Animal Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 You have to measure where you live. I can't go to some field in Springfield and claim that to be the measurement for Elizabeth if it's not even in Elizabeth. All I know is, my measurements over the last 15 years have always been in line with other reports. Therefore, if my measurement is different than others, and I check and recheck and get the same result, I feel confident enough to stick with whatever the number is. it's all good. Where is th next big one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Analog96 Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 it's all good. Where is th next big one? I am starting to like Jan 14-15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgwp96 Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 I did not look to much into it, but figured that report was up near the rt 287 & Rt 80 area. that area and mine and where you live got 20-24 inches confirmed. safe to say...it was a severe blizzard, but snow totals were high in areas. I am personally eyeing up homes in highland LakesVsron area to buy by nex winter. Going to try some evelation out for a few years hopefully. thats a great location, and a very nice area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Energy Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 I'm starting to wonder if it is possible that CSI banding can dump more snow over a small area, like gregs, and next door, maybe not. I dont know on the microscale if this is doable. thots ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgwp96 Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 You have to measure where you live. I can't go to some field in Springfield and claim that to be the measurement for Elizabeth if it's not even in Elizabeth. All I know is, my measurements over the last 15 years have always been in line with other reports. Therefore, if my measurement is different than others, and I check and recheck and get the same result, I feel confident enough to stick with whatever the number is. sorry if i seemed to be mocking you. maybe you did get that much but look at the other pns reports and see why we question some of those numbers. It happenes in every storm. I try to be as conservitive as possible, this storm was a tough one to measure for sure, my front yard was a consistent 27 but its completly open and knew it was off. My back yard was more sheltered and number were lower so i went with those numbers from the backyard. every storm their always seem to be a few areas that you can see measured wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sock Puppet Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 Beautiful. As much as I like blizzards I love calm snow more and this picture is why north edison, nj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Analog96 Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 I'm starting to wonder if it is possible that CSI banding can dump more snow over a small area, like gregs, and next door, maybe not. I dont know on the microscale if this is doable. thots ? I don't see why not, especially if it's convective. Many times, there are differences between my station and EWR that are very notable, even though we're only 2 miles apart and at similar elevations. Sometimes, it benefits my location, and other times, it does not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 I don't see why not, especially if it's convective. Many times, there are differences between my station and EWR that are very notable, even though we're only 2 miles apart and at similar elevations. Sometimes, it benefits my location, and other times, it does not. Fast-falling snow, high winds make weekend blizzard a bizarre event Published: Friday, December 31, 2010, 10:29 AM Updated: Friday, December 31, 2010, 10:30 AM By Peggy McGlone/The Star-Ledger Follow Share18 4 Share close Google Buzz Digg Stumble Upon Fark Share Email Print Enlarge Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger Sergio Panunzio, manager of the Department of Public Works for Union Township, and Anthony Reed, the assistant supervisor for roads, direct loader operator Kareem Brown to clear a road in the township. (Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger) N.J. continues blizzard cleanup gallery (29 photos) /* */ Whether the weekend blizzard that slammed New Jersey was the storm of the millennium or not may be up for debate, but one thing is certain. It was just plain weird. The storm hit east Jersey the hardest, rather than the western part of the state, which normally takes the brunt of a storm. And the snow was light and winds so high that drifts rose to memorable heights. There were thunder snows, too, a meteorological rarity, and record snowfalls in Atlantic City and Newark, according to the National Weather Service. "It was a top 5 or top 10 event going back a century of records," said state climatologist David Robinson of Rutgers University. But the blizzard was notable for other reasons, weather experts said. The high winds — measured at 40 to 50 miles per hour — and the speed that the snow fell were unusual. Add the lightness of the snow, due in part to the cold temperatures, and the result was the dramatic, white-out conditions. "It was very fast moving, and all its ferocity was mid-afternoon to the midnight hours," said Walter Drag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. Robinson was amazed by the blizzard’s severe east-west divide. "I’ve never seen a storm so defined from east to west, with most in the East and the least in the west. I’ve seen it the other way around," he said. The snowfall was dramatically different in the two sections of the state. In the west, for example, Wantage in Sussex County reported under 5 inches of snow, while the eastern cities of Elizabeth and Rahway were walloped with more than 30 inches. Up and down the eastern side of the state, accumulations varied. Some areas reported upwards of 25 inches while locations a few miles away had only 10 inches of snow. There are several reasons for that, the experts said. Drag said in "large-scale storms" like this one, bands of heavier snow "can double the snowfall amounts in a narrow corridor." "One place could have a foot and a few miles away could have half that," he said. But Robinson had another factor for the vastly different accumulations: "exagger-itis." "Probably one of the measurements, or both, aren’t exactly right," Robinson said. "There was a lot of drifting in this storm, but I didn’t see a great deal of difference in the depth from Bergen and Essex counties down to Middlesex and Monmouth and Atlantic down to Cape May." Robinson said storms that leave 10 inches of snow occur once every three years, but events that drop 20 inches or more are far more rare. "It’s a generational thing," he said. The fierce winds made this a "true blizzard," he added. "That made visibility very dangerous." The aftermath of the blizzard also made it memorable. The timing of it — in the late morning and early afternoon — led some residents to get in their cars. "People got on the roads or were already on the roads trying to hit those Christmas sales," said Robinson, adding that if it had started eight hours earlier, many motorists who were stranded would probably have stayed in bed. The weekend timing probably lessened its impact, he added. If the blizzard had hit on Monday afternoon, it might have replicated the blizzard of 1983, when motorists heading home from work had to be rescued by snow mobiles. However, the holiday weekend probably hurt the cleanup effort, Robinson said. Many municipalities struggled to get out crews, and in New York City, "there was difficulty mustering up sanitation drivers." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 Fast-falling snow, high winds make weekend blizzard a bizarre event Published: Friday, December 31, 2010, 10:29 AM Updated: Friday, December 31, 2010, 10:30 AM By Peggy McGlone/The Star-Ledger Follow Share18 4 Share close Google Buzz Digg Stumble Upon Fark Share Email Print Enlarge Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger Sergio Panunzio, manager of the Department of Public Works for Union Township, and Anthony Reed, the assistant supervisor for roads, direct loader operator Kareem Brown to clear a road in the township. (Jennifer Brown/The Star-Ledger) N.J. continues blizzard cleanup gallery (29 photos) /* */ Whether the weekend blizzard that slammed New Jersey was the storm of the millennium or not may be up for debate, but one thing is certain. It was just plain weird. The storm hit east Jersey the hardest, rather than the western part of the state, which normally takes the brunt of a storm. And the snow was light and winds so high that drifts rose to memorable heights. There were thunder snows, too, a meteorological rarity, and record snowfalls in Atlantic City and Newark, according to the National Weather Service. "It was a top 5 or top 10 event going back a century of records," said state climatologist David Robinson of Rutgers University. But the blizzard was notable for other reasons, weather experts said. The high winds — measured at 40 to 50 miles per hour — and the speed that the snow fell were unusual. Add the lightness of the snow, due in part to the cold temperatures, and the result was the dramatic, white-out conditions. "It was very fast moving, and all its ferocity was mid-afternoon to the midnight hours," said Walter Drag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. Robinson was amazed by the blizzard’s severe east-west divide. "I’ve never seen a storm so defined from east to west, with most in the East and the least in the west. I’ve seen it the other way around," he said. The snowfall was dramatically different in the two sections of the state. In the west, for example, Wantage in Sussex County reported under 5 inches of snow, while the eastern cities of Elizabeth and Rahway were walloped with more than 30 inches. Up and down the eastern side of the state, accumulations varied. Some areas reported upwards of 25 inches while locations a few miles away had only 10 inches of snow. There are several reasons for that, the experts said. Drag said in "large-scale storms" like this one, bands of heavier snow "can double the snowfall amounts in a narrow corridor." "One place could have a foot and a few miles away could have half that," he said. But Robinson had another factor for the vastly different accumulations: "exagger-itis." "Probably one of the measurements, or both, aren’t exactly right," Robinson said. "There was a lot of drifting in this storm, but I didn’t see a great deal of difference in the depth from Bergen and Essex counties down to Middlesex and Monmouth and Atlantic down to Cape May." Robinson said storms that leave 10 inches of snow occur once every three years, but events that drop 20 inches or more are far more rare. "It’s a generational thing," he said. The fierce winds made this a "true blizzard," he added. "That made visibility very dangerous." The aftermath of the blizzard also made it memorable. The timing of it — in the late morning and early afternoon — led some residents to get in their cars. "People got on the roads or were already on the roads trying to hit those Christmas sales," said Robinson, adding that if it had started eight hours earlier, many motorists who were stranded would probably have stayed in bed. The weekend timing probably lessened its impact, he added. If the blizzard had hit on Monday afternoon, it might have replicated the blizzard of 1983, when motorists heading home from work had to be rescued by snow mobiles. However, the holiday weekend probably hurt the cleanup effort, Robinson said. Many municipalities struggled to get out crews, and in New York City, "there was difficulty mustering up sanitation drivers." Since when did Walter Drag join Mt Holly? Wasn't he the guy from NWS in Boston with all those great pre-storm write ups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainshadow Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Since when did Walter Drag join Mt Holly? Wasn't he the guy from NWS in Boston with all those great pre-storm write ups? Since June, haven't read any of our AFD's lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absolute Humidity Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Thanks for the above great info, I remember Dr. Robinson from my met classes at Rutgers way back in the mid 90's. A class act, although I didnot major in metorology, it was always a kind of hobby fascination. I'm sure this storm will bring out many new upstarts with great interest. I can not remember any storm that evenly devided the state from tip to tip with one side getting 20 to 30" and the other much less. Also, the dendrite seemed tiny, but extraordinarily numerous, literally drowning out the big shopping mall lights. Neverseen that before either. Measuring accurately was impossible I could only estimate a between 25 and 30, with large drift areas 36+ and low spots, smaller but generally no less than 15. crazy storm, I can only hope this MECS/hECS madness period were in can bring the fabled BECS 3 to 5 feet, don't know if that atmospherically possible from one event in these parts, but I remember some one says back in 2003 or 2004 we had just missed the BECS by about 100 to 150 miles and Nova Scota got 7 feet! oh, happy new year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Airport measurers are employed by the FAA, not the National Weather Service, and are not well paid. MOST of them really don't care too much about getting the measurement exactly right. This is not true everywhere. In the NWS Mount Holly forecast area, the four airport sites (PHL, ILG, ACY and ABE) that measure snow have observers who are trained and get paid by the NWS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Since June, haven't read any of our AFD's lately? Ha! Been out of the box for a while, back in the saddle now. I'm surprised a bigger deal wasn't made of this on the boards, or maybe it was and I missed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blizzardo Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Lyndhurst reported 30.. Rahway reported 32 I think..Thats roughly 20-25 miles I was plowing in Bloomfield through the storm and ended up around the 30 mark. There seems to be a very narrow band that went north to south that came in around 30" Maybe this band is only a few miles wide, quite possible... It seems that soon as you get out of the band. the snowfall amounts drop dramatically.. It is VERY possible for Rahway to have 32" and Edison 22 or whatever it was... Just Sayin...All this bickering about amounts...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris L Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Lyndhurst reported 30.. Rahway reported 32 I think..Thats roughly 20-25 miles I was plowing in Bloomfield through the storm and ended up around the 30 mark. There seems to be a very narrow band that went north to south that came in around 30" Maybe this band is only a few miles wide, quite possible... It seems that soon as you get out of the band. the snowfall amounts drop dramatically.. It is VERY possible for Rahway to have 32" and Edison 22 or whatever it was... Just Sayin...All this bickering about amounts...lol I live right next to Bloomfield, they got 24", not 30". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codfishsnowman Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 The bickering about amounts is fascinating. If average measurements on the ground when the snow tappers, none of this clearing the board bs, esp when most of the storm falls in a twelve to eighteen hour period and it snows like crazy.....are in the two foot range, that is pretty fookin awesome!! It sounds like there may have been a few spots closing in on 30 inches. One thing that does really bother me is inflated snow totals..I see them all the time here in Sne...trust me BDL did not get fourteen inches of snow when almost everyone else around them had six to eight lol... But if you live in the same town and there is a difference of six inches or more in snowfall, and the distance apart from the measurements is negligable and is supported by radar echoes then there is reason for argument. Its too bad it was so windy otherwise this would have been the perfect snowstorm for accuracy. You guys are lucky though to have lived through multiple hours of two to four inch rates, unless you live down wind of the great lakes, there is hardly any place in the norh east where that is not exceptionally rare! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajdos Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Amazing pictures everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blizzardo Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I live right next to Bloomfield, they got 24", not 30". Just out of curiosity.. where did you get this 24" measurement from for Bloomfield ? It was an extremely tough storm to measure. One spot can have 6" and 5 feet in another... I think we did better then 24... I dunno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SP Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Since June, haven't read any of our AFD's lately? It's like the Rat Pack over there in MT Holly Gorse, Drag, GiGi......you guys can pick the fourth.....several to choose from...just make sure the name flows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JERSEYSNOWROB Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Sorry just getting around to posting some pics from blizzard. We ended up with 22 inches here with 3 foot drifts common. Here are my cars before I dug them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JERSEYSNOWROB Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 and my backyard around 1:30am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JERSEYSNOWROB Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 looking out onto patio from inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormlover74 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 1 week ago the storm was just getting underway. Now its about 4 to 6" of brown slushy slop looking out onto patio from inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famartin Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Here's the coolest picture I can think of... I didn't take a lot since it was "only" 10.1 inches in Ewing... but this side of the house had 14 inches. Check out the drift hanging off the roof! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famartin Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Why don't you enlighten me? Newark Airport's totals agreed perfectly with all of the obs around them except, well, yours. Sorry, but that's how it is. This was a really hard storm to measure. Rahway's ob was from the public, so that's that. Tony Gigi has mentioned previously that the snow measuring site at EWR is the best of the three NYC airports. At least, it was when he was an observer there. The bottom line is that in an urban area with a lot of buildings close together... the chances of a good measurement are near zero, particularly in a windy storm. All the snow blowing off the rooftops is going to inflate totals. Hell, the south side of my parents house had 4" more than what I reported as my official total... it all blew off the roof! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormlover74 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I noticed that as of this morning EWR had 3", LGA and JFK were down to 0 but Central Park still was reporting 6" Tony Gigi has mentioned previously that the snow measuring site at EWR is the best of the three NYC airports. At least, it was when he was an observer there. The bottom line is that in an urban area with a lot of buildings close together... the chances of a good measurement are near zero, particularly in a windy storm. All the snow blowing off the rooftops is going to inflate totals. Hell, the south side of my parents house had 4" more than what I reported as my official total... it all blew off the roof! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LocoAko Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Tony Gigi has mentioned previously that the snow measuring site at EWR is the best of the three NYC airports. At least, it was when he was an observer there. The bottom line is that in an urban area with a lot of buildings close together... the chances of a good measurement are near zero, particularly in a windy storm. All the snow blowing off the rooftops is going to inflate totals. Hell, the south side of my parents house had 4" more than what I reported as my official total... it all blew off the roof! Yeah, as I said in the other thread in the main forum, I'm working on a snow map now and it seems to be that the more urban areas came in with consistently higher totals due to the inevitable blowing from rooftops. I experienced it myself - it was futile to try to prevent. Just has to be taken into consideration when viewing and examining snowfall totals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famartin Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Yeah, as I said in the other thread in the main forum, I'm working on a snow map now and it seems to be that the more urban areas came in with consistently higher totals due to the inevitable blowing from rooftops. I experienced it myself - it was futile to try to prevent. Just has to be taken into consideration when viewing and examining snowfall totals. I was worried that even my total was influenced. My parents' home is on the edge of their development with woods to the east, and relatively wooded back yards to the north. However, when the wind started shifting NW, I was worried that there may be some snow blowing off the roof. I ended up using a small field (or big yard, whatever you want to call it) about a block up the street which is lined with trees on the north and west to double check my measurement, since most lawns along the street were running 1-2" below what I measured in the back yard. The small field/large yard matched my measurement (9-11") so I am comfortable with 10.1"... but even in the suburbs it can be tricky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGorse Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Here's the coolest picture I can think of... I didn't take a lot since it was "only" 10.1 inches in Ewing... but this side of the house had 14 inches. Check out the drift hanging off the roof! Were you a good son and removed the snow off all of those bushes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famartin Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Were you a good son and removed the snow off all of those bushes? Actually yes, but mainly because I hadn't been able to give them their annual "haircut" before the storm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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