Southern Plains winter wx thread (2008-2009)

[tropicana]

snowed gently and lightly for most of the night last nite in Niagara Falls, on a very cold night, it got down to 8F. When its this cold, the snow is very soft and light..and there was no major wind at all to go along with this event..so it was pretty to look at.

the wind is expected to pick up later on today and especially tonight and tomorrow... so this lovely fluffy soft snow is likely to become airborne and create blowing and low drifting snow.. and with the continued cold temperatures, its gonna start to feel even more uncomfortable outside. And downright dangerous too.

brrrrr

-justin-

[Ed Mahmoud]

9 AM MESOSCALE UPDATE...LOCAL RADARS SHOW BANDS OF MODERATE TO
LOCALLY HEAVY SNOW...FORCED VIA H8-9 FRONTOGENESIS AND FUELED BY
POSITIVE H8 THETA E ADVECTION/H9 SE ATLANTIC INFLOW...FROM NYC E
ACROSS LONG ISLAND/COASTAL CT AND EXPANDING INTO INTERIOR EASTERN
CT...WITH THE HEAVIEST BAND ACROSS EASTERN LONG ISLAND. ANOTHER AREA
OF MODERATE SNOW WAS ALSO BLOSSOMING ACROSS CENTRAL NJ...IN RESPONSE
TO AREA OF STRONG UPPER DIVERGENCE IN RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF UPPER
JET STREAK ACROSS NYC METRO/SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND AS EVIDENCED BY
RAPIDLY COOLING CLOUD TOPS JUST EAST OF THE APPALACHIANS...AND THIS
AREA APPEARS HEADED TOWARD NYC/LONG ISLAND. SNOWFALL ACROSS THE AREA
SO FAR HAS BEEN MAINLY AROUND AN INCH...WITH LOCALIZED TOTALS CLOSE
TO 2 INCHES...AND WOULD EXPECT AT LEAST ANOTHER 1-2 INCHES THROUGH
LATE MORNING IN MUCH OF THE ADVISORY AREA PER REASONING HERE AND
BELOW...SO ADVISORIES WILL STAND AS IS.

Massena, NY has bounced back all the way from -26ºF to the current -14ºF.

[Brent]

Rochelle, IL fell to -37F this morning!

http://www.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KRPJ.html

If this number stands, then it will be cold enough to break the ALL-TIME record low for the state of Illinois set back in 1999 (-36F)!

Looks like our coldest will now be tomorrow night:

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 11. Wind chill values as low as -2. North wind around 10 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 35. Wind chill values as low as -2. North wind around 10 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 9. North wind around 5 mph.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Arctic Blast- A FRIGID 52*F at my house this morning...LOL

[jinftl]

That is 2 deg above normal for the average low in tampa for this date.

Arctic Blast- A FRIGID 52*F at my house this morning...LOL

[Dionne]

It's warmer at the Alyeska Ski resort in Girdwood, Alaska (+36F and rain) than it is here in SW Mississippi.

Edit update: 39" inches of snow in the last 48 hours at the top of chair 6.......which is around the 3000' level. The base of the mountain is at 200' with rain. Last night they recorded 122 mph winds at the patrol shack at the top of the tram. WILD WEATHER!!!

[MGC]

At my house at noon it is 54 degrees. Just checked Jackson and they are in the 30's so the cold is on its way. Darn global warming.....MGC

[RL3AO]

When it's that cold does everything shutdown? No work? No school?

They closed schools in my town for cold for the first time I can remember (maybe 1996?).

[RL3AO]

It's warmer at the Alyeska Ski resort in Girdwood, Alaska (+36F and rain) than it is here in SW Mississippi.

Thats usually how it works. When its warm in Alaska, its cold in the CONUS, when its cold in Alaska, its warm in CONUS.

[AL Chili Pepper]

It's warmer at the Alyeska Ski resort in Girdwood, Alaska (+36F and rain) than it is here in SW Mississippi.

Thats usually how it works. When its warm in Alaska, its cold in the CONUS, when its cold in Alaska, its warm in CONUS.

Yeah, it's like a 100 degree temperature shift in the last week at Ft Yukon...from -65 to +35. I bet they're out basking in the sun today, what little there is.

[Extremeweatherguy]

Still only -7F in Chicago this afternoon.



It is starting to look more and more likely that they may not get above -5F today. Brr!

[somethingfunny]

It's 36 degrees here in Pottsboro and 48 in Dallas. (60 miles south)

Dang heat island. At least I don't have to travel so far to find some balmy weather.

[PTrackerLA]

We're currently at 50 degrees right now, hard to believe we will drop down to 26 tonight but we'll see. Sure wasn't much in the way of cooling when the "arctic" front moved through today. I guess this is why they call it a glancing blow.

[Shockwave]

My school system is closed with our lows forecasted to get from anywhere between -2ºF to 2ºF. That is brutal cold, especially for TN people!

[RL3AO]

My school system is closed with our lows forecasted to get from anywhere between -2ºF to 2ºF. That is brutal cold, especially for TN people!

And I still had school when it was -20 out...

[Extremeweatherguy]

Chicago (Ohare) only hit a high temperature of -6F this afternoon, making this event officially colder than the 1996 event for the city (when the high was -5F). Pretty impressive!

Update - Nevermind. It looks like the actual high for the day was set near midnight (lol) when the temperature was -1F to -2F. Therefore, it was not "officially" colder than the 1996 event, it "unofficially" was. The record books will say it was warmer, but I am sure it felt as cold or colder to anyone who had to be outside.

[Extremeweatherguy]

Here is a preliminary assessment of JB's ideas that he put out for this arctic outbreak over the past couple of weeks...

Things he got correct:
~A sub-zero day in Chicago.

Things he will likely not get correct:
~27F or colder low temperature in McAllen, TX and/or Orlando, FL (UPDATE: JB actually thinks the biggest threat for this kind of cold in central Florida will be early next week, not this week).
~Teens to the I-10 corridor from IAH to TLH (there may still be teens reported along that stretch, but not everyone in that area will see them).

Too early to tell:
~NYC falling to 5F or colder (Current forecast from the NWS calls for 6F, so it will be a close call).
~0F afternoon in Pittsburgh (Unlikely, but still theoretically possible for tomorrow afternoon).

[hcaeb]

They have mentioned some snow perhaps for NC on Sunday? Anyone have any ideas?
Also - looks like it may be wet Tuesday?

[Stephanie]

Currently 14 degrees right now. It's supposed to go into the single digits overnight and be in the upper teens tomorrow. At least we've been "weened" into this deep freeze over the last few days. You never really get used to it.

I know that what we're having is a heat wave to those in MN, ND, SD, etc. compared to what they're seeing.

Anyway, we did have a nice little snow squall come through at around rush hour this morning. It was snowing pretty darn hard for a little bit, but it was all gone here at home when I returned from work.

[Scott Patterson]

Most places in the West have been mild lately.

Today was the the 5th day in a row that it didn't drop below zero at the official weather station (located downtown). In the month of January, it was the longest streak we've had without dropping below zero in three years (since January 2006 where it went over a week without dropping below zero). It supposed to drop down to +1F tonight and if it doesn't touch zero, it looks like nights are forecast to be a mile 4-8F until the middle of next week. Winter is taking a break in the West and seems to have parked in the Midwest for a while. Good luck to you all.