Visiting Old Friends and Chasing Cold Air

I've spent the past several days in upstate New York where I visited the atmospheric sciences department at SUNY Albany and attended the Northeast Regional Operational Workshop where I gave a talk on our lake-effect work.

It's great to reacquaint with Anton Seimon (farther right below) who I haven't seen in about 20 years, but who is one of the best meteorological analysts I know.  A cyclone aficionado, he brought some Bombogenesis Double IPA with him.  Given that it was morning and we had work to do, this photo is staged.  No beer was consumed, sadly. 

I also visited the "headquarters" of the New York Mesonet, which has come together in the past few years and includes at least one station in every county.  The Mesonet has had a major impact on weather analysis and forecasting in New York and dear to my heart they have about 20 stations equipped with specialized snow-measurement instrumentation.  These are primarily on Tug Hill and in the Adirondacks, although there are a few in the Catskills and western New York.  At the headquarters, one can see live photos from every station.

I'm staying until Sunday to visit family and reminisce.  It's cold.  I did a short hike in the Adirondacks today and suspect the summit temperature was in the low 20s, with wind.  It looks like Adirondack winter.

With the cold, Gore Mountain has commenced their snowmaking operations. 

Perhaps I should stay?  The models suggest continued dryness over the next few days in Utah.