Central PA Winter 25/26 Discussion and Obs

[Blizzard of 93]

Does anyone know how the “snow depth” measurements work on the regional observations at MDT?

The 7 am snow depth showed 3 inches and the 1 pm snow depth said 7 inches. Do they “clear the board” every 6 hours and start fresh?

With 1.1 QPF through 1 pm, there should no way MDT only has a depth of 7 at this time right?

[AllWeather]

Was all sleet in Manheim (northern LancCo) at 11:30 this morning, but now back to a 50/50 mix of big fatty flakes and sleet. Measuring 7.5” total.

[Jns2183]

Wow, .75" in 15 mins. 3" hr rates. 12.75" to almost 13'

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[Jns2183]

Does anyone know how the “snow depth” measurements work on the regional observations at MDT?
The 7 am snow depth showed 3 inches and the 1 pm snow depth said 7 inches. Do they “clear the board” every 6 hours and start fresh?
With 1.1 QPF through 1 pm, there should no way MDT only has a depth of 7 at this time right?

We won't know anything to super late tonight or tomorrow with them

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[Ruin]

4 minutes ago, Blizzard of 93 said:

Does anyone know how the “snow depth” measurements work on the regional observations at MDT?

The 7 am snow depth showed 3 inches and the 1 pm snow depth said 7 inches. Do they “clear the board” every 6 hours and start fresh?

With 1.1 QPF through 1 pm, there should no way MDT only has a depth of 7 at this time right?

I am at my dad's he us right at the airport. I have 11 inches almost a foot

[Mount Joy Snowman]

4 minutes ago, Blizzard of 93 said:

Does anyone know how the “snow depth” measurements work on the regional observations at MDT?

The 7 am snow depth showed 3 inches and the 1 pm snow depth said 7 inches. Do they “clear the board” every 6 hours and start fresh?

With 1.1 QPF through 1 pm, there should no way MDT only has a depth of 7 at this time right?

The 7" depth seems reasonable, but when they report "snowfall" it should be a bit higher.

[Voyager]

Back to all snow here and nearly as heavy as it was before it started mixing. 

Officially, we made it to 10 degrees, but the station is currently reading 9.5

[Jns2183]

Sleet mixing in more now

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[MAG5035]

Exactly one week ago, haha.

On 1/18/2026 at 2:03 PM, MAG5035 said:

Nice to see the snow hole the central counties shrink some with the more robust than expected snow shield developing back further last night. Unfortunately I was only the recipient of a light coating, or heavy dusting (whichever sounds better) with the 1-2” plus snows either falling a few miles away up on the Allegheny ridge to the west or the next county over to the east. So bit of a bummer. 

With that said, screw it I’m going all in on next weekend. For the first time this winter the southern stream looks involved with a shortwave coming out with Gulf moisture to tap and there appears to be plenty of cold air and decent high to attack. This has the look of a widespread and significant winter weather maker for a big chunk of the country. Whether that’s here or south/north of here is going to be the debate this week as models are changeable as per usual. 12z GFS buries this in the Deep South, Euro not quite as suppressed but still a C-PA miss to the south after the previous 0z run had the mix line in southern PA. Ensembles showed variability with some hits in the mix. Both 12z GFS and Euro AI’s are big hits that are backed up with their AI ensembles. So we’ll see, we’re way overdue for an actual big precip maker. 

 

[Yardstickgozinya]

It's been everything from mix to snow to all sleet here over the last two hours. I've added maybe  .5 inch since I've cleaned my diving board at 11::00.I still had a f****** blast since a few hours before the snow started last night. I think I'm off to try to get some z's so I can maybe catch the second half of the first playoff game today. Hopefully, when I wake up, there's shit tons more snow for everyone to remove.

. 

[2001kx]

9.5" as of 2 pm

[Jns2183]

This warm layer coming looks more thick. Wish we had a balloon launch right now

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[paweather]

Snowing again 

[Mount Joy Snowman]

1 minute ago, Jns2183 said:

This warm layer coming looks more thick. Wish we had a balloon launch right now

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Yeah the latest HRRR still had the sleet line surging north again through the late afternoon hours.  That flip may not last long and looks to be associated with a band of heavy rates that went through.

[Festus]

My snow/sleet ratio is flipping between 20/80 and 80/20 like every 5 minutes.  Must be right on the edge.

[Jns2183]

13". Mostly sleet again now. Very happy with this storm. That last hour surprise was amazing and nice to see. Definitely not a normal experience with miller B without the coastal bombing out

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[Caveman]

1 minute ago, Festus said:

My snow/sleet ratio is flipping between 20/80 and 80/20 like every 5 minutes.  Must be right on the edge.

Same here in Valley Green, northern York County.

 

[AccuChris]

Bouncing back and forth with sleet/snow in Lebanon. Added another inch of snow/sleet since noon so sitting at 11” now



.

[Jns2183]

MU launched a balloon at 18z, 1PM

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[HBGCPA10]

HOLD!

[Jns2183]

Looks like 700mb to 800mb warm layer

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[Voyager]

9 minutes ago, Jns2183 said:

This warm layer coming looks more thick. Wish we had a balloon launch right now

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So the sleet line is rushing back north again?

[CarlislePaWx]

Here in Carlisle just after 2:00pm...after enjoying the snow globe show for less than 30 minutes, the transition back to 100% sleet has taken place for a second time.  During the past hour there was a mixture of snow and sleet.  From primarily snow, I measured an additional 0.2" of snow with some sleet.  This brings my storm total to 6.8".  The temperature has risen just a tad to 12.2 degrees, which is still unbelievable that I've been in the low teens the entire day.  Let's see what this next hour brings.

[Yardstickgozinya]

 

15 minutes ago, Jns2183 said:

13". Mostly sleet again now. Very happy with this storm. That last hour surprise was amazing and nice to see. Definitely not a normal experience with miller B without the coastal bombing out

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Where are you?

 

[Voyager]

5 minutes ago, HBGCPA10 said:

HOLD!

How do I get this radar presentation? I'd like to focus it on my location.

[Festus]

Given what's fallen, what's to come and the temperature forecast, is it better to wait and clear it all at once tomorrow or clear now and again tomorrow?  Have a blower so weight is not a factor.  This storm seems so unusual and trying to avoid a base ice layer before arctic reinforcements arrive.

[anotherman]

4 minutes ago, Festus said:

Given what's fallen, what's to come and the temperature forecast, is it better to wait and clear it all at once tomorrow or clear now and again tomorrow?  Have a blower so weight is not a factor.  This storm seems so unusual and trying to avoid a base ice layer before arctic reinforcements arrive.

To me, it didn't make sense to shovel now since then the falling sleet would coat the driveway and turn into a skating rink.

[canderson]

It’s still snow in the city. 

[WmsptWx]

1 minute ago, canderson said:

It’s still snow in the city. 

That show sucked. 

[WmsptWx]

5 minutes ago, anotherman said:

To me, it didn't make sense to shovel now since then the falling sleet would coat the driveway and turn into a skating rink.

Yeah but now you'll have a nice crust on top of a foot of snow. To me it's broken leg vs herniated disc, pulled muscle, heart attack in my upper butthole. I chose to shovel early.