Current Obs and Synoptic Banter

[Wxmidatlantic]

Temp 15.8, looking at the Arctic front just entering West Virginia.

 

Max snow PAC showing up well on IR along with cold air. Residual surface moisture and convection could produce snow showers with passage.

 

 

[Phil]

Interestingly enough, the trees appear to be glazed over here this morning, so I wonder if that affects how they handle any wind this afternoon. Winds already gusting to around 25mph out of the south, and LWX says gusts could reach 60mph in some of the squalls (or even outside them in some places).

 

Advected from 14.5*F to 24.1*F in 1hr. One of the coldest “warm sectors” since the one in February 2015.

[Wxmidatlantic]

Easy to see where the snow fell yesterday. We where on the edge... schools closed.

 

[Wxmidatlantic]

Hints of a squall..

 

 

 

 

[Phil]

Just had a heavy gust here right out of the south. Blew a thick cloud of snow off the ground and high into the air.

 

Up to 31.1/15 ahead of the front/squall.

[Wxmidatlantic]

Peak wind SSW 31mph temp 30.4F

[Wxmidatlantic]

Nation Weather Service BWI just issued special weather statement for developing squall.

[Phil]

Squall dried up a bit before it got here, but still solid SN with my station registering a peak gust of 42mph.

 

Temp drop was legit too...33.8 to 22.5 in 40 minutes.

[Phil]

Woah, some big gusts developing out west. Seeing a number of stations on wunderground between 45-70mph as that huge mass of cold air advects in.

 

Should arrive here between 2-3pm, I think.

[Phil]

[Wxmidatlantic]

Wow, I couldn't turn away. Still 1 mile in light snow and blowing snow, with the sun out.

 

Squall produced 1/8 mile in SN blowing snow. Peak wind 47mph, .5 new snow.

 

Temp 22.4F

[Wxmidatlantic]

Snow has ended. Wind West 23 G34.

[Phil]

Looks like BWI reported a gust to 48mph, with a snow squall and blowing snow. Dulles reported blowing snow as well.

 

The wind front is moving into Leesburg now. Should arrive at Dulles by ~ 245pm +/- 15 minutes.

[Phil]

Decent gustage with that wind front here. Hit 48mph from the WNW once the sun came out and destabilized us a little bit. Stronger than during the snow squall.

 

https://www.wunderground.com/personal-weather-station/dashboard?ID=KMDBETHE62&cm_ven=localwx_pwsdash#history

 

Temp down to 16.9 and falling fast as the sun sets, dewpoint down to -2, still gusting to ~ 30-35mph. Chilly!

[Wxmidatlantic]

4.8 winds have calmed....

[Wxmidatlantic]

3.2 calm winds...

[Phil]

Low was 6.6*F here around 3AM. We decoupled briefly around then, but the NW winds blow very hard in my area, and they returned quickly around 430AM, bumping us back up to 7.7*F.

 

Dewpoint bottomed out at -13.2*F. Wind chill -17*F.

[Phil]

Looking back at my records, the dewpoint of -13.2*F this morning was the lowest I’ve recorded since the -17.8*F reading back in February 2015 (when we literally *advected* down to -1.4*F with almost no snowpack and 65mph gusts all night long..man that was such an amazing event).

 

Last January, our lowest dewpoint was -6.6*F. So this airmass was actually drier. But we were able to decouple longer last year, and drop to 2.8*F as a result. A bit too much wind this time to maximize cooling.

[Phil]

Strike that, l also apparently recorded a -20.8*F dewpoint with the reinforcing shot in February 2015. That was one of my favorite months of all time..endless high Arctic violence.

 

The Valentine’s Day squall that dropped 3-5” in 1 hour in some places (just 1” here) along with thunder/lightning followed by the Arctic front which produced frequent gusts between 60-70mph, and plunged temps from 30*F down to between 0 to -10*F over just 7hrs was something to behold. Also was the most incredible ground blizzard I can remember, even more insane than February 10th, 2010. Apparently even 1” of snow is enough to produce whiteout conditions.

[Phil]

Down to 12.7*F as of 10:50pm with calm winds. The airmass has moderated quite a bit, but we’re radiating very efficiently to make up for it.

[Phil]

Currently 17/8 and snowing smoke. Dusting.

[Wxmidatlantic]

Looks like precip fields setting up a little SE than progged.... Still 3S-

[Wxmidatlantic]

We have dyndrites... 21/2S-

[Wxmidatlantic]

Finally.. 3/4S- temp 14.2 wind NE 7mph...

[Phil]

What do you know, we have 1.1” on the ground with snow still falling at 330pm. Much more than I thought we’d see.

 

Brings my seasonal total to ~ 16”. Now we get to enjoy a two week thaw before winter returns.

[Wxmidatlantic]

 

Few thin cirrus, 6.1F wind calm...

[Wxmidatlantic]

Fog developing, calm winds temp up to 7.8F

[dairyd]

cold air seems a bit stubborn to scour out, will it warm up today as planned? Telekenetics seem to point to the cold river flowing more to the west than the east for the forseeable future.  But all of that could change on whether the pacific ridge retrogrades or not and how the greenland block matures.  interesting times.

[Wxmidatlantic]

12z NAM introducing freezing drizzle Sunday night early Monday for DC area. Morning cummute could be influenced, Image below.

 

 

12z GFS sets the table at 144hrs.

 

 

[Phil]

Low of 11.8*F this morning. Some high clouds around prevented us from reaching the single digits again.

[Wxmidatlantic]

19z temp 43.6 light NE wind. Coastal trof developing...

[Wxmidatlantic]

Today will be max warm air advection in mid-Atlantic. Temps this morning 3-4 degrees below prog. 30 OVC....

 

[Wxmidatlantic]

250 - SCT welcome the torch....

[Wxmidatlantic]

Thank you guys for getting that high to shift to the west and help it pump another SE ridge. Nice to have a couple weeks of snow and cold to look forward too in Seattle

It is what it is.

[Wxmidatlantic]

[Wxmidatlantic]

There was a time I arrived at GSO temp was 60.f By 12z it was 7f it was known as "the presidents day storm"....

[Phil]

Thank you guys for getting that high to shift to the west and help it pump another SE ridge. Nice to have a couple weeks of snow and cold to look forward too in Seattle

Haha, you’re welcome. BTW, can you please merge this thread with the main 2019 thread so we have one timeline?

 

That’s your cold/snow delivery fee..if you don’t do this you’ll get screwed at the last minute.

[Phil]

Beautiful day! High of 70.5*F here.

 

Hard to believe it was 5*F with howling winds and blowing snow a week ago.

[Wxmidatlantic]

Bitter NE wind 10-15. Temp 31F. Modified Continental Polar air starting to funnel down.

 

[Phil]

Bitter NE wind 10-15. Temp 31F. Modified Continental Polar air starting to funnel down.

 

2019022715_metars_bwi.gif

Lucky. Very different here..high temp of 38.3*F was just reached here 30mins ago, no wind at all. Dewpoint still 30*F.

 

We’re very sheltered from E/NE winds, here so advecting that cool/dry air in is tough when it’s coming from that direction.

[Wxmidatlantic]

Cold north winds 10-15 mph setting the stage for wintry weather. Some observations. Temps approaching 65F southern Va. They are about to get backdoored.

 

Got to love March. High sun angles puts thermal dynamics in overdrive. The atmosphere heats from the bottom and cools from the top. Volatility, let's hope severe weather is below average this year.

 

250 -SCT here. Hope clouds arrive after sunset. A little radiational cooling can only help.

 

 

[Wxmidatlantic]

Almost forgot. NWS says high temp 47F Saturday in Baltimore. Weather channel says 50F. Let's see how that works our for them...

[Phil]

Cold north winds 10-15 mph setting the stage for wintry weather. Some observations. Temps approaching 65F southern Va. They are about to get backdoored.

 

Got to love March. High sun angles puts thermal dynamics in overdrive. The atmosphere heats from the bottom and cools from the top. Volatility, let's hope severe weather is below average this year.

Boo. Hiss.

 

I love severe weather. Not just because it’s exciting, dynamic, and unpredictable, but also because I work in landscaping/arboriculture, and storm damage is my primary source of income during the summer months.

[Phil]

Meanwhile, finally getting some cool/dry advection in here after a long wait. Wind flipped N/NW this morning and dewpoints began crashing..down from 32 to 20. Temp is still in the mid-40s, but wet bulbs are declining.

[Phil]

 

Boo. Hiss.

I love severe weather. Not just because it’s exciting, dynamic, and unpredictable, but also because I work in landscaping/arboriculture, and storm damage is my primary source of income during the summer months.

You never had a realative sucked up. Such is life in the trialor park...

You have? Very sorry to hear, if so. Thankfully we rarely see large tornadoes like that here.

 

The vast majority of our severe weather consists of microburst activity, straight line winds, and the occasional damaging hail event.

[Andie]

Boo. Hiss.

I love severe weather. Not just because it’s exciting, dynamic, and unpredictable, but also because I work in landscaping/arboriculture, and storm damage is my primary source of income during the summer months.[/quote

You never had a realative sucked up. Such is life in the trialor park...

 

 

 

Had a tree ripped up right in front of my car, and stood under a funnel cloud. But no lost relatives....but it's early days still.

[Wxmidatlantic]

Today we find out the winner of the great 48hr temp forecast challenge. NWS 47F, weather channel 50F..

 

Coming up on 17Z. Temp 35.4F.

[Wxmidatlantic]

We have reached max heating. Temp 37.4F 40 at BWI.

[Wxmidatlantic]

21Z 39.8 43 BWI...

 

Did not work out well.

 

[Phil]