Tuesday, December 10, 2013

It's Gonna Be HUUUUUUGE!

"I love it when a band comes together!"
What could be the biggest event of the OWLeS field program is now underway with a great long-lake axis snow band extending from Lake Ontario into the Tug Hill Plateau.


These bands typically move around a bit, pulsate, and sometimes feature two or more embedded high-intensity bands.  This morning we were just south of the strongest snowfall, but it moved over us and might actually be just to our south at the moment.  In the image above, our observing sites are indicated by red squares and we were right in the center of the action.  Total snowfall in past 3 hours (from 1200-1500 UTC) of 4 inches, most falling in 2.5 hours.  It was all low-density snow with a water content of perhaps 4%.

Looks like about 10 cm/4 inches if one accounts for the effects of wind on accumulation around the stick
And this is just the beginning.  This is a quote that can be appreciated only by upstate NYers, but this event is going to be HUUUUUUUGE (click here if you are from Utah or elsewhere).

3 comments:

  1. Just found your blog today! I live in Sandy Creek, my Hubby works at the Sandy Creek School ~ I believe it's one of your "locations" and my Mom used to be a National Weather Observer in Constantia, NY. Your posts are fantastic!!! Quick Question ~ Is there a Facebook page or other shareable way to follow this amazing research project?

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    1. Keep an eye out for our teams that will likely be working at Sandy Creek School tonight and tomorrow.

      Look for OWLeS Project on Facebook, and see owls.org. Perhaps we will run into you between now and the end of the project in January.

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  2. As a native from Parish (Oswego Co.), and a meteorologist, if you have never seen 5,6 or 7+" of snow per hour, you will have the gaze of a first time solar eclipse viewer....it is MOST awe inspiring!! Very few humans ever get to see such rates....and it is so wonderful that some of the Earth's greatest snowfall rates occur near my hometown! Snow-pride!!

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