Jan 17th-19th Rain/Snow/Mix/LES System

[Hawkeye]

5-6" fell in the Des Moines area.  They just received 4" from the last system, so they've done well.

[Mi_Matthew]

Going as advertised out this way. Just a smidge under 4 inches since 1am. Beautiful out there.

[westMJim]

I have just under 6" of snow on the ground the snow is now mixing with a little sleet here and the temperature is 27 with light winds.

[Plowguy-dupage county]

Guessing we got close to 4". The sleet for about an hour. And then some moderate rain for 3-4 hours. Turned the snow into 2" of heavy wet slush. Taking a while to clean this crap up.

[Minny_Weather]

4" here and just changed over to freezing rain. I don't think this will be enough to keep the grass covered after today. 31.6*F and rising fast with WAA.

 

Apparently the airport, just a few miles West of me, got 5.5".

[Plowguy-dupage county]

Doesn't look like theres any back side snow going to happen here. Radar looks clear

[Tom]

Boy, am I glad that I shoveled last night instead of this morning...the snow pack has a thick glaze of ice on top of it and would be a strenuous task to clean up.  No thanks!

[Grizzcoat]

@ James/Grizz, did you get included in the Blizzard warnings that were expanded in N IA?  If I missed anyone else, let me know...would be a neat to see if some of our members to be effected by Blitz conditions.

One county away (just to my N) .... I wouldn't call it BLSN yet but for sure DRSN-- winds all ready gusting over 50 mph. The buzzing/humming  outside is eerie.  FZDZ has crusted over the snowpack causing BLSN/DRSN issues to be mitigated.  But it's still nasty out.

[Niko]

 

Special Weather Statement

Special Weather Statement

National Weather Service Detroit/Pontiac MI

637 AM EST Sat Jan 18 2020
 

MIZ068>070-181345-

Livingston-Oakland-Macomb-

Including the cities of Howell, Pontiac, and Warren

637 AM EST Sat Jan 18 2020
 

...Winter Storm Warning in Effect until Noon...
 

Heavy snow will continue to fall through 830 a.m. Snowfall rates

will be around an inch per hour which will reduce visibilities to

a half mile or less. Southeast winds will continue to gust over

20 mph creating some blowing and drifting snow. Expected another 3

to 6 inches of snow between 630 a.m. and 9 a.m. Roads will be

snow covered and dangerous. If you must travel this morning,

reduce your speed and allow plenty of extra time to reach your

destination.

 

[Niko]

Its crazy outside. Near whiteout conditions at times w blowing and drifting snow. Temps in the upper 20s. I am currently at 7.7inches and still more to go. I will take measurements when the storm finishes .

[Clinton]

Its crazy outside. Whiteout conditions w blowing and drifting snow. Temps in the upper 20s. I am currently at 7.7inches and still more to go. I will take measurements when the storm finishes .

Awesome glad your getting a big one, you might go over 12?

[Niko]

Awesome glad your getting a big one, you might go over 12?

Probably not, although, my storm total has me getting 6-12inches, so, who knows. I will take precise measurements once the storm ends. In the meantime, it is beautiful out there. Lots of blowing snow and moderate to hvy snow falling. Temp at 29F. Winds are gusting to ova 40 mph at times. I might get some drizzle later today.

[gimmesnow]

This is some real monkey paw stuff. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but it's MLK weekend so the hill will be absolutely packed, and they have the main run they don't groom when it snows closed for amateur races. Hopefully we get more later this week. These holiday people are crazy and absolutely terrifying. Yesterday two people almost went in the creek at the bottom of the hill by the time I left (around 2pm), and some kid on rental skis jumped into a fence.

 

Got about 5 to 6 inches here.

[james1976]

@ James/Grizz, did you get included in the Blizzard warnings that were expanded in N IA? If I missed anyone else, let me know...would be a neat to see if some of our members to be effected by Blitz conditions.

It is literally the next county to my west!

[Stormy]

The snow didn't shrink more than about half of an inch with the ZR we got last evening. It was 33° not long ago so with the increasing wind some of the 1/3" of ice accumulation on the trees was crashing down on the glacier of crunchy snow below. Probably won't warm enough to get it all off.

[Stormy]

I'm going to call it 4" of snow after a bit more fell this morning. Still waiting for my gauge catches to thaw. Looks like it will be quite a bit.

[jaster220]

Boy, am I glad that I shoveled last night instead of this morning...the snow pack has a thick glaze of ice on top of it and would be a strenuous task to clean up.  No thanks!

 

Well, I turned into a pumpkin at 12 am and decided NOT to go out and even take a measurement since it was still snowing and supposed to snow all night. I prefer to do it once when it's over (or in this case during "half time"). Going to have to make an estimate on the amount as it looks like the ZR swept thru here, and prior snow was wind-driven so there's some drifting off of roof tops involved where I normally measure. As you mentioned, it's a bit different having a SE wind strong enough to drift during a snowstorm. That's pretty common further north in the colder regions, but this with last Jan's PV storm is the 2nd time in a year it's been like this. All those maps showing 6-8" here by 12z this morning must've been thinking the qpf that came as ZR would be all snow. I've seen a report from Battle Creek of 4.5" and eyeballing outside I'd say we're similar. Congrats on your snow buddy and to everyone else who's gotten in on this. It has turned out to be even more spread the wealth than I thought. Huge system really! 

 

[St Paul Storm]

One last little band moving through now. I’m going to go with 5” here before the arctic front and winds move in. Won’t be able to accurately measure after that. Definitely at the low end of the forecasted range. But hey, 5” is 5”. Won’t ever complain about that.

[Niko]

Still coming down hard, w blowing snow. Temps are at 31F. My subdivision is literally buried. Easily surpassed 8" from what I am seeing through my window.

[Niko]

The snow didn't shrink more than about half of an inch with the ZR we got last evening. It was 33° not long ago so with the increasing wind some of the 1/3" of ice accumulation on the trees was crashing down on the glacier of crunchy snow below. Probably won't warm enough to get it all off.

Excellent pic amigo!

[Stacsh]

Measured an average of 6.5”. Solid. Awaiting the backside and LES to kick in later.

[dubuque473]

I would say 4” at my place. Nice snowpack now. Getting ready to fire up the 2 stage and throw for distance!

[Niko]

Looks like a very heavy snow band getting ready to move into my area from the SW soon. Dang!

[Stormy]

Excellent pic amigo!

Thank you!

[Minny_Weather]

Rain is thankfully about to end so all I'll have working against the accumulated snow now is warm air and not warm water.

[East Dubzz]

Man, that sure was unpleasant to shovel.

[East Dubzz]

About 3.5” or so seems right here. I’ll take it, especially considering how miserable it would have been to shovel much more than that.

[shakjen]

I was just shoveling the slush and the sleet and rain turned to huge flakes. Lasted about 15 minutes.

[BrianJK]

Think after this thing fully passes through, we’re gonna be left with an inch of slop

Well after a beautiful scene last night, it is an absolute slop fest out there this morning. With some light rain and temps in the mid 30s, there is slush and standing water everywhere. Going to feel pretty chilly even by January standards come tomorrow morning.

[Tom]

Well after a beautiful scene last night, it is an absolute slop fest out there this morning. With some light rain and temps in the mid 30s, there is slush and standing water everywhere. Going to feel pretty chilly even by January standards come tomorrow morning.

Pretty much one of the big reasons why I tried to spend as much time outside last night during the snowfall and soak it all in. It actually reminded me of the systems we saw during ‘13-‘14....hopefully we can tack on to the frozen glacier later this week.

[Tom]

@ Beltrami, how did you score up there? I’m seeing some heft totals up in N MN. Did you get double digits?

[Hawkeye]

The wind, she's a howlin'!

 

There's zero blowing snow, however, because we did not get any snow at all this morning.

[Tom]

The footage coming out of IA looks like the arctic tundra. I bet Grizz is lovin’ it!

[Hawkeye]

The ice really made cleaning difficult.  I used the snowblower last night, which was easy because the snow was still light and fluffy.  Unfortunately, that allowed the ice to cover and stick to the pavement.  It's going to be there for a while.  If I would have waited til this morning to run the blower, I could have cleaned down to the bare pavement.  However, the blower would have had real difficulty getting through the hard crust on top of the snow.  Shoveling around the edges this morning was a bit of a pain because of the crust.

[BrianJK]

Pretty much one of the big reasons why I tried to spend as much time outside last night during the snowfall and soak it all in. It actually reminded me of the systems we saw during ‘13-‘14....hopefully we can tack on to the frozen glacier later this week.

Yep. Made several trips out last night to take it all in. First time it felt like a true winter system all year.

[james1976]

The footage coming out of IA looks like the arctic tundra. I bet Grizz is lovin’ it!

I just read travel is not advised on the 35 corridor from Ames to Mason City

[East Dubzz]

Would have been nice to get some more snow today, but I think rather just avoiding all that blowing snow.

[james1976]

This definitely gives me that feeling of a classic winter storm. I picked up another 0.5" overnight with the wrap around. That puts my final storm total at 4.8" I saw a couple reports of 4.5 and 4.2 nearby so it makes sense. I also got about a tenth of an inch of ice. I just went out to do some shoveling and that ice didnt help with getting the job done! lol. While I was outside I could hear the trees crackling from the coating of ice and wind. There has been some blowing snow but I think the ice has held it down a bit, plus I live in town. All in all, very happy with this storm. Its quite the scene out there and seeing snow piles around driveways and road sides is very nice again! As Im typing this I can hear the wind picking up a bit more. Winter is definitely back!

[james1976]

Winter Wonderland!

[Stormy]

The temperature plunged since my last post and currently it's 13° with a wind chill of -9° already. Still plenty of ice on the trees. Max wind was 49 mph about 10 minutes ago. It would be near whiteout if the snow wouldn't be encased in ice! Not much blowing at least.