Watching Friday

The scattered snow showers last night turned out to be just that.  Some place received next to nothing while others had over an inch.  The first wave moved through our northern areas with places closer to the Poconos hitting the one inch total.  The second wave developed more intensely in the Philadelphia region and into southern New Jersey.  For the first time this year, Philadelphia reported over an inch of snow during one snowfall.  That is poised to change.

The potential snow for Friday is still on the map.  You might be hearing the models are strengthening the low out over the coast meaning less snow for us.  Just hold off on this until tomorrow night.  There are so many factors with these that a few model runs don’t mean a heck of a lot right now.  I got a laugh out of WFMZ this morning when I flipped to the channel ever so briefly after seeing coverage of a fire on the Philadelphia news in Allentown.  Their weather forecast and maps are AccuWeather based so I’m not really sure how much actual predicting they are doing.  When I turned to it the meteorologist was showing a map of the real feel temperatures before discussing the potential snow on Friday.  To paraphrase it went roughly like this:

There is a potential for a major snowstorm on Friday, but it also could be minor depending on the track.  It could even turn out to be just a moderate snow.

I really can’t stand a statement like that.  Not only is his statement vague, it isn’t remotely specific.  I for one have no clue what defines a major, minor or moderate snow.  That’s a matter of opinion.  How about… We are currently monitoring the potential for snowfall on Friday.  Current track indicates that we would see a plowable snowfall.  Keep tuned for more information as it is received.  Simple and calm especially since we are a few days out.  Or like both Philadelphia channels said, looking like we will need the shovels.

One place that probably ditched the shovels years ago was the areas that surround the Great Lakes.  After a slow start this season, the cold temperatures ushered in by those steady northwest winds are once again producing steady snows in those usual prime locals.  Cleveland, Erie, Rochester and Syracuse are all under lake effect snow warnings.  After a very quiet 2011-12 season that saw an unusually low amount of snow, places like Syracuse are set to pass what they ended with last year already.  As one of the snowiest major cities in the world, Syracuse has to continue to represent the country in the competition each year.  It also helps that Lake Ontario never freezes due to the depth of the lake so lake effect snow can almost occur all winter long.  

At least you aren't in Norilsk, Russia right now.