White Christmas for 50% of the US?

[Chris Carter]

Popped into Accuweather to check out their latest 15 day forecast and saw an article that Joe Bastardi is predicting a white christmas for 50% of the nation.

GFS and Euro are jumping on the idea of a big weather shift for the US around the 15th of December, the first seems to a southern track storm that takes a Nor' Easter track and right on the heels of that one comes another one that will track a few hundred miles north of the other one and bring snow to the Plains and Great Lakes region, and more storms could behind that until the 1st of the New Year when the pattern shifts to a Winter Thaw.

Really goes in line with the general La Nina winter and spring, big snow storms for Nov and December, a warm up for Jan and Feb and then a last winter grip in March and April before an active severe t-storm season revs up for May and June.

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/42440/white-christmas-predicted-for-1.asp

Though i won't agree that a blockbuster winter storm is categorized as a storm that dumps 6 - 12" from D.C. to Boston, more like from Atlanta to Buffalo or something like that.

 

[jshields]

hopefully that pans out, todays model runs didn't show much of anything. half the time it seems like accuweather is more hype than whatever actually happens

 

[Chris Carter]

Well i noticed the GFS is very inconsistent but the Euro seems to keep pinning a large system around the 12th to the 15th, track and cold air seems to be the problem with that one though.

We will see how things pan out.

 

[Brian Rogers]

How many did end up with a white christmas?

 

[John Farley]

Here is a map showing who had a white Christmas:

This was the snow cover map from the NWS for Christmas day.

 

[Chris Carter]

Compared to 2009, its much different.

http://www.nohrsc.nws.gov/snow_mode...epth/200912/nsm_depth_2009122505_National.jpg

 

[rdale]

Wasn't there snow down south and in the SE on Christmas?

 

[Bart_Comstock]

Wasn't there snow down south and in the SE on Christmas?

In northwest Arkansas we had light snow that left a dusting on raised surfaces and some patches of the ground but not enough to technically count as a white Christmas.

 

[Wes Carter]

Wasn't there snow down south and in the SE on Christmas?

I live in southern middle Tennessee and traveled to northeast Tennessee for Christmas. At least for the area I traveled the map is fairly accurate. I was skirting the edge of the snow on the way back on I-40, and when I got off I-40 and headed south back to our house there was no snow.

 

[rdale]

Thanks, I thought I had read something about Alabama through Atlanta getting a white XMas.

 

[Mike Smith]

half the time it seems like accuweather is more hype than whatever actually happens

As a member of the AccuWeather team, I wish to point out that Joe's forecast was excellent.

 

[rdale]

Well, except for the bust in those "small towns" like NYC, DC, and the southern plains. Other than that - dead on

 

[Mike Smith]

NYC didn't have snow on Christmas???????

I think there are a lot of air travelers who would disagree with you.

 

[rdale]

NYC didn't have snow on Christmas?

According to the verification map referenced above...

 

[Mike Smith]

If you look at the close-up Middle Atlantic view of the snow map you see a few pixels of snow on the ground in both the north NYC and SW DC suburbs: http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/nsa/index.html?region=Eastern_Coastal&year=2010&month=12&day=25&units=e

Of course, it did snow in both cities on Christmas but after the 12Z time of the map.