Central PA Spring 2026 Discussion/Obs Thread

[Yardstickgozinya]

1 hour ago, pawatch said:

32 degrees this morning. Yesterday was brutal…10 degrees below normal with 32 mph wind gust and the wind was 9mph.

Normal temperature is supposed to be 45 degrees. The river is blowed out agin with high water. 
 I did get out Friday, the water Temperature was 42 degrees. Caught 1 fish 16.5” smallmouth.

This spring we’re getting a little bit of everything thrown at us.

 

Smallie fishings has made such a great comeback around here. Last year was epic. My son has really started on a heater this year. I never specifically targeted them until last year , and that was only when my buddy came home from Maui . Even though I never specifically targeted them ,  I used to routinely catch them while bait fishing  until around 2010ish then i rarely caught any until maybe about 4 or 5 years ago . By Last year I couldn't quit catching them while bait fishing. I caught and lost several absolute pigs last year, and over my life  because I only use 3 pound test while bait fishing.  

I

 

[mahantango#1]

1 hour ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

32 as I leave the house, may go lower. Happy Tuesday. 

32 here.

[ChescoWx]

This morning was the 100th below freezing low of the season here in East Nantmeal. Here in EN we average 97 such days. This is the most below freezing days since 2018-19 when we had 104 days. With records here since 2004 the most were 120 days in 2013-14 and the least only 72 days in 2015-16. We will see below normal temperatures today before we moderate to near normal (low 50's) tomorrow. Thursday we should warm well into the 60's before rain arrives by Friday morning. Much colder this weekend with nighttime lows again below freezing.

[pawatch]

4 hours ago, Yardstickgozinya said:

Smallie fishings has made such a great comeback around here. Last year was epic. My son has really started on a heater this year. I never specifically targeted them until last year , and that was only when my buddy came home from Maui . Even though I never specifically targeted them ,  I used to routinely catch them while bait fishing  until around 2010ish then i rarely caught any until maybe about 4 or 5 years ago . By Last year I couldn't quit catching them while bait fishing. I caught and lost several absolute pigs last year, and over my life  because I only use 3 pound test while bait fishing.  

I

 

Fishing for smallmouths for years on the river. Use 6lb and 12lb Fluorocarbon mostly .

Currently 44 degrees. Looks like some more rain Friday.

[Voyager]

Today's mid 30's feels SO much better than yesterday's mid 30's.

Sunshine changes everything.

[mahantango#1]

22 minutes ago, Voyager said:

Today's mid 30's feels SO much better than yesterday's mid 30's.

Sunshine changes everything.

Yes I'm out shoveling stone to put in my lane  came in now for lunch and I see the temperature is only 39. I thought it was warmer then that. That March sun is doing wonders. Today despite the temperature and virtually no wind is turning into a beautiful day. To me yesterday sucked with that cold and wind. Better days with heat and humidity are coming...sometime.

[Jns2183]

I’ve been looking back at the January 25, 2026 storm where MDT pulled in about 11" of snow. One of the most frustrating parts of that event was the "yo-yo" effect: we went from heavy snow to sleet, back to snow, and then back to sleet again.
We often talk about Dynamic Cooling (where heavy precip "drags" cold air down or uses melting/evaporation to zero out a warm layer), but in this storm, it felt like the heavy rates were also doing the opposite.
I’d love to get some thoughts on the Latent Heat Paradox from this event:
The Cooling Phase: At what point does the "Melting Tax" (energy absorbed to turn snow to rain) lose the battle to the Latent Heat of Fusion (energy released when rain freezes into sleet pellets)? It felt like the very act of creating sleet was releasing enough heat to "insulate" the warm nose aloft.
Altitude of Condensation: Did the transition back to snow mid-storm happen because the best lift/condensation shifted into the Dendritic Growth Zone (DGZ), or did we just finally "exhaust" the warm nose through pure melting cooling?
The Disconnect: How do we reconcile the massive negative anomalies we saw on the 850mb maps with the persistent sleet pings we heard on the windows? Was this a case of the storm "cooking its own environment" through condensation warming at the mid-levels?
Would love to see some sounding analysis or thoughts on which latent process were dominant at which times

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[Yardstickgozinya]

4 hours ago, pawatch said:

Fishing for smallmouths for years on the river. Use 6lb and 12lb Fluorocarbon mostly .

Currently 44 degrees. Looks like some more rain Friday.

I use 20lb braid, tied off to a 15lb Fluorocarbon leader when i'm targeting Smallies. 

[Yardstickgozinya]

[Yardstickgozinya]

1 hour ago, Jns2183 said:

I’ve been looking back at the January 25, 2026 storm where MDT pulled in about 11" of snow. One of the most frustrating parts of that event was the "yo-yo" effect: we went from heavy snow to sleet, back to snow, and then back to sleet again.
We often talk about Dynamic Cooling (where heavy precip "drags" cold air down or uses melting/evaporation to zero out a warm layer), but in this storm, it felt like the heavy rates were also doing the opposite.
I’d love to get some thoughts on the Latent Heat Paradox from this event:
The Cooling Phase: At what point does the "Melting Tax" (energy absorbed to turn snow to rain) lose the battle to the Latent Heat of Fusion (energy released when rain freezes into sleet pellets)? It felt like the very act of creating sleet was releasing enough heat to "insulate" the warm nose aloft.
Altitude of Condensation: Did the transition back to snow mid-storm happen because the best lift/condensation shifted into the Dendritic Growth Zone (DGZ), or did we just finally "exhaust" the warm nose through pure melting cooling?
The Disconnect: How do we reconcile the massive negative anomalies we saw on the 850mb maps with the persistent sleet pings we heard on the windows? Was this a case of the storm "cooking its own environment" through condensation warming at the mid-levels?
Would love to see some sounding analysis or thoughts on which latent process were dominant at which times

Sent from my SM-S731U using Tapatalk
 

I certainly can't answer any of your questions about the science. What I can tell you, is thst you're absolutely correct In you're  observations. I actually brought this up in one of my posts during a storm this year.. I'm sure some people were quite confused by my statement, because of its goes against everything we've been taught and told. 

[Mount Joy Snowman]

12 hours ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

32 as I leave the house, may go lower. Happy Tuesday. 

My temp dropped an additional 3 degrees to 29 after I left the house this morning. 

[canderson]

Got bit by a mosquito today. I already hate summer. 

[Itstrainingtime]

1 hour ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

My temp dropped an additional 3 degrees to 29 after I left the house this morning. 

32.6 was my low. Currently a pleasant 62 inside and 43 outside.

[Blizzard of 93]

5 hours ago, Jns2183 said:

I’ve been looking back at the January 25, 2026 storm where MDT pulled in about 11" of snow. One of the most frustrating parts of that event was the "yo-yo" effect: we went from heavy snow to sleet, back to snow, and then back to sleet again.
We often talk about Dynamic Cooling (where heavy precip "drags" cold air down or uses melting/evaporation to zero out a warm layer), but in this storm, it felt like the heavy rates were also doing the opposite.
I’d love to get some thoughts on the Latent Heat Paradox from this event:
The Cooling Phase: At what point does the "Melting Tax" (energy absorbed to turn snow to rain) lose the battle to the Latent Heat of Fusion (energy released when rain freezes into sleet pellets)? It felt like the very act of creating sleet was releasing enough heat to "insulate" the warm nose aloft.
Altitude of Condensation: Did the transition back to snow mid-storm happen because the best lift/condensation shifted into the Dendritic Growth Zone (DGZ), or did we just finally "exhaust" the warm nose through pure melting cooling?
The Disconnect: How do we reconcile the massive negative anomalies we saw on the 850mb maps with the persistent sleet pings we heard on the windows? Was this a case of the storm "cooking its own environment" through condensation warming at the mid-levels?
Would love to see some sounding analysis or thoughts on which latent process were dominant at which times

Sent from my SM-S731U using Tapatalk
 

The problem was a weak low traveled a bit too far for us into West Virginia. The secondary coastal low took its time developing & was very weak off of the DelMarVa. Despite the super cold Arctic air mass in place, there was a sneaky very small warm layer at 925 that did just enough to mix & flip us to sleet for awhile. If we did not mix or had minimal mix for an hour or two, that storm easily could have brought at least 18 inches of snow to the LSV.

This will be included as part of my Winter grade that will be issued on April 10th.

[Blizzard of 93]

56 minutes ago, canderson said:

Got bit by a mosquito today. I already hate summer. 

Bugs & humidity are the 2 main things that make me yearn for Fall every year.

[Yardstickgozinya]

https://www.tornadotalk.com/roundtop-ski-resort-pa-ef2-tornado-april-28-2011/

 

I was thinking about the last time I ever went to my basement.  The same cell that dropped the F2 at Ski round top tracked directly over my home back on april 28 2011 right around 6:25am. It was one hell of a storm and it's the first and only time water filled up my window wells and flooded my basement.

I just found this article, put together about it on tornado talk from 2021 With images and videos of the damage. 

[Jns2183]

here is a gif i made while working on a project that I think people might enjoy.  It shows weather station density in PA, NY, NJ from 1930's to present day.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r4BDH1gMlgvlXgP7s1zNFQnUv9bTeEhS/view?usp=sharing

[Jns2183]

Some more fun things

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[mahantango#1]

[Mount Joy Snowman]

Low of 32. Looking like a chilly day for the neighborhood easter egg hunt on saturday. 

[mahantango#1]

27 this morning.

[ChescoWx]

We should be close to normal temperatures today (low to mid 50's) before a brief spike to well above normal for The Phillies Opener (upper 60's). Then back to below normal temperatures Friday through the weekend. Shower chances increase tomorrow night into Friday morning with a cold front.

[Jns2183]

We should be close to normal temperatures today (low to mid 50's) before a brief spike to well above normal for The Phillies Opener (upper 60's). Then back to below normal temperatures Friday through the weekend. Shower chances increase tomorrow night into Friday morning with a cold front.

What network are all the sites you post about on, co-op or cocorahs? When I was doing a spatial analysis of reporting stations I ran head first into Chester County, an enigma into itself with at ones being an incredibly densley observed county, yet parts are no better than the hinterlands of the north.

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[ChescoWx]

1 hour ago, Jns2183 said:

What network are all the sites you post about on, co-op or cocorahs? When I was doing a spatial analysis of reporting stations I ran head first into Chester County, an enigma into itself with at ones being an incredibly densley observed county, yet parts are no better than the hinterlands of the north. 
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Hi Jns, Attached is a link to my website with the site descriptions. They are a combination of NWS COOP / CRN / AWOS / DEOS stations. No Cocorahs are included - but I may in the future.

Let me know if any other questions. Thanks! Paul

 https://chescowx.com/detailed-station-data/

[Yardstickgozinya]

I apologize if it's already been mentioned. Looks like many of us around the area could be racking up those rain totals tomorrow night.