We're almost in to 2019 and we still haven't had an actual snow event. The handful of small dustings we had back in November really doesn't add up to me the way the airport snow readings say they do. As far as I'm concerned, we're sitting at 0" of snow for the year. A dusting isn't enough to get me excited.
Now we're going to end December with absolutely no snow. Over the past 20 years, December hasn't really defined our season. Some would think a snowless December would be bad, but the records seem to show there's no correlation.
December 2011
We had only 0.5", ended the season with only 12.2"
December 2012
Got 14.9" and ended the season above average at 41.2"
December 2013
Had 12.7" and ended the season with our highest total ever, 56.4"
December 2014 and 2015
Here are the outliers. Both of those Decembers saw no snow. 2014 ended with an above average 33.4", while 2015 was below average at 17.1". Those two years could be what people would consider the proof that December has no tie to the whole season.
December 2016
Maybe this is also another argument that December doesn't set the season. We had 5.4" of snow, right at our average for the month. We ended up with only another 3.9" of snow to end the season a 9.4".
So what does that mean for the rest of the season? Who knows. All I know is we're still looking snowless for the next 10 days. Happy New Year?
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Monday, December 24, 2018
Maybe a Sorta White Christmas
It's Christmas Eve and all I'm wondering is if the little bit of snow showers I see in the forecast for tomorrow will be enough to quench the thirst of anyone hoping for a White Christmas. The definition of a White Christmas is 1" or more on the ground Christmas Morning. I'm assuming that means by sunrise. Well, by the book, we will not have a White Christmas this year.
In my post last weekend I was hoping for some kind of system to develop and drop down out of Canada around the Christmas Eve time frame, just based on the overall flow of things after our soaker passed through on Friday. That didn't happen. Instead we're getting a weak disturbance out of the Plains that will bring us a chance of light snow showers tomorrow afternoon:
A clipper-like system would have had a little more juice to it and a reinforcing shot of cold air. This one is coming in flat, so there won't be much forcing to be had, meaning not a great chance of the showers over performing.
That's the key phrase if we want any shot at all of getting snow early Christmas morning: over performing. We would need this disturbance to speed up and intensify. By the time it gets here around noon tomorrow, it will have lost a lot of its moisture as it moves in to cooler, drier air.
If you're rooting for snow on the ground Christmas Morning while you're opening your presents, root for this thing to speed up.
Merry Christmas!
In my post last weekend I was hoping for some kind of system to develop and drop down out of Canada around the Christmas Eve time frame, just based on the overall flow of things after our soaker passed through on Friday. That didn't happen. Instead we're getting a weak disturbance out of the Plains that will bring us a chance of light snow showers tomorrow afternoon:
A clipper-like system would have had a little more juice to it and a reinforcing shot of cold air. This one is coming in flat, so there won't be much forcing to be had, meaning not a great chance of the showers over performing.
That's the key phrase if we want any shot at all of getting snow early Christmas morning: over performing. We would need this disturbance to speed up and intensify. By the time it gets here around noon tomorrow, it will have lost a lot of its moisture as it moves in to cooler, drier air.
If you're rooting for snow on the ground Christmas Morning while you're opening your presents, root for this thing to speed up.
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 15, 2018
When Will It Snow?
Wow, a month between posts? That usually means things got pretty boring. In fact, it did. After a couple light snows in November it looked like we were setting up for a snowy December.
Wrong.
November saw a respectable 2.1" of snow in Columbus, while December really hasn't had any. The airport has reported 0.4" but I'd love to know how they came up with that. We had a streak to start the month in the 50s and 60s, followed by a cool but dry spell. Now here were are in the middle, mild but lots of rain today.
So the question isn't really will it snow... but WHEN will it snow? We know it's coming eventually, but could our first major snow of the season happen in time for a White Christmas?
Lets look forward to Friday, December 21st, when the parade of rain-making southern lows continues. What will be different about this one is the cold air it'll usher in on the backside. So while the majority of the event will be a mild rain, as the low departs we could see a changeover to snow:
This doesn't give us our White Christmas, but it does set us up going in to the 24th-25th timerange for a possible clipper to develop and drop down in to our area:
This is from the end of the Euro run and doesn't actually show anything developed, but it's a long way off. After that low departs off the New England coast, the northwest flow rule will be in effect, so the potential will absolutely be there for a storm to develop.
Now it's just a waiting game. The players will be there, but will it all develop? I can't say we have an incredible shot at a White Christmas, but I feel like it's higher than normal.
I'll be posting a lot more leading up to Christmas.
Wrong.
November saw a respectable 2.1" of snow in Columbus, while December really hasn't had any. The airport has reported 0.4" but I'd love to know how they came up with that. We had a streak to start the month in the 50s and 60s, followed by a cool but dry spell. Now here were are in the middle, mild but lots of rain today.
So the question isn't really will it snow... but WHEN will it snow? We know it's coming eventually, but could our first major snow of the season happen in time for a White Christmas?
Lets look forward to Friday, December 21st, when the parade of rain-making southern lows continues. What will be different about this one is the cold air it'll usher in on the backside. So while the majority of the event will be a mild rain, as the low departs we could see a changeover to snow:
This doesn't give us our White Christmas, but it does set us up going in to the 24th-25th timerange for a possible clipper to develop and drop down in to our area:
This is from the end of the Euro run and doesn't actually show anything developed, but it's a long way off. After that low departs off the New England coast, the northwest flow rule will be in effect, so the potential will absolutely be there for a storm to develop.
Now it's just a waiting game. The players will be there, but will it all develop? I can't say we have an incredible shot at a White Christmas, but I feel like it's higher than normal.
I'll be posting a lot more leading up to Christmas.
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