January 2016 Observations and Discussion

[james1976]

Tacked on about another 0.7" of snow last night. If my calculations are right Im at about 28" so far on the season.

[Maxim]

How's this working out for you Maxim?

Also, have you ever considered moving north? Serious question.

[hlcater]

Tacked on about another 0.7" of snow last night. If my calculations are right Im at about 28" so far on the season.

if the active pattern coming up verifies than you could easily pass season average only 1/2 way through

[james1976]

if the active pattern coming up verifies than you could easily pass season average only 1/2 way through

I know, right!

[james1976]

Whoever said we wouldn't see any cold in January was dead wrong. I'm already down to a measily 1 degree and the wind chill is -20. Another big arctic shot is coming mid-week. DMX is saying colder than normal temps all the way thru next weekend with a few light snow chances. La Nina?? haha

[OKwx2k4]

Also, have you ever considered moving north? Serious question.

No. Too far away from my family.

[gosaints]

Whoever said we wouldn't see any cold in January was dead wrong. I'm already down to a measily 1 degree and the wind chill is -20. Another big arctic shot is coming mid-week. DMX is saying colder than normal temps all the way thru next weekend with a few light snow chances. La Nina?? haha

ninas are not this cold. Nor would it have mixing issue on a january storm preceding an artic airmass.

[Maxim]

Whoever said we wouldn't see any cold in January was dead wrong. I'm already down to a measily 1 degree and the wind chill is -20. Another big arctic shot is coming mid-week. DMX is saying colder than normal temps all the way thru next weekend with a few light snow chances. La Nina?? haha

Not a very nina-like pattern...

http://mp1.met.psu.edu/~fxg1/ECMWF_12z/test8.gif

[james1976]

Um yeah....i was being sarcastic

[Tom]

Models are picking up on another Clipper this Wed/Thu as yet another wave rounds the bend of this dominant trough over the Lakes region.  Might be a bit stronger depending on how much it can dig.

[Tom]

Took a step outside this morning and haven't felt this kind of cold in a long time!  Brrr...12F with a brisk NW wind...very thankful that Mother Nature was able to lay down a fresh cover of snow.  Certainly looks and feels like January in Chicago!

[james1976]

I had -8 at 9:30 this morning. Im curious what the actual low was.

[westMJim]

Right now here at my house getting moderate wind blown snow and the temp is now down to 24° As a heads up this (today) could be the start of the winter snow fall guess tie breaker…………. #3: Greatest lake effect snowfall total for Grand Rapids, MI in January. (Will have to pay close attention to this one... events can last for a few days)  this event could last most if not all of the upcoming week. I will post then in several places so almost ever one will able to view it,

[NEJeremy]

We had a huge fire downtown in our historic old market district. Fire burned for over 12 hours from late afternoon yesterday to sunrise this morning and our firefighters spent most of the time fighting the fire in temps around zero with windchills -20 to -25. Horrible conditions for the firefighters!

[OKwx2k4]

We had a huge fire downtown in our historic old market district. Fire burned for over 12 hours from late afternoon yesterday to sunrise this morning and our firefighters spent most of the time fighting the fire in temps around zero with windchills -20 to -25. Horrible conditions for the firefighters!

That's horrible. Sorry to hear about thst.

[Niko]

Snow has picked up again an intensity. Winds are really howling and snow is blowing and drifting.

[Tom]

I wonder if ORD drops below 0F tonight.  Prob not enough snow OTG for that to happen.  Already down to 7F.

 

Niko, are you getting those lake bands in your area?  That's pretty wild how far inland they are coming off LM and Superior.

[ingyball]

This week it looks like I will be experiencing my first ever Clipper, is there anything I should expect? I will probably be walking to when it occurs.

[Tom]

This week it looks like I will be experiencing my first ever Clipper, is there anything I should expect? I will probably be walking to when it occurs.

If you get underneath a heavier burst of snow, the wind driven powda looks amazing. 

[westMJim]

As of 7 PM I have gotten 1.5" of system snow (before 8:30 AM) and with the on and off snow showers today I have 1.5" of lake effect today with a total of 3" on the ground.

[Geos]

Down to 3° here. Forecast is about -3°

[Niko]

I wonder if ORD drops below 0F tonight.  Prob not enough snow OTG for that to happen.  Already down to 7F.

 

Niko, are you getting those lake bands in your area?  That's pretty wild how far inland they are coming off LM and Superior.

Tom, I am. Its amazing how far inland these bands have traveled into SEMI. It has stopped now, but that was an intense one.

[NEJeremy]

2015 yearly climate summary for Omaha. Averaged 2.2 degrees above normal for the year and had the 5th wettest year ever with over 44" of precip which was almost 14" above normal! Too bad that didn't translate to a lot of snow.

As you can imagine we set several precip records for daily, monthly, and seasonal totals. What's "odd" is we had the wettest Aug-Sept ever with over 18" of rain this year, and last year we had the 3rd wettest Aug-Sept ever.

 

http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=OAX&issuedby=OMA&product=CLA&format=CI&version=1&glossary=1

[Madtown]

-1 Atm

[westMJim]

The lake effect snow showers continue. Its now very small flake size but still getting light to at times moderate snow. Temp is now at +14° here at my house, and the last report was 17° at the airport.

Radar 

 

http://www.wunderground.com/weather-radar/united-states/mi/grand-rapids/grr/?region=cad

 

hourly reports from GRR

 

http://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KGRR.html

[Geos]

-0.5° here to be precise. During the super el Nino of 1997-98 it hit -1°. Will be interesting to see how low it can go during this one.

[Tom]

-0.5° here to be precise. During the super el Nino of 1997-98 it hit -1°. Will be interesting to see how low it can go during this one.

You will prob tack on a few more sub zero nights this month.  February could get pretty brutal if the PV gets completely displaced.

[Tom]

ORD got down to -1F...looking forward to some light snow later today.

[Snowshoe]

Got down to -12 this morning. Reports of -22 one county to the west.

[Geos]

-4° was the low this morning.

 

Was sunny, now it is cloudy with the Clipper getting its act together.

[westMJim]

heavy snow shower here now visibility was briefly down to  1/4 mile now back up to 1/2 mile still good flake size.

[Geos]

heavy snow shower here now visibility was briefly down to  1/4 mile now back up to 1/2 mile still good flake size.

 

Has GRR only seen about 3" so far from LES?

[james1976]

Light snow here all day even thoughthe radar wasnt showing it. Picked up bout half inch of cotton so far.

[westMJim]

Has GRR only seen about 3" so far from LES?

of the little over 3" that GRR has recorded (in January) its been about half and half. I think the airport had around 1' of system snow early Saturday while here at my house it was about 1.5"  

[Tony]

Another light snow event tomorrow. Maybe squeeze out an inch

[westMJim]

Well I got to get the snow blower out (and use it) for the first time this winter.  Here at my house I had 5.25” of new snow over night and now there is 8” on the ground here. Still getting on and off snow showers with on and off sun as well. 

[Geos]

I don't think it has gone beyond 10° today, during the day. Frigid day with occasional blowing snow and wind chills running around -10°.

[BLIZZARD09]

Geos, on 12 Jan 2016 - 3:57 PM, said:

I don't think it has gone beyond 10° today, during the day. Frigid day with occasional blowing snow and wind chills running around -10°.

AND FORTUNATELY a fresh snow cover to complete the mood

[jcwxguy]

Not here but the first subtropical storm formed today in the east atlantic

[Geos]

Not here but the first subtropical storm formed today in the east atlantic

 

Why did they name a subtropical storm though?

 

 

DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK

------------------------------

Satellite images indicate that the low pressure system over the

eastern Atlantic has developed into a subtropical storm.

At 500 PM AST (2100 UTC), the center of Subtropical Storm Alex was

located near latitude 27.1 North, longitude 30.8 West. The storm is

moving toward the northeast near 14 mph (22 km/h), and a turn

toward the north with an increase in forward speed is expected over

the next 48 hours.

 

Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts.

Little change in strength is forecast during the next 48 hours, and

Alex is expected to become an extratopical cyclone before reaching

the Azores on Friday.

 

Winds of 40 mph extend outward up to 140 miles (220 km) from the

center.

 

The estimated minimum central pressure is 990 mb (29.24 inches).