2/14/07 NOW: Northeast (Winter Precip)

[B Ozanne]

Temps are still in the mid 20's in coastal CT with heavy sleet now falling. Over the past hour I just recored a pressure drop of 4.4mb.

The real story is what is unfolding farther north. This storm could rival some of the biggest snowfalls in New England history. Several sources are saying the Champlain Valley of Vermont might get more than 40".

Edit: 5.1mb in the last hour.

 

[Robert Dewey]

Wow, the radar out of Albany is really impressive. It's times like this that I wish I had enough money to setup shop and experience things first hand (especially when they're the "once in +25 year" events).

Looking at the lightning data, still not seeing any strikes in the snow zone as of now...

 

[B Ozanne]

You're seeing a lot of bright banding in that radar image. I had some of those higher reflectivities in my area, but it was just moderate sleet.

 

[Miriam Lawrence]

The real story is what is unfolding farther north. This storm could rival some of the biggest snowfalls in New England history. Several sources are saying the Champlain Valley of Vermont might get more than 40".

Edit: 5.1mb in the last hour.

I'm sitting here all cozy in my house about 25 minutes south of Burlington, smack dab in the middle of the Champlain Valley. We've got something in the range of 14" already on the ground and it is a near whiteout, snow probably falling at about 2" per hour right now and blowing hard out of the northeast. I hadn't heard the 40" number, but at this rate, I can easily see it being possible.

 

[HAltschule]

I live in Colonie, NY...about 2 miles from the Albany Int'l Airport. We have about 8" (estimated) of snow on the ground as of 10am. Over the past hour we have seen a slight mix with sleet, but heavy snow is by far the rule. The air temperature is currently 10 degrees F and wind is around 10mph. The NWS has upgraded much of the area to a Blizzard Warning for today and tonight.

Things will get a lot worse over the next few hours. The models still show the low bombing out and moving slightly further west. This will bring an end to the sleet by about 1pm. (The snow is actually getting much heavier as I type). Based on the models, I expect to see an additional 1.50" of liquid equivalent precip...most of that being snow. So, with the fluff factor, we should see another 15-20" ??!! If the ETA is correct and this holds true, we would be looking at a Storm Total of 23-28" of snow. Wow...things are going to get messy!!! And that's not even factoring in the 40mph winds that are expected this pm and tonight.

11am: Heavy Snow a rate of about 2" per hour.

 

[HAltschule]

PS: Bill...NWS Upton just expanded the Ice Storm Warning to include all of Coastal CT in addition to much of N NJ and NYC.

WOW: NWS Upton expecting 1/2-3/4" of ice with 3-5" of snow on top of it by tonight. THAT would shut down NYC!!

 

[B Ozanne]

PS: Bill...NWS Upton just expanded the Ice Storm Warning to include all of Coastal CT in addition to much of N NJ and NYC.

WOW: NWS Upton expecting 1/2-3/4" of ice with 3-5" of snow on top of it by tonight. THAT would shut down NYC!!

I saw that. It was actually upgraded a few hours ago, but due to system outages it wasn't widely known until now.

As far as ice goes...I'm not seeing yet. Temp is around 27F with mostly sleet. Parked cars look bad, but the trees are still bone dry.

Edit: Actually closer to 25F at my house in Norwalk and 27F closer to the water at my parent's in Darien.

 

[HAltschule]

Did anyone see the latest OB from LGA Airport. Moderate sleet with wind gusts to 50mph right now. OUCH.

 

[Robert Dewey]

Just north of DTW, we had winds of 30-40MPH for most of the night. Even with only 5-8 inches of snow, we will had pretty significant drifts (looking at the neighbors driveway - 3 feet). I can't imagine if we would have had +24 inches and +50MPH winds. Ouch isn't quite the word for it, LOL

Being the winter weather enthusiast I am, I'm going to keep watching this all day. Keep us updated, guys.

 

[B Ozanne]

My webcam in VT:

http://greenrange.viewnetcam.com/CgiStart?page=Single&Language=0

My weather station in VT:

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KVTWHITI1

My weather station in CT:

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCTDARIE1

The local MM5 model was forecasting a 988mb low passing just south of Long Island around 3pm this afternoon. I'm at 989mb already!

 

[Dan Robinson]

Got an inch here just as temps were dive-bombing from 30F to the teens between 7AM and 9AM.

 

[B Ozanne]

SN+ in Sudbury, VT:

 

[HAltschule]

Just got in from snowblowing the driveway a 2nd time and measured 13.0" of new snow on the ground. The air temperature has jumped to 18 degrees and the winds are generally 5-10mph. There is blowing and drifting snow occurring too.

A nice deformation zone/back edge of the storm is setting up just west of Albany. It is all snow now. Snowfall rates still are about 1 to 1 1/2" per hour right now in Albany but are likely 2-3" per hour in the deformation zone. Based on the 18z ETA, and the fact that rain to snow ratios would support at least a 15:1 ratio, I'd estimate that we should see another 5-9" of snow before all is said and done.

Several hours of sleet made it into the Albany area and that cut down on the snowfall quite a bit. All in all, it looks like should end up with 18-22" of snow...or so.

-THUNDERSNOW HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THE BAND TO OUR SOUTH IN DUTCHESS
AND ULSTER COUNTIES...INCLUDING ONE CLOUD TO GROUND STRIKE.
-Roof Collapse in Wappingers Falls, NY due to weather.
-Albany, NY: 4" in 2 hours
-East Berne, NY: 18"
-Prattsville, NY (Greene County): 27"
-Ames, NY (Montgomery County): 28"
-Cobleskill, NY (Scoharie County): 27"
-Pottersville, NY (Warren County): 22"

 

[HAltschule]

Update: Colonie, NY as of 8pm...19" of snow has fallen. WHOPPER amounts approaching 40" has fallen just outside of Albany, NY in some of the higher elevation north, west and south of Albany. It is still snowing here and we still could see another 1-3" or so. What a storm!! I will load some pics tomorrow if I can.

EDIT: As of 9:30 PM, Fulton and Montgomery Counties (NW of Albany) have had snowfall totals in excess of 40.0" as per spotter reports.