping we can turn things around in January.  Looks like a real soft start to this winter.  

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Hey all. Hope everyone who is getting snow is enjoying it today. Just wanted to stop by and say I'm starting up a snowfall contest in the PA thread. If anyone wants to join, just submit an entry and I'll be starting a thread once we reach 10+ entries. Would like to do something fun for the winter. Any questions, just PM me and I'll answer back when I can. Thanks!!

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I'm not seeing what you are seeing, heading into December looks dismal to say the least.  I'm already writing off December.  Hoping we can turn things around in January.  Looks like a real soft start to this winter.  

 

The latest model trends do not look good at all for the next 2 weeks. They were looking better before, but changed quite a bit. Obviously the cold air is just not there, but was hoping we could sneak in a nice synoptic system similar to what Chicago/Detriot just got next week.

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Judah Cowen says a good winter in the Northeast.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/11/24/innovating-forecaster-highlights-potential-for-very-snowy-winter-in-mid-atlantic-d-c/

 

"Cohen, whose winter outlooks boast a 75 percent accuracy rate over the 15 years he’s issued them, has developed a model for predicting winter conditions that is strongly based on snowfall in Eurasia during October. When snow rapidly piles up in Eurasia at that time, it sets off a chain reaction that he says is linked to cold and often snowy conditions in the eastern U.S. during winter."

 

I do expect in December and January a weakening of the polar vortex, followed by an extended period where the AO is predominantly in the negative phase.

 

I see no physical or plausible reason why if El Niño is moderate it necessarily forces a cold winter but, if it’s just a little stronger, it forces a warm winter. Sure both the winters of 1982-83 and 1997-98 were relatively mild but that is only a sample size of two. What justification is there to treat those two winters as there own special category?

 

He has some nice graphs/data to back up his sentiments.

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Monthly Temps at KBUF for 2015

 

Nov: +6

Oct: +.6

Sep: +5.1

Aug: +.1

July: -.1

June: -.7

May: +5.7

April: -.1

Mar: -4.8

Feb: -15.4

Jan: -4.5

 

In the 2 strongest El Nino years the fall was cooler than average. During this one it is much warmer than average. It defys the resemblance to 82 and 97 years. This year will definitely be a good analog for future Ninos as it has substantial differences from the other 2 record strong ones.

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I'm no expert on long range forecasting or teleconnections, El Nino, etc. But, I think the evolution of this winter will be very interesting and enlightening, as there are considerable global-scale differences (especially north Pacific SSTs) compared to some of the big El Ninos of the past. What will win out come January/February?

 

Regardless, it does look like the pattern going into the first half of December and perhaps longer is going to be very mild. After last winter, I don't have a problem with that.

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