December 2016 Observations and Discussion

[CentralNebWeather]

Merry Christmas to all on the forum.  As a teacher I am now out for Christmas Break and I am thankful for my family's many blessings and for the members of this forum who contribute to everyone's love of weather.  Though we may disagree, argue, whine (yes me too), I think we can all agree we live in a great nation that affords us the freedom to look at weather models and see how they best benefit our region.  May the peace of this season be with you all.

[james1976]

Merry Christmas and a happy snowy new year!

[OKwx2k4]

Only the second time in my life I've ever saw sleet at 45 degrees tonight.

[westMJim]

Even with the warm up and rain that is coming December 2016 will end up for most of our area colder and snowier than average. As of yesterday, Grand Rapids is now -5.1° for the month. And there has been 34.5” of recorded snow fall the warmest it has been so far is 40° on the 1^st (it should get warmer than that Sunday or Monday) and the coldest has been +4 on the 15^th This will be the first below average temperature month since April. Over at Muskegon the lake has kept them warmer and their departure is only at -2.4° and they have only recorded 17.7” of snow so far and that is still below average for December! (so not all areas are running above average snow fall wise) The warmest there (so far) this month has been 44° on the 1^st and again on the 5^th and the coldest there has been +10° on the 15^th  To our east Lansing is now -4.1° and they have recorded 16” of snow so far and the warmest there was 42° on the 1^st and again on the 6^th the coldest there has been +3 on the 15^th

As I have stated before at Grand Rapids in the past most (but not all) winters that have a cold and snowy December.  For that winter December ends up being the snowiest month of the winter. We shall see if 2016/17 follows that trend.

[Niko]

1-2 inches of snow expected here in SEMI tonight.

 

From NOAA:

 

DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

WET SNOW IS EXPECTED THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT WITH 1 TO 2 INCHESOF ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF THE M-59 CORRIDOR.

[Tom]

Merry Christmas everyone!  Have a blessed day with your loved ones as we enjoy this holiday with friends and family.  Hope you all have a wonderful Holiday and may Santa deliver the gifts you all wanted....snowy 2017!

 

 

 

http://static.tumblr.com/0bd2340e3ced396847faa7c4a3470ebf/cg5booi/dWKmf9ea9/tumblr_static_christmas-tree-nature1024-226431.jpeg

[CentralNebWeather]

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a blessed day with your loved ones as we enjoy this holiday with friends and family. Hope you all have a wonderful Holiday and may Santa deliver the gifts you all wanted....snowy 2017!

Merry Christmas to one and all.

 

 

 

http://static.tumblr.com/0bd2340e3ced396847faa7c4a3470ebf/cg5booi/dWKmf9ea9/tumblr_static_christmas-tree-nature1024-226431.jpeg

[Hawkeye]

It appears as though my December will finish with 10.5 inches of snow.  That is a bit above average, but disappointing given the active, cold pattern.

[Tony]

Merry Christmas to everyone and stay safe.

[OKwx2k4]

Wrote a little brown Christmas poem.

 

Twas the day before Christmas and all through my state, not a snowflake was falling and I was getting irate.

 

There was some wind and bright sun and a high of 63 and I've still got brown leaves stuck to my tree.

 

The models show storms but but not the right kind. A good old white Christmas is getting hard to find.

 

I've looked at the weather and searched high and low but for at least ten more days I still see no snow.

 

As I looked on the 12z and reached day 13, much to my surprise a great hope could be seen.

 

For there to my north, the cold sitting just right and off to the west, a low winding up tight.

 

While it may not come true, I have nothing to fear. For great cold and snow, there's hope in the new year!

 

Merry Christmas friends! :-)

[westMJim]

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

 

GRR is now at 36.0" for December and there is still several chances of some more after the warm up and rain. The 36.0" is the most for a December since the 54.6" that fell in December of 2008.

SlimJim

[BrianJK]

Looks like Chicago will get a white Christmas after all. Still have 4-5" snowpack out there. Will be bare ground by early next week though. Northerwoods snowmobile trails (Sno-eagles country) should hold up as well luckily.

[SE Wisconsin]

Although I don't post much, I really enjoy reading all the comments on the this forum and come here almost daily.  A very merry Christmas to everyone and may we all get pounded with snow in 2017!

[jaster220]

It's a soggy and damp one here, but at least it's white & not dampening the holiday cheer.

 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night...May the New Year be a snowy one for our sub!

 

(NOAA 8-14 day maps look choice)

[NEJeremy]

It may say December 25th on the calendar, but it didn't feel like it this morning. My daughter was woken up by thunder this morning so we figured it was time to go see what Santa brought. So we went downstairs and took the stockings off the mantle as the lightning and thunder grew more frequent and louder. There were several booms that were loud enough to shake the house and cause my daughter to jump into my wife's lap. Then it started hailing which only lasted a few minutes and were never bigger than pea sized. Now the rest of the day is supposed to be stormy and highs in the mid 50s. Hope we can do this again next year!

[East Dubzz]

It may say December 25th on the calendar, but it didn't feel like it this morning. My daughter was woken up by thunder this morning so we figured it was time to go see what Santa brought. So we went downstairs and took the stockings off the mantle as the lightning and thunder grew more frequent and louder. There were several booms that were loud enough to shake the house and cause my daughter to jump into my wife's lap. Then it started hailing which only lasted a few minutes and were never bigger than pea sized. Now the rest of the day is supposed to be stormy and highs in the mid 50s. Hope we can do this again next year!

Holy cow! To be honest, I was hoping we'd get some nice storms here but it's looks like they'll be fairly limited. If it's going to rain on Christmas, I'd prefer it storm a little too.

[Tom]

To be able to experience a White Christmas like this back in 1951...maybe one day...

 

http://static.chicagoweathercenter.com/media/FEATURE12252016.jpg

[Thunder98]

Merry Christmas!

[westMJim]

That deep snow covered a large area on Christmas 1951 there in GRR there was 22" In Lansing, Michigan there was 20" I was too young to remember that Christmas but I do have pictures of it from my mom. More recently here in GRR the most snow on the ground on Christmas was 17" in 2008 and 16" in 2000. This morning I had 7" on the ground at 7AM right now I have a temperature of 34° 

[Tom]

CPC says its going to be a wet and wild open to 2017...for the majority of this sub forum...

 

 

 

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/610day/610temp.new.gif

 

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/610day/610prcp.new.gif

 

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/814temp.new.gif

 

 

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/814day/814prcp.new.gif

[jaster220]

To be able to experience a White Christmas like this back in 1951...maybe one day...

 

http://static.chicagoweathercenter.com/media/FEATURE12252016.jpg

Wow! What an epic 2 weeks for this region! Leading up to Christmas in a perfect storm of storms.

 

This Dec's been great, but not 4 majors...Boggles the mind, and 2nd big Dec in a row as well.

[Tom]

Just missed the record high of 55F by 1 degree this morning.  It almost feels Spring-like out there this morning.  Gone is the snow cover and hello brown grass (its actually kinda green in spots).

[jaster220]

51F and patchy snow cover plus ofc piles. Going down below freezing tonight til Wed's high near 40, so it will be nice to re-freeze the ground that was really insulated by the blanket of heavy snow. Gotta find a silver lining on this - LOL

[Hawkeye]

Last night our temp peaked at 47, so the earlier model runs(euro) that suggested 60 were too bullish surging the warm sector north over the snow pack.  My rain total is 0.69".  Most of the snow is gone, with just piles and scattered bits left.

[westMJim]

I hope ever one had a great Christmas.

On the weather front the temperature here is now up to 49°. The record high for this date is 50° set in 1893 and again in 1936 so we will have to see if GRR can tie or break that! have some blue sky so the sun should be out for a while so there is a chance. It looks like we will have a return to temperatures near average (a few degrees one way or the other) for some time to come. I still have several inches of snow on the ground  but a lot of bare ground is showing was well. With the December snow fall here now at 36.2” I think this will be the snowiest month of the winter of 2016/17. And still feel that the total snow fall for GRR will end up in the 75 to 85” range for the season (now at 37.0”) That of course will be subject to change (up or down)

[East Dubzz]

Storm around New Years again on GFS... most of us would not be pleased.

[westMJim]

A new record high temperature here at GRR. The temperature has reached 52° at GRR and that will set a new record high here. The old record was 50° set in 1893 and 1936. Here at my house I also have a temperature of 52° there is still a lot of snow on the ground but there are also many bare spots as well. And of course the big snow piles may last until spring (depending on how warm it gets at any one point this winter)

[CentralNebWeather]

I just read that Bismarck is at over 45 inches so far for seasonal snowfall which is the most ever by this date. I would love to experience something like that. They are struggling with snow removal according to their online newspaper and may not have things open up before Wednesday. They have a lot of experience with snow removal so you know it is bad.

[BrianJK]

55 degrees and sunny today with bright green grass. Really does feel like spring. And we're getting about 10 extra minutes of daylight each week.

[Niko]

Broke a record today (57F) with rain. Alot of my snowpack has melted away, although, I do have plenty of snow piles.

[Grizzcoat]

amazing it got that warm with a snowpack...

[Tom]

Went ahead and started a January 2017 thread...

 

Back to reality with temps in the mid 20's and breezy conditions still continuing under grey skies.  

 

Looks like the snow pack took a beating from Fond Du Lac/MSN and N IA

 

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/snow_model/images/full/Northern_Great_Lakes/nsm_depth/201612/nsm_depth_2016122705_Northern_Great_Lakes.jpg

 

 

 

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/snow_model/images/full/National/nsm_depth/201612/nsm_depth_2016122705_National.jpg

[westMJim]

From Tom

 

"Back to reality with temps in the mid 20's and breezy conditions still continuing under grey skies.  

 

Looks like the snow pack took a beating from Fond Du Lac/MSN and N IA"

 

In my area the ground is about 50/50 that is about half still has snow cover and half is now bare. and the snow piles are still ever where. There is even some ice/frozen slush on the road yet. 

[Tom]

 

From Tom

 

"Back to reality with temps in the mid 20's and breezy conditions still continuing under grey skies.  

 

Looks like the snow pack took a beating from Fond Du Lac/MSN and N IA"

 

In my area the ground is about 50/50 that is about half still has snow cover and half is now bare. and the snow piles are still ever where. There is even some ice/frozen slush on the road yet. 

 

 

Looks like the snow belts took a beating where the very high ratio snows melted away. I'm sure where you have more shade the snow was able to survive.  Let's hope we can rebuild the depleted snow pack!

 

That late week snow system definitely helped IA/MN/WI posters.  Glad to see somebody escaped the brown grass appearing.

 

Meantime, Gary Lezak updated his Winter Forecast and has a broader area of below normal temps for the Winter season.

[jaster220]

Went ahead and started a January 2017 thread...

 

Back to reality with temps in the mid 20's and breezy conditions still continuing under grey skies.  

 

Looks like the snow pack took a beating from Fond Du Lac/MSN and N IA

 

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/snow_model/images/full/Northern_Great_Lakes/nsm_depth/201612/nsm_depth_2016122705_Northern_Great_Lakes.jpg

 

 

 

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/snow_model/images/full/National/nsm_depth/201612/nsm_depth_2016122705_National.jpg

 

Wow - amazing how N IA held onto their snow cover while everyone east watched it vanish into thin air. Was the warm surge muted, or delayed until further east? Baffled at the results tbh.

[gosaints]

Wow - amazing how N IA held onto their snow cover while everyone east watched it vanish into thin air. Was the warm surge muted, or delayed until further east? Baffled at the results tbh.

Never got.above 37 here I dont think

[Tom]

Wow - amazing how N IA held onto their snow cover while everyone east watched it vanish into thin air. Was the warm surge muted, or delayed until further east? Baffled at the results tbh.

Warm tongue never really surged north till late on Christmas night for E IA/N IL/S WI. James and GoSaints area on north really escaped it as they were a little closer to the storm. MI posters were unlucky to see the warm tongue during the day and with sunshine which didn't help the circumstances.

[Tom]

Fun comparison of LM Ice coverage from current period to '13/'14...slow start I'd say...

 

 

 

2013-14...

 

[CentralNebWeather]

Back home in central Nebraska. Good trip to kc, love spending time with the relatives. Now let's get some snow to start out 2017.

[james1976]

Yeah i reached 39 Christmas night. I was able to keep a light snowcover.