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Central PA - Winter 2020/2021 Part 2


MAG5035
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I went up to Blue Knob in the afternoon/evening yesterday and it was quite a sight up there. Probably a general 2’+ natural snowpack around the mountain plus the 1/2”+ of freezing rain from the ice storm and rime ice (esp above ~2600ft) that never melted before it snowed again the last couple days. 

nsm_depth_2021022005_Allegheny_Front.jpg.e24e9e6e9aefd4b4ff73dd0ee67ef3a5.jpg

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2 minutes ago, Cashtown_Coop said:

@MAG5035 Nice pics.   I went for a drive yesterday and at 1600ft ran into what I know now after looking at your pics rime ice on the trees.    It almost reminded me of hoar frost

 

That looks like a lot of snow down there too at that elevation. Yea it was a combination of rime ice near the summit which is in clouds a good bit (over 3100' at the top) but alot of it was also the new snow sticking directly to the iced trees too. It looked like they had a significant amount of ice up there from that ice storm even for their standards, and since there was never any strong warm push at what is essentially the 925mb level at the top of the mountain there, most of it didn't melt. 

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5 minutes ago, MAG5035 said:

That looks like a lot of snow down there too at that elevation. Yea it was a combination of rime ice near the summit which is in clouds a good bit (over 3100' at the top) but alot of it was also the new snow sticking directly to the iced trees too. It looked like they had a significant amount of ice up there from that ice storm even for their standards, and since there was never any strong warm push at what is essentially the 925mb level at the top of the mountain there, most of it didn't melt. 

The trees had a layer of freezing rain underneath then a crystal like structure on the outside.   You’re right , 12-15” snow depth which is good for Adams County.   6” depth down in Cashtown 

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3 minutes ago, Blizzard of 93 said:

@MAG5035

What do you think of the Monday snow potential?

This looks like a quick hitting advisory type event, like a 2-3" scattered 4" type deal for most with perhaps more frequent higher amounts (4-6") a better possibility in the Laurels, I-80 corridor, and Poconos. Also need to consider the possibility of a weak spot in the south central counties between I-99 and I-81 (Bedford, Fulton, Franklin, maybe southern half of Huntingdon, etc.) where could only be a 1-2" type snowfall. Low stays NW of PA on a general westerly flow so that typically invites the probability of some downsloping in that aforementioned area, and it has been showing up on most model guidance. Could only be 1-2" in the LSV as well, and I'll explain that below. 

Timing and temps are another concern, esp LSV below the turnpike. This appears to be a late morning to late afternoon/early evening hit, so rates better be good there with marginal low level/surface temps. I often find that after about the 2nd week of February or so it's like flipping a switch with respect to solar input (ie the sun angle)...not yet with heavier and/or cold storms, but with clear days and light events with marginal temps (specifically ones in the middle of the day). NAM once again the warmest, bringing mixed up into the LSV. Showing ZR as primary p-type but I would imagine any icing would be limited in scope if it were in fact liquid precip. And considering how thermals have went in the other two events this past week (even though the M/D simultaneously got their 4-6" of snow and still had mixing all the way up through MDT with Thur), I'm inclined to seriously consider the NAM in that regard. So ideally, a good shot of heavy precip up front would at least secure getting a couple of inches. Ratios might be <10:1 as well. Kuchera maps have actually looked a bit worse than the 10:1 maps, and while Kuchera method applies a fairly simple algorithm for calculating the ratios it is generally picking up that the temps 850mb to surface are a bit marginal. 

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1 hour ago, MAG5035 said:

I went up to Blue Knob in the afternoon/evening yesterday and it was quite a sight up there. Probably a general 2’+ natural snowpack around the mountain plus the 1/2”+ of freezing rain from the ice storm and rime ice (esp above ~2600ft) that never melted before it snowed again the last couple days. 

nsm_depth_2021022005_Allegheny_Front.jpg.e24e9e6e9aefd4b4ff73dd0ee67ef3a5.jpg

imageproxy.php?img=&key=4c6452e0fc83486cCF5C2848-579E-43B8-A529-F6AAA6D31A7D.thumb.jpeg.1af17d95dfbe9b23a5c66dbb6f745d30.jpegB0A925D2-34A9-42BD-AF7E-3A1C1A507654.thumb.jpeg.e9be391872a50a5d9d28c90a4ff2ac0e.jpegC49D7917-C841-433C-9447-75A1A940FF05.thumb.jpeg.f880b95f51bda20ec259cbf1772d387e.jpegF55DF5F2-E7F8-4BC6-9F3C-02589C603D87.thumb.jpeg.2cfff98f967d339067eb777e44df5047.jpeg05E0F7C3-30EC-4D22-B9E9-49810ED78D20.thumb.jpeg.fccf818868193558b1cbd3f03616cfeb.jpeg0297A856-BC4A-4496-8CE6-FCA6A29C0EB6.thumb.jpeg.ccd9dae20648a34bb96f9764043fcc41.jpeg

Great pics. You should take a ride up top of Wopsy. Looks similar to Blue Knob. Really beautiful with the snow on ice covering everything. The large pine trees covered with snow and ice are gorgeous 

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Good discussion from CTP this morning.

“A significant but migratory trough aloft will swing through on Monday. The sfc pattern will feature a deepening low crossing the Upper Great Lakes, pushing a front/trough through later in the day on Monday. While on arm of warm advection/flurries passes overhead tonight, a pre-frontal trough passing thru 10Z-19Z will be the main player. A good 2-4hrs of snow is likely about everywhere during that time frame. The forecasts have been solid on timing and intensity of snow with the trough, arriving before sunrise in the west and between 9-11AM in the east. The GFS continues to be faster with the system, by about 3 hrs. All is very consistent otherwise. There is some enhancement seen in the snowfall rates over the west in the morning with favorable forcing and frontogenesis, and in the east in the afternoon thanks to some instability. HREF supports some 1"+/hr rates in many spots.

The QPF is impressive for a fast-moving system, with many places 0.25-0.35" for 12 hrs. The air takes a bit to moisten up overnight, esp NE. The snow will probably turn to, or at least mix with, some rain later in the day thanks to the S/SW wind and breaks after the initial surge of snow/clouds. The maxes will be in the 30s, and perhaps 40F somewhere in the SC mtn valleys. SLRs do change quite a bit thru the event dropping off as we warm on the whole. Lots of drying in the aftn over the S. However, some mixed precip could linger in the far SE.

Thinking is that we will eventually need an advy for much of the area for a widespread 2-4". However, SLRs, amounts and p-type are all still in question for the south and fast movement is not helpful when looking for big SF totals. The typical snow shadow down wind of the Laurels could keep them under 2" total, let alone 3". There could even be more snow in the Lower Susq than the S-Central mtns. Thus, after collaboration with the neighboring offices, we will continue to hold off on any advys and allow the dayshift to gather more wisdom and confidence.”

 

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Good morning 

10 degrees here this morning. 

Thanks Bubb & Blizz looks like tomorrow is a go. I would take about 1/2 dozen of these events.

About every 2-3 days I'm removing snow.

Mag some awesome pics of your trip up on the mountain! I would imagine the ski resorts aren't doing bad this year.

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