The (Great?) Blizzard of ‘22

Thread Starter

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
People who were in the northwest and midwest US in 1978 might recall the blizzard of ‘78. It was the second blizzard I experienced, the first being the blizzard of 1966 when I was a child in New York, near NYC. Both of these blizzards achieved historical magnitude.

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A snowdrift in Boston ’78 (L) Snow on a roadway in upstate NY ‘66 (R)

The question is, will the blizzard of 2022 end up with its own article or will it fail to achieve the ”notability“ demanded by the (eventually converged on) rigorous standards of the de facto depository of truth that is Wikipedia?

As thing stand now, close to the southern end of Lake Michigan here in the Great Lakes Region, we have at least 2’ (60mm) of not-very-wet snow and the current temperature is -7℉ (-22℃). The ~15mph (24kph) wind with gusting is taking advantage to blow the snow around.

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Early hours in the (great?) blizzard of ‘22

It isn’t snowing at the moment, but we are assured more is on the way, followed by a special helping of lake effect snow which is a local specialty served up all winter. If the storm continues at its current pace it is on track for an honorable mention but not a figurative commemorative brass plaque in the human memory of winter storms.

How is it going at your location?
 

Thread Starter

Ya’akov

Joined Jan 27, 2019
9,070
Worcester, MA, 53 and rain. Supposed to go down to 10 overnight. Not at all like ‘78 which is the year I moved to this area.
My wife and I were living in Boston (Kenmore Square) in 1983 when the “Megapolitan Blizzard” hit. We only got a few inches of snow, but Boston doesn‘t do well with snow because it isn’t common. The city was in turmoil for a couple of days.

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nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,081
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This is from the ongoing ice storm, currently 17F 21mph winds. Frozen ice pellets for now because the upper air is still too cold but as a warm front with moisture moves in from the south the rain is expected to freeze on contact on surfaces kept cold by the freezing wind. One of the kids across the river in WA lost power at their house from a tree on power lines. So far no power glitches due to the underground local power grid.

We have a large pressure gradient of ~15 millibars with an almost endless supply of arctic air. https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/PressureGradients.html
Inland, for the EUG to PDX measure, a positive gradient of 1.0-3.0 mb is often seen during the average winter storm with blustery winds in the 15-30 mph range. Gradients of 3.1-6.0 mb can result in moderate to strong windstorms, with winds of 25-40 mph, sometimes 30-50 mph.
That causes a classic local weather anomaly.
https://www.koin.com/weather/weathe...ski-slopes-20-degrees-warmer-than-the-lowest/
National Weather Service temperature data shows that throughout the day, the upper portion of Mt. Hood Meadows’ ski slopes has been roughly 20 degrees warmer than the bottom of the slopes. At 7 a.m. Thursday, temperatures at the top of the slopes were recorded to be 28 degrees. Conditions at the bottom of the slopes, meanwhile, were an icy 3 degrees.
...
The upper half of the colder low-lying air, he said, is situated between 6,500 and 7,300 feet of elevation. Mt. Hood Meadows’ highest point is around 7,300 feet in elevation. As a result, anyone taking a chairlift from the bottom of the ski resort to the top could see a temperature increase of roughly 25 degrees.

“The same thing is happening over Portland right now and it’s going to be magnified here over the next several hours,” Newman said.

These colder low-lying temperatures are likely to cause sleet and freezing rain as precipitation moves into the region today. Click here to read about the differences between sleet, snow and freezing rain. If freezing rain does occur, it’s expected to create hazardous conditions around Portland.

“It will freeze on trees, cars, on the roads,” Newman said. “That’s freezing rain.”
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,081
21F 10mph winds with freezing rain. Better than expected.
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Notice how it gets warmer as you gain altitude. The base of Mt. Hood is above freezing.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,711
Enjoy it while you have it.

It‘s only -16°C with wind chill of -30°C, wind gusts to 85km/h.
Power just came back on having been out for 5 hours.
 
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