February 2023 Observations and Discussions

[Money]

Honestly this does have the feeling of a pretty bad ice storm somewhere in the area. You’re gonna have a tight temp gradient with a lot of precip overrunning the area. A big high pressure system just to the north funneling in colder temps.

Freezing rain zone temps on the euro are in the 25-27 range as well 

[Tom]

0z Euro...this one has been on my radar for our Sub for a while now and it appears the northern members are going to get hammered by a long duration winter storm with snow falling more than 24+ hours straight.  Gosh, almost makes me want to drive up north and experience this storm.   Hmmm....

 

 

[Money]

6z GFS with a significant south shift and lines up with the euro pretty good. Showing 25-30 in Minny yet as well and 16-24 in the GB area 

[Tom]

Started a storm thread for the Big Dog next week...

 

[westMJim]

Well today is day 3 or 4 depending of my COVID infection depending on how one interprets the so called guidelines. I have not gone out to measure the snow fall here but looking out the windows it looks like around 4”. At Grand Rapids the official H/L yesterday was 37/22 there was 0.63” of precipitation of that 1.8” was reported as snow fall. As freezing rain, sleet and snow all fell. There was no sunshine. The overnight low here at my house is the current reading of 18. For today the average H/L is now up to 34/20 the record high of 55 was set in 1911 and 2011 the record low of -19 was set in 1973.

[OKwx2k4]

Glad all our friends up north are about to get a true winter thump. We down here in the south kinda forget that even though snow is almost a given (except for in Nebraska, apparently. Lol/Sorry. I love you Nebraska folks. Y'all remind me to calm down.) to the point where "special" events have a different meaning. An 8 inch snow here now is 70-80 percent of my annual snowfall. It's just expected up there. 

I understand when you all up there get disappointed on the scales you all are used to, but I'm thrilled to see this change come about. 

[chescowxman]

We should reach our high temperature in the mid to upper 50's today before noon and then see temps fall into the 20's by later this evening. We have rain now and should see up to 0.25" of additional rain today. Colder with near normal temps in the low 40's tomorrow before back to well above normal by Sunday.

Records for today: High 67 (1976) / Low 9 below zero (1979)/ Record daily precipitation and snow 1.84" of water equivalent and 18.4" of snow part of a 2 day storm total of 18.9" from way back in 1900. This was the 18th largest snowstorm in County history.

[CentralNebWeather]

[CentralNebWeather]

[Beltrami Island]

I know its not talked about much here but that 0.4"+ band over nw ontario would equal or surpass snowfall and QPF those areas have received all cold season.  Dryden, ON only has 3-4" of snow on the ground.

Its hard to believe how much of a dividing line has developed this year in the storm tracks.  Everyone talks of cutters here but those cutters really hit a brick wall once the get to the great lakes the this year.  

[Madtown]

42 minutes ago, Beltrami Island said:

I know its not talked about much here but that 0.4"+ band over nw ontario would equal or surpass snowfall and QPF those areas have received all cold season.  Dryden, ON only has 3-4" of snow on the ground.

Its hard to believe how much of a dividing line has developed this year in the storm tracks.  Everyone talks of cutters here but those cutters really hit a brick wall once the get to the great lakes the this year.  

That's off. Not much better but Wabigoon, ON has about a foot on the ground. Actual report from a friend as of today. Way low still...going to be a bad fire season if not for a wet spring.

[westMJim]

As we head into the last full week of February it is a good time to see what has happened in the last week in February in Grand Rapids in the past. 2016 that February saw very little snow the first 18 days and on the 19th the temperature shot up to 61 and Grand Rapids along with winds that guested up to 70MPH. 5 days later there was a two day snow event that dropped 10.2” of snow. That was not the last snow event of 2016 as 7.4” fell on March 1st and the temperature dropped to 6. 1998 with mostly no snow on the ground the last days of 1998 had highs in the 40’s and 50’s for an early tease of spring. 2015 had a cold 2nd half of February from the 14th to the 28th the warmest low was 14 and there were 7 days with lows of 0 or lower and 6 more with lows of 10 or lower. 1930 was the flip of 2015 with highs mostly in the upper 50 and 60’s the last days with the highest reaching 67. That warm trend was also the case in 2000 with highs once again in the 50’s and 60’s reaching 63 on two days. 1989 was on the cold side with lows reaching -4 on the 23rd and -9 on the 24th It was -7 and -10 at Lansing on those days. It was spring like in 1976 when highs reached the 50’s and 60’s in late February with the highest being 67.  

Yesterday the official H/L at Grand Rapids was 27/19. There was 0.04” of precipitation and 1.1” of snow fall. The sun was out 47% of the possible time. As of 7AM yesterday there was officially 3” of snow on the ground. For today the average H/L is 34/20 the record high of 59 was set in 2017 and the record low of -10 was set in 1936. The record snow fall of 7.0” fell in 1926

[Clinton]

EAX is generally conservative on forecasting high temps, KC will probably make a run at 70 and some record highs next week.  Spring is in the air!

[chescowxman]

It felt chilly this AM with our low of 23.5 degrees but that is actually only 1 degree below normal. Our ongoing "non-winter" has us feeling more like North Carolina climate this season! After today we return to more of an Carolinas climate as we see temps back into the 50's to even 60's by Thursday! Best rain chances this week will be Tuesday AM and Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Both the European and GFS models have some accumulating snow by next Saturday....but we know how that has gone this season!
The records for today: High 70 (1981) / Low 7 below zero (1903) / Precipitation 1.08" (1960) Snow 10.0" (1979) this was the 1st day of a 2 day storm that brought 15.2" of snow to our County.

[Jayhawker85]

3 hours ago, Clinton said:

EAX is generally conservative on forecasting high temps, KC will probably make a run at 70 and some record highs next week.  Spring is in the air!

I’m ready for spring but also dreading allergy season

[Phil]

Had a bit of wind here yesterday. Dewpoint dropped 45 degrees behind the front. Both wind+dry advection augmented by downsloping.

[Bryan1117]

On 2/17/2023 at 1:34 PM, CentralNebWeather said:

Finally in the double digits here as well! Took long enough though.

[CentralNebWeather]

5 minutes ago, Bryan1117 said:

Finally in the double digits here as well! Took long enough though.

I’ve read that officially we are at 27.8” which lines up exactly with this map over my area. Eyes are always drawn to the light purple. They will add to their record setting totals this coming week. 

[GDR]

[OKwx2k4]

Its a great thing to see the latter half of February bring rains to the upper and middle Mississippi basin. 

Negatives are the dearth of moisture continuing in the "dust bowl" regions of TX/KS/CO and Oklahoma.

[Tom]

Well, it finally has decided to show up in the modeling, and my LR call of the -NAO block to pop end of FEB into MAR appears to be happening....it's interesting to see the EPS flipping big time as we close out FEB and move into MAR.  The big storm scheduled to open up MAR will be interesting to see evolve as the high lat blocking locks in and should create a west/east storm track...Bowling Balls anyone??  The pattern setting up to finish off Met Winter and open up Met Spring is shaping up to be an ideal situation to generate more winter storms.  #backloadedwinter

 

 

 

 

[westMJim]

The official H/L at Grand Rapids yesterday was 38/35 there was no rain or snow fall and at 7am there was 2” of snow on the ground. There was 593 minutes of sunshine that is good for 93%. With cloudy skies the current temperature here in my yard is 36. There is still around 1.5” of snow on the ground here yet. For today the average H/L is now up to 35/20 the record high of 62 was set in 2017 and the record low of -15 was set in 1978. The record snow fall of 5.0” was set in 1900. The current seasonal snow fall at Grand Rapids is 84.4”  All eyes then turn to the mid week system that could bring some big issues with it.

[OKwx2k4]

1 hour ago, Tom said:

Well, it finally has decided to show up in the modeling, and my LR call of the -NAO block to pop end of FEB into MAR appears to be happening....it's interesting to see the EPS flipping big time as we close out FEB and move into MAR.  The big storm scheduled to open up MAR will be interesting to see evolve as the high lat blocking locks in and should create a west/east storm track...Bowling Balls anyone??  The pattern setting up to finish off Met Winter and open up Met Spring is shaping up to be an ideal situation to generate more winter storms.  #backloadedwinter

 

 

 

 

That looks like 6 more weeks of winter to me. Wow. 

[chescowxman]

Yesterday was our 1st below normal temperature day since February 4th and only our 6th below normal day this year! Back to above normal temps for much of the upcoming work week before below normal temps and maybe a little snow to rain mix next weekend.

Records for today: High 67.2 (2017) / Low 2 below (1978) / Precipitation 1.20" (1898)/ Snow 12.0" (1972). Of note that 12" of snow today in 1972 would be followed on the 23rd by 1" of snow. It would not snow again across most of Chester County for 22 months until the 8" snowstorm of December 16-17, 1973.

[OmahaSnowFan]

Can definitely tell it’s getting late into February and the sun is stronger.

6-8” of snow around town 3 days ago and the majority of it’s gone. In fact temps have overachieved each day as well by about 3-5 degrees.

37 on Friday the day after.

48 yesterday. 

45 so far today.

[Bryan1117]

1 hour ago, OmahaSnowFan said:

Can definitely tell it’s getting late into February and the sun is stronger.

6-8” of snow around town 3 days ago and the majority of it’s gone. In fact temps have overachieved each day as well by about 3-5 degrees.

37 on Friday the day after.

48 yesterday. 

45 so far today.

Yeah outside of the larger piles and drifts, our recent snowpack is melting quick. At this rate most of it will be gone by Wednesday. 

[Money]

Lock it in 

[Money]

Storm after storm after storm in the long range 

[Hawkeye]

Our 6" of snow is nearly gone as well.

[Stormy]

Snow cover really diminished this afternoon from 2 days ago. It's probably even less by now. Can't really tell what's what in northern Iowa since some of that is clouds. 

[james1976]

1 hour ago, hawkstwelve said:

Just posting this for posterity. Don't think I've ever seen 57 inches on a map for a place I live. 

Obviously the likelihood of this happening is next to zero but if it did, this would cement this season as the snowiest ever on record with still another two months left in the season. Wow.

Would be springtime flooding if that were to verify

[Madtown]

I'll take my measly 35 and run

[Andie]

Highs this week 80-81. Lows around 60  Some rain ahead this week  

I think winters done here.  There will no doubt be a cold snap ahead but it’s pretty much over.  

[westMJim]

Well, this is day 6 of my 1st COVID experience. For the most part my COVID so far has been like a odd cold. That is cold like symptoms but just feels different for some reason. While I seem to be feeling better, the overnight was not good to me. I have been having on and off coughing spells with  not hint as to when one was going to happen. Well, I had a real bad one that woke me up at 2:30 or so and I had to cough up a lot of what I will call phlegm that is centered around my voice box, larynx area. I am one of the few people that still have my tonsils around that area as well. Anyway it took a good while of coughing to get that phlegm out. That is coughing and the help of a hot Vernors, lemon and a good shot of Seagram’s. I have had around 3 rounds of that coughing the last couple of days.

The official H/L here in Grand Rapids yesterday was 47/34 there was no rain or snow fall and the sun was out for 418 minutes good for 65%. There was a reported 1” of snow on the ground yesterday at 7 AM. During my coughing spell the low fell to 22 here and now it is 23 with clear skies. For today the average H/L is now up to 35/20 the record high of 63 was in 2018 and the record low of -13 was set in 1966 and again in 2015. The record snow fall amount of 7.1” fell in 2011. We still have our eyes on the system for mid week.

[Andie]

Well, my friend my heart goes out to you. Those I’ve known with Covid have certainly suffered from all you reported.  I feel blessed to have dodged that bullet.   
Just get well soon and be good to yourself.  With luck you’ll have plenty of antibodies to protect you going forward.  

[Money]

Extended on the gfs looks ridiculous…

[Hawkeye]

10 hours ago, Sparky said:

Snow cover really diminished this afternoon from 2 days ago. It's probably even less by now. Can't really tell what's what in northern Iowa since some of that is clouds. 

I like watching the visible satellite as the snow melts after a storm.  After a few days the lighter snow is gone and you can see exactly where the heaviest snow fell.

[chescowxman]

With the exception of Friday this week looks pretty unsettled weather wise with temps bouncing from warmer today and tomorrow; colder Wednesday with maybe some snow mixed with rain; very warm on Thursday in the 60's then colder for the weekend with snow changing to rain.

Records for today: High 71 (1930) / Low 4 below zero (1903) / Precipitation 2.11" (1924) / Snow 11.0" (1921)

[jaster220]

On 2/17/2023 at 6:06 AM, Tom said:

0z Euro...this one has been on my radar for our Sub for a while now and it appears the northern members are going to get hammered by a long duration winter storm with snow falling more than 24+ hours straight.  Gosh, almost makes me want to drive up north and experience this storm.   Hmmm....

 

 

I'm in NMI and cannot stay past Wednesday. The warm weekend really torched snow cover anywhere the sun wasn't shaded. Thinking my best last shot at seeing impressive winter conditions will be to intercept tonight's jack-zone in the E Yoop with the pre-cursor clipper system. Heading there in the morning. 6+ fresh on top of a decent base should be pretty decent.

 

[Tom]

7 minutes ago, jaster220 said:

I'm in NMI and cannot stay past Wednesday. The warm weekend really torched snow cover anywhere the sun wasn't shaded. Thinking my best last shot at seeing impressive winter conditions will be to intercept tonight's jack-zone in the E Yoop with the pre-cursor clipper system. Heading there in the morning. 6+ fresh on top of a decent base should be pretty decent.

 

Have fun up there!  The way I see it, I may be better off heading to AZ and tracking a storm or two up in Flagstaff the way this winter has been.  This has truly been one hellova winter for the mountains of AZ.