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Hahah.well, no doubt the trumping up of winter weather by the media is comical at best...dangerous at worst. Its all a news story now. And I agree. I have family in Buffalo and its amazing how differently they handle snowstorms. Then again you could live here in Charlotte N.C. Its a joke here as an inch of snow last winter closed school for 3 days. No exaggeration.
I think the only place I disagree is that because the I-95 corridor has so many people, a foot here is much more newsworthy than a foot in Duluth or south of Buffalo because of the huge impact it can have on large amounts of people.. Like you stated , my problem is the incessant trumping of "big storms" when 9 out of 10 times its all a bunch of hype.
Your right about that of course: 50 million people live between Richmond and the NYC area...so even a few inches of snow is a big deal.
I just thought the writer captured so well the angle of winter hype on the East Coast vs the climatic reality. Maybe they should run that on the Weather Channel or AccuWeather. They use computer models that have a bias toward hyped events and are written by folks who have an interest in extreme winter weather. Yet, the long term numbers tell us the models and the hype are mostly fantasies
Your right about that of course: 50 million people live between Richmond and the NYC area...so even a few inches of snow is a big deal.
I just thought the writer captured so well the angle of winter hype on the East Coast vs the climatic reality. Maybe they should run that on the Weather Channel or AccuWeather. They use computer models that have a bias toward hyped events and are written by folks who have an interest in extreme winter weather. Yet, the long term numbers tell us the models and the hype are mostly fantasies
I agree. Well, the news channels figured out long ago , a snowstorm or potential one makes for more viewers. This is especially true of Accuweather. If you want to get all excited about pre -hyped storms that may or may not materialize..watch Accuweather.
5.1 Inches paralyzed this area?? I busted out laughing...I guess we need 5 feet nowadays. LOL D.C Got a foot in this storm... Bolded part is the best..."Storm Paused & Strengthened Unexpectedly"
WHAT?? A foot of Snow In Washington D.C?? That Cant be. Thats not Average! Dont look at the average folks.
Did you know that 53 years ago a snowstorm virtually paralyzed southwestern Connecticut? Just about a half-foot of snow fell across the region, catching most everybody, including commuters and holiday shoppers, by surprise.
Officially, 5.1 inches of snow fell in Bridgeport on Wednesday, December 4, 1957, causing one of the greatest traffic jams in that city, according to The Bridgeport Post. The front-page article said that "Downtown streets were clogged with stalled traffic. The bumper-to-bumper situation persisted for five hours, delaying thousands of homeward-bound workers."
Many people were stranded temporarily when rides failed to show or scheduled buses ran well behind schedule. Bus lines and taxis reported many extra customers, but the traffic jam prevented them from reaching their destinations promptly. The New Haven Railroad reported that commuter trains were jammed all evening, but there were no train delays blamed on the storm.
Slowed to a snail's pace by the blinding snow, it took motorists an hour to an hour-and-a-half to travel from downtown Bridgeport to North Avenue. The greatest difficulty was crossing intersections clogged by autos inching along bumper-to-bumper. Cars standing in traffic for a prolonged period of time ran out of gas, adding to the confusion. Police noted numerous instances of car batteries and lights failing as cars stalled at intersections.
The weather bureau said a combination of unusual conditions caused the storm to pause at midday and strengthen a few hours later. The storm's intensification caught many people off guard and unprepared. The rapidly-falling snow created skidding hazards and all but erased the effects of the Department of Public Works' sanding operations earlier in the day.
The snowfall was the greatest in Bridgeport since a two-day storm in March of 1956 delivered 19.4 inches. Consider that the normal average snowfall for the entire month of December is 3.6 inches. Strong winds, especially during the evening and nighttime hours, caused considerable drifting of the snow. Winds gusted over 35 to 40 miles an hour.
I wonder how many people remember that storm? If you do, I'd like to hear from you. I can only imagine what it must have been like for stranded motorists. They sure don't make 'em like they used to!
December 6: 2 Inches
December 9: 4 inches (Long Island Rain)
December 20: 12 Inches(Middlesex and New London County Up to 2 Feet!)
December 31: 2 Inches
So save this no December snow for someone who will believe it. Last year we had a storm every week and one of them was MASSIVE bringing feet of snow to areas around us.
The storm the models are trying to spin (as well as Accuweather) will head for the Great Lakes...the Atlantic ridge is still way too strong (thank you warm Atlantic).
So rain on the East Coast on the 12-14 is still the best bet. Not saying the track can't change...but it looks like a very long shot.
PS. About 0.4 inches of snow/dusting fell overnight down here on the coast. I'm sure it will be gone in a few hours when the sun come up, but it looks nice on the bamboo in the garden.
According to NOAA...See Bold below. Still 2 seperate systems like I said days ago, first will be the weaker...but apparently as of right now its rain.... Someone please push this East!!
-- Changed Discussion --
QUIET CONDITIONS AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST THURSDAY.
TIMING OF CLOUD ARRIVAL ON THURSDAY WILL EFFECT LOWS AND DIURNAL
TRENDS OF TEMPERATURE.
FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...PROGRESSIVE SHORT WAVE WITH ORIGINS FROM
A PACIFIC CYCLONE WILL APPROACH AND MOVE ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES
WITH MAIN ENERGY NORTH OF THE REGION. ECMWF AND GEFS SHOW LITTLE
SPREAD IN THE TIMING AND PLACEMENT OF THE SHORT WAVE.
WARM ADVECTION EXPECTED WITH LIGHT PRECIPITATION FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
FOR NOW WILL HAVE PRECIP START AS LIGHT SNOW IN THE NORTHERN ZONES
GRADUALLY CHANGING TO A RAIN OR RAIN/SNOW MIX...WITH LIGHT RAIN
ELSEWHERE...INCLUDING NYC AND LONG ISLAND. EMPHASIS ON THIS SYSTEM
IS THAT PRECIP WILL BE LIGHT.
DRIER WEATHER RETURNS FOR SATURDAY...HOWEVER IT WILL REMAIN COOL.
ON SUNDAY...LATEST GEFS/ECMWF SUPPORT SIGNIFICANT TROUGH OVER THE
EASTERN US WITH SURFACE LOW DEVELOPING OVER THE APPALACHIANS...THUS
IT APPEARS WE WILL BE ON THE WARM SIDE OF THIS SYSTEM. UNCERTAINTY
EXISTS WITH TIMING. INCLUDED 40 POP FOR NOW FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON
FOLLOWING 00Z ECMWF. GFS IS FASTER BUT HIGH UNCERTAINTY SEEN WITH
TIMING GEFS. SNOW/WINTRY MIX IS EXPECTED INLAND WITH RAIN ELSEWHERE.
-- End Changed Discussion --
Ahh...the never ending spin of an East Coast winter vs the reality:
I saw this almost 10 years ago. I saved it. Only someone who really knows something of climatlogical averages would find it funny:
The absurdity of winter weather hype along the East Coast of the United States:
Winter in the Western, Midwestern, and far northern regions of the United States needs no headline to announce its arrival: Folks who live in these regions know how to prepare for the long and severe winters that come with living in a northerly or high altitude location. Each winter they meet the cold season with little fanfare or hype. If you live in a place like Williston, North Dakota or Green Bay, Wisconsin…you don’t need the TV weatherman to tell you a cold blast is coming – it’s driven home when a wind chill of 45 F below zero hits you in the face. Folks living in the mountains of the Western United States… don’t need to be told what to do when it snows - you learn quick in places like Soda Springs, California where they get 470-inches of snow each winter, or in the Great Lakes where 150 inches of snow piles up each winter.
The meaning and reality of the word “winter”, is far different along the East Coast of the United States. We shout from the rooftops when it’s 32 F in Central Park or two whole inches of snow falls in Washington, DC. From the Tri-State area (NYC/NJ/CT) southward….the Eastern Seaboard does not have a winter in the Midwestern or northern sense of the word – only a season of cool weather with sporadic cool shots and infrequent snow that lasts a few months if we’re lucky. Although there is the occasional respectable snowstorm and bouts of subfreezing weather…winters along the East Coast are short and mild compared to the Western and far northern United States. Of course, once you get as far south as southern Virginia on the East Coast… winter itself fades away. The long hot summers are the dominant climatic feature of the East Coast for most folks south of Massachusetts.
However each fall, around early November… the comical pump-up to winter begins in the I-95 states. Time and time again, East Coast weathercasters warn, “snow is not far off“ (really? it’s 65 F outside now) …or “snow has now been reported at Mount Washington, NH” (yea, that tends to happen at 7000 feet). By December the machine is in full swing – each broadcast the viewer is bombarded with “its sunny, but boy it’s really cold” (44 F cold? they would laugh at that in Duluth)…or the evening weathercaster announces “there is the threat of snow in the 8-day forecast” (as if we need to plan stock-up with supplies for a few inches of snow that will melt in two days),….or an oldie but a goodie is that file video of a snowstorm we had 7 years ago (or 17 years ago).
By December, the terse, non-stop hype, reaches an almost comical pitch. Each week the local weathercaster “sees something big in the models in the near future”. Of course, that ends up being an absurd flurry or 25 F temperature a week later. If there is no threat of snow in the big cities along the East Coast (which happens most often)….they then attempt to hype the cold - as if that the next cold front coming down from Canada into the upper Midwest will end all life as we know it on the East Coast. Somehow though, … that 20 below zero temperature they hype up in Minnesota … becomes 15 F in Indiana….25 F in Ohio,… and finally 35 F in Maryland or Connecticut. All we really needed was an extra scarf or a heavier coat. In a few days, it’s 45 F again.
Predictably, by mid winter, most folks in the I-95 states from Richmond, Virginia to New Haven, Connecticut …have long since stopped paying any attention to the evening weathercast beyond 48 hours. As each hyped bout of pathetic wintry weather comes and disappointingly departs…even the folks who love an occasional good snowstorm have lost interest. It can be a bit embarrassing when your local TV station in Baltimore or Long Island tells you in a frantic voice to get prepared for 2-INCHES of snow …when you see folks in Denver or Cleveland digging out from 2-FEET of snow. The final chapter of this absurd East Coast tale comes to an end in mid March: local weathercasters (especially the ones who live for the fleeting 90-days of winter on the East Coast) grumble with comments like “we got off easy this year, wait till next year”. Year in, year out, it’s the same story.
It takes awhile for a relocated Midwesterner to understand that winter along the East Coast is really a hyped state of mind…spun by the weathercaster and media interests hungry for market share. For the millions who live in the Atlantic States… the TV weatherman plays his/her part as a silly personality with a warped sense of climatological averages. Despite all the spin and pre winter hype - a true winter landscape… with huge snow drifts…ice hanging from the eaves…sub zero bitter cold, people ice fishing,...etc is really a rarity on the East Coast from Washington DC to the Tri-State area. A relocated person from Duluth or the U.P. of Michigan who expects the life-threatening wind chills of 50 F below zero and 150 inches of snow that REAL winter brings...might be very disappointed at the mild fickleness of an East Coast winter. In the end, despite the best attempts by the gods of media, marketing, and meteorology…. real winter along the East Coast never really gets much past a fleeting state of mind.
Tim Hines moved to the East Coast from Duluth, Minnesota.
Couldn't agree more. Lived in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland for 6 years...routinely averaging 80" of snow, and had only 2 days where school was closed. Genuinely disappointed with what passes for winter here in the Hartford area. Cuyahoga county had amazing snow removal and just a sense of "life goes on". Contrast that to this morning where 1-2" puts western CT into a skidfest!
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