UpStateCAD Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I noticed a link titled "New Climatology Maps - Western Carolinas and Northeast Georgia" at the home page for GSP NOAA site. Here is the annual snowfall map based on the last 30 years. Wow I have always felt we have been well below the published 6 inches per year that was thrown around in the late 80's and early 90's when I moved here, but really did not realize how dismal it had become for the upstate. http://www.weather.gov/images/gsp/climate/precip/AnnualSnowfall.png Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nchighcountrywx Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Thanks for finding that Here is the map Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarvelMountain Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Thanks for finding that Here is the map Thanks for posting this cool map. Hope you're doing well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Sisk Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 it really is amazing the giant hole that exist in the NW corner. It really is almost like the nuclear plant creates a giant no-snow zone. There really is no other way to explain it. Just look at NW Greenville County, All of Pickens County and Eastern Oconee County. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isohume Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 it really is amazing the giant hole that exist in the NW corner. It really is almost like the nuclear plant creates a giant no-snow zone. There really is no other way to explain it. Just look at NW Greenville County, All of Pickens County and Eastern Oconee County. That's indicative of the thermal belt and sw/ly favored llvl warm noses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burrel2 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 C'mon guys... Ya'll know this map is way off for a lot of locations. Just do some simple math in your head. They are showing a 2/10th of an inch average for Elberton,GA and I can think of at least 2 snows greater than 6 inches that they have gotten in the last 20 years. Many more 2-4 type events. Same for Pickens and especially the Charlotte area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isohume Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 C'mon guys... Ya'll know this map is way off for a lot of locations. Just do some simple math in your head. They are showing a 2/10th of an inch average for Elberton,GA and I can think of at least 2 snows greater than 6 inches that they have gotten in the last 20 years. Many more 2-4 type events. Same for Pickens and especially the Charlotte area. Yeah it seems low in some areas, but it's not. The 30-year avgs of surrounding sites corroborate the values. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.C. Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Just wait until the calculations are done for 1990-2020 if things keep trending the way they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isohume Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Here's a running 30-year total snowfall for Elberton... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burrel2 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Yeah it seems low in some areas, but it's not. The 30-year avgs of surrounding sites corroborate the values. Sorry, but I'm not buying it. I know for a fact that Pickens County airport's 30 year average would be at least 3 inches per year, and this map is showing .8 inches? I can go add up all the events if you'd like. It's not just Pickens, most of the sites represented on this map from GA/SC is grossly under done. I don't know where GSP pulled this data from, but it's not complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burrel2 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Here's a running 30-year total snowfall for Elberton... elbert_30.png Where's January 1988 on this graph?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wncsnow Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Where's January 1988 on this graph?? Lol you got him on that one.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjames1992 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 There's an area northwest of Charlotte that averages the same amount of snowfall over the last 30 years as Waycross, GA (0.2")? Seems really hard to believe. I was thinking the 30-year (1981-2010) snowfall average at GSP was around 6"? I recall being surprised it was higher than Charlotte's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isohume Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Where's January 1988 on this graph?? This data is from ThreadX compiled and qc'd by NCDC, not GSP. Yearly totals are adjusted once more complete areal data becomes available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burrel2 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Found out the Problem With Elberton. The graph you posted is missing many snow storms, as noted by the black diamonds at the bottom. I suspect many other sites are missing similar storms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wncsnow Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Missing March 93 too which was pretty big in NE GA... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.C. Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Missing March 93 too which was pretty big in NE GA... Yeah, I was living on the Hart/Elbert county line at that time and we had anywhere from 8-10 inches with 2' drifts. I believe Anderson officially recorded 6". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burrel2 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 This data is from ThreadX compiled and qc'd by NCDC, not GSP. Yearly totals are adjusted once more complete areal data becomes available. Ok, I don't mean to single you out, but I'm not sure what the point was releasing this graphic then. Regardless of who compiled the data, it's way off and it seems like any seasoned NWS employee would notice this at first glance. I commented on the graphic as soon as nws_gsp posted it on their facebook timeline. I suppose it's possible that many NWS team members haven't lived in the area for 10 or 20+ years, so it's understandable to a degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wncsnow Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 This data is from ThreadX compiled and qc'd by NCDC, not GSP. Yearly totals are adjusted once more complete areal data becomes available. Why create a graphic like that when a great deal of the information is incomplete and missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wncsnow Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Did some research using http://climate.ncsu.edu/ winter weather database along with my verified measurements the past 10 years. I did find incomplete information for winters of 1990-91 and 1991-92 so i just counted them as snowless winters for my location (Marion, NC). This is what i came up with... 1986-87- 31 1987-88- 8 1988-89- 4 1989-90- 3 1990-91- 0 1991-92- 0 1992-93- 18 1993-94- 10 1994-95- 0 1995-96- 23 1996-97- 4 1997-98- 11.5 1998-99- 3.5 1999-2000- 11 00-01- 5.5 01-02- 1 02-03- 23 03-04- 18 04-05- 1 05-06- T 06-07- .5 07-08- 3.5 08-09- 1.5 09-10- 29.2 10-11- 19 11-12- 0 12-13- 0 13-14- 11 14-15- 8 Total Snowfall= 248.2 inches/30 years= 8.27 inches of snow per year, compared to 5.6 on the map. Some interesting trends- snowless or below average winters breed below average winters (04/05-05/06, 11/12-12/13) and above average winters breed above average winters. (02/03-03/04, 09/10-10/11) 09/10 and 10/11 was the snowiest 2 year period for Marion in the past 30 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isohume Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Why create a graphic like that when a great deal of the information is incomplete and missing? You're right, it shouldn't have went out before it was qc'd locally. We might issue a new one with sites having complete datasets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wncsnow Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 You're right, it shouldn't have went out before it was qc'd locally. We might issue a new one with sites having complete datasets. I think its an awesome map and resource for us weather weenies for sure, I look forward to seeing the new one if created. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin NCwx Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 C'mon guys... Ya'll know this map is way off for a lot of locations. Just do some simple math in your head. They are showing a 2/10th of an inch average for Elberton,GA and I can think of at least 2 snows greater than 6 inches that they have gotten in the last 20 years. Many more 2-4 type events. Same for Pickens and especially the Charlotte area.I posted about this in the mtn thread yesterday. Some of these totals seemed too low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CherokeeGA Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I'll just echo what the others have said about incomplete data. There simply aren't enough official measurement stations around in the SE, generally speaking, especially as you get into the foothills of the Apps where population is thinner (aside from the "big" ski towns and a few official mountaintop stations). It's particularly obvious in North Georgia, where the only real station that gets highly monitored is Hartsfield south of the city. The foothills and mountains get a lot of snow that is either mismeasured or simply not recorded at all. I envy the NC people because NCSU produces and maintains a ton of climatological data that nobody produces for this area. You guys have benefit of a lot more than just NWS resources for historical weather data, in other words. Down here, if it didn't happen at Hartsfield, it didn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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