Tom

Happy Easter to all! It's been very windy since midday yesterday and the rain has finally made its way into the valley. It is snowing heavily up in Flagstaff. I'm watching the local TV news channel and the team is up on a live shot right now and its pure powder up there! Up to a Foot of snow will fall just today with more tomorrow. It's been 25 years since it has rained in PHX on Easter for the valley. This storm could become a record snow event up in FLG and rain event for PHX today. Let's see how it shakes out.

This setup looks to be golden for your area and most of the MW/OHV.... @OttumwaSnomow should do real good...this is the epitome of the IA/MO warm front scenario at play which he discusses on here. Good luck bud!

There's always "Next Year"...as some have been discussing on here, what can we look for when we go from a Strong Nino into a La Nina next Winter??? Survey says...(courtesy WGN) What does the Good Ol' CFSv2 indicate way out in lala land....last 12 runs...

I’m planning on coming to Chi in early May for a bit to see family. I’m sure it’ll get better and I’ll try to dial in on the pattern in the weeks ahead. Sending you sunshine vibes!

Easter Sunday is looking wet and cold around here which is NOT a common theme, in fact, the last time it rain and the temp held in the 60's was wayy back in 1999 (4/4/99). Ever since I've been coming out here, I remember enjoying Easter SUN with sunny skies and warm temps. Not gonna happen this year. I'm ok with, bc I'll be baking a Turkey and some Lamb. 0z Euro has some training storms across the I-80 corridor....this will be a common theme heading into APR/MAY, eventually lifting farther north later in Spring then Summer months. Troughs are going to be plentiful and this will be a signature storm every 45 days or so.

100% agree with your comments...my cousin sent me a Snapchat video of the brown grass, no leaves, cloudy skies and I just don't miss that at all. Makes you freaking depressed!

Ya, I see what you mean....it would have been nice to see it early on in the season rather than early Spring when it'll be gone in a few days.

Tao's Ski Resort in NM has also done really well with a fantastic # just next door...the past number of years, the mountains have been blessed with a lot of snowfall in the 4 corners region. I remember how badly the ski resorts were doing and its great to see that this trend has been broken over the last several years.

Since yesterday morning, Snowbowl has received 32" of powder over the last few days and more throughout the day yesterday...Sunrise Ski Resort probably got nearly 3-4 Feet...but they are shutting down the resort after this weekend because of the lack of customers.

Finally, you pretty much were near ground zero on a rather interesting Spring Storm...did it feel like you got that much?

Interesting, that year was the last time PHX recorded any measurable precip on Easter Sunday...it was on 4/4/1999...this SUN, we will likely record measurable precip as another strong storm dumps Snow and more Rain into the valley.

The LR is looking mighty fine out here in the 4 corners region as the storm parade will continue well into April providing ample moisture and eventually runoff for the farmers out here in the desert SW. Gosh, I love it when nature proves to be an answer and wipe away all the FEAR that was driven by politicians/media into signing stupid agreements. I gotta feeling some of these arrangements will be reversed and there will be an abundance of water as this part of the country will benefit largely due to the reversal in the Long Range cyclical nature of the weather patterns. CFSv2...extended Snow season in the West...

Isn't that something...I can imagine what that looks like...I bet I-80 is probably almost impossible to drive through...

There were numerous signs of thundersnow on radar yesterday all across the N & E mountains of AZ...some near Sedona, Flagstaff and the White Mountains. I'm sure Sunrise Ski Resort is going to be the Big winner from this storm.

The Arrowhead of Minny finally scored a Blitz this season...

It is literally right overhead...maybe the Euro had it right all along since yesterday...this system certainly had its twists and turns, some good ones and some nasso much...You always seem to have the shiny snow magnet with these systems. Good luck and congrats on catching a Late Season Blizzard!

There's that Palm Sunday Blizzard! So close, yet so far...

And some more…if you ever have a chance to go see one of these shows, I encourage you to go check it out. DE473E58-ED4A-439D-BA7F-D8936CFC03EA.mp4 9DA5785D-53EF-4B27-9778-F25BB638DD89.mp4 E7BE06D3-BD15-4114-8BC6-CEA209F0EC6C.mp4 3A64A0B3-CF5B-4A08-92FD-BC0CAC4B6FEE.mp4 4240F3B5-9E57-47E7-B652-C4EE16C53CD3.mp4 B44D67D9-A85E-4537-893D-77EB0B52DC2D.mp4 D31AA1DD-C3AB-4250-B9AE-39B4805AF354.mp4 A5001D54-CF0C-436C-8760-3AC0B6D87717.mp4

As I mentioned, the jets put on a routine that resembled an attack from the Air as they would in a potential situation. Here was one of those passes… D9F9CA0E-3C17-4A02-A601-3F54ABD99CEF.mp4 Here are some more pics and vids of the Apache chopper and various aircraft. D9F9CA0E-3C17-4A02-A601-3F54ABD99CEF.mp4 55B32F23-F764-4311-ADFC-ABF7CDECFBEC.mp4 BC8FB5AE-D4F5-45C5-BBD1-62925B7E4020.mp4 264F43B1-AC36-4838-9017-B3F0C00025CE.mp4

After a 6 year hiatus, Luke Days 2024 hosted a fantastic Air Show yesterday at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, AZ. This was hands down THE best Airshow I have ever witnessed. The aircraft flew so close you can see the pilots and FEEL the power of the jets as they throttled up and then you can see the glow of the after burners! It was incredible. God Bless our Military and the USA! https://www.lukedays2024.com/ Thankfully, the weather cooperated in perfect fashion with calm winds and high clouds during the 1st half. Then around Noon, the skies started clearing up but it was getting a bit warm in the sun, however, I knew the wind would start picking ahead of the big storm and it sure did. The winds were out of the SW at 10-15mph and made it very comfortable with temps in the upper 70's. The unique aspect of this show is you can meet and greet the pilots that fly these phenomenal aircraft. The F-35 Raptor, F-15's, etc...I was talking to a pilot that flew the F-15 that was at the show and I asked him when was the last mission? He said it was last year in Romania doing air support with the Canadians. There was also a Canadian pilot with his group. What a great experience. Not to mention, but there were all sorts of military choppers, cargo planes (esp the C-5 Galaxy) the largest plane in our military! I'll share pics and vids in the next post.

I read this WGN Article which illustrates the incredible snow season across S/C Alaska, of which, Tom Skilling wrote while he's enjoying his retirement. He really loves traveling both up to Alaska and Hawaii (where he is currently). The correlation to the 2011-12 season is reminiscent to what transpired this season for the lower 48. https://wgntv.com/weather/weather-blog/snow-in-south-central-alaska/

I saw there was a possible report of Thundersnow near MDW earlier today...my sister sent me a video of her in the city proper and it was ripping pretty good. Sadly, she also was driving through all the tents set up with migrants everywhere. Some parts of Chicago are really turning into a freakin' ghetto! Sad sad sad...anyway, congrats on the snow today...#statpadding

This should be a nice base for the Big Dog that is forthcoming...haven't checked the models since midday yesterday but my gut says you'll be in the jackzone... On the other hand, the system tracking over the lower lakes today is very very similar to what happened late in the 1st cycle of the LRC a few days before Veteran's Day, iirc...I took a snapshot of my notes and remember watching the radar explode over IA/N IL/S WI into lower MI. The system thats going to plague S FL for the weekend (not good for Spring Breakers) lines up with this pattern. Meantime, PHX is heading up into the upper 80's today before the arrival of the big storm later this weekend. It won't be as big as some of them this season, but noteworthy Snow should fall up in the mountains and some beneficial valley RN.

To add farther, the snow ratios will probably be higher than norms during a late March calendar period....this will also add to the accumulations...what a beauty shaping up.

15-20"+ for a large swath of the Upper MW is looking highly likely accomanied with strong winds...Blitz in the works! Knocking on your doorstep bud...and for @Minny_Weather