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Wintry Jan 15-16 Winter Storm Discussion & Obs

Yep, when it comes to snow east of the mountains, are hope is a big column cooling 850mb-700mb FGEN band which can allow heavy snow for some hours, this chance especially increases along the 85 corridor and NW in this deep cold CAD setup, there’s a big reason why CLT/GSO has a bigger snow average from Miller Bs vs Miller As
I'd say it matters how you classify them. I've come to classify Miller B as a low that tracks into E TN, then redevelops on the coast. Miller A/B hybrid as a low that tracks into SE Bama, then 'shuffles' to the east and up the coast. So, yeah, Miller A/B hybrid like late Jan 2010 can deliver more snow. That one was mostly snow here at LNorman. It was one of my favorites that wasn't all snow. I remember standing up on the earthen dam bank toward the end of the storm, and it was spitting sleet at 20 degrees with 15-20 mph winds

YXe9G9p.gif
 
isn't that near the "benchmark" for the Carolinas as well?
It's better than the ops. Even on the next panel these aren't bad. Problem is there's a larger # west of the mean low which in my experience means we likely see the mean inch west in future runs as the eastward outliers come west
ecmwf-ensemble-avg-se-mslp_with_low_locs-2377600 (1).png
 
I definitely fear the warm nose but I just really find it hard to believe that the LP is going to come THAT far north. This CAD is extremely strong. Way stronger than our usual CAD highs during winter storms.I want to wait until we are in the NAMs range before I can definitely say sleet and ZR are going to be a huge issue around the 85 corridor.
 
You certainly can warm that much when you have 850s in the 40s over head. I'm not trying to be snotty, but it's called an Exothermic Process.

View attachment 103902


And at that exact same time frame, you've lost the press from the HP up north and thus your cold air feed.

View attachment 103909

The end result is you release the heat that the water absorbed higher up, and release it into the low levels, and with no fresh air supply, you slowly warm.

Take a look at those 850 temps to the west of the 850mb low in GA in the first panel. I wonder if that's associated with a CCB snow band?
 
I definitely fear the warm nose but I just really find it hard to believe that the LP is going to come THAT far north. This CAD is extremely strong. Way stronger than our usual CAD highs during winter storms.I want to wait until we are in the NAMs range before I can definitely say sleet and ZR are going to be a huge issue around the 85 corridor.
Sfc CAD and mid level warm noses are independent variables loosely speaking. If the 850 low is between CAE and GSP as seen here you are going to push the snow line way W/NW850th.us_ma (11).png
 
You certainly can warm that much when you have 850s in the 40s over head. I'm not trying to be snotty, but it's called an Exothermic Process.

View attachment 103902


And at that exact same time frame, you've lost the press from the HP up north and thus your cold air feed.

View attachment 103909

The end result is you release the heat that the water absorbed higher up, and release it into the low levels, and with no fresh air supply, you slowly warm.
Didn't see this post but it's spot on. This system is likely to be tilted severely NW as the sfc low encounters a residual sfc cold pool and stays east but the mid level features are likely to be west
 
I'm not trying to rain on parades here at all I'm just telling you guys from experience you can watch all of the CAD you want and all of the sfc low tracks you want but the mid level features are your primary ptype drivers. The better hope to lock in snow/ip longer is to have an initial surge of fgen WAA that rapidly cools the column and out performs model expectations which can hold off the ever lurking mixing line longer than expected so you can pile up snow but even then if the 850 low is too far NW you eventually lose
 
Though that was 995 and 997 notwhat they are

The ens give hope that the over amped op runs are just going to correct SE as we get closer to go time.....
Here are all the members locations. Kind of strangethe mean seems to be weighted a little E of the clustering View attachment 103900

This is encouraging for central and eastern NC......but the track also needs to be less up the coast and more ENE, all the models really drive the storm NNE right along or just inland and that's ?.....at least for the eastern half of NC....
 
I'm not trying to rain on parades here at all I'm just telling you guys from experience you can watch all of the CAD you want and all of the sfc low tracks you want but the mid level features are your primary ptype drivers. The better hope to lock in snow/ip longer is to have an initial surge of fgen WAA that rapidly cools the column and out performs model expectations which can hold off the ever lurking mixing line longer than expected so you can pile up snow but even then if the 850 low is too far NW you eventually lose
It’s all about the 925 millibar level! Seen many a sleet and ZR storm with 2m temps in low to mid 20s and a pesky +1 or + 2 degrees at 925
 
Yep Nashville was calling for 1-2 a couple days before last week’s storm. They gradually went up to 5-6 the morning of and 8 inches was common when it actually fell. They aren’t going to say omg 10-15 inches of snow will fall this weekend this far out.
Not saying it is and I hope all who haven’t got snow can score soon. That said the euro is right where I‘d want it at this point. This could end up over middle Tennessee if it trends northwest.
AC762D05-53C8-4009-A9D3-207D96C232C8.png
 
I'm not trying to rain on parades here at all I'm just telling you guys from experience you can watch all of the CAD you want and all of the sfc low tracks you want but the mid level features are your primary ptype drivers. The better hope to lock in snow/ip longer is to have an initial surge of fgen WAA that rapidly cools the column and out performs model expectations which can hold off the ever lurking mixing line longer than expected so you can pile up snow but even then if the 850 low is too far NW you eventually lose

IMO, I can see an area of enhanced snowfall just north of the sfc wedge front boundary. The bitterly cold air from the wedge lifts the advancing warm moist air from the southwest. The Euro showed it centered over much of the ATL metro where we saw 1+ inch per hour rates at the start of the storm. That's where much of the snow could pile up for many places.
 
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