First Flakes

Mark it on your calendar.  November 12, 2013 or 11-12-13 for those who have an interest in sequential calendar numbers.  It was the first sign of snow for the new winter season.  Quite frankly I don't know the average date for first snowfall for the area but I would tend to think it's a bit earlier than normal by a week or two.  Regardless, the snow was not measurable for most.  All reports came in below one inch.

Normally I travel to find the first flakes of the year.  It wasn't the case this time as a cold front brought in a line of snow showers for all of the region.  It started in Reading between 7 and 7:30 this morning and didn't last long.  Always nice to see the first snow of the year which also is my last check mark on my sheet that winter is here.  Even though we saw our first snow, it could be awhile before we see another.

Like many other things these days the model site that I used in the past is now professional done and requires a membership and fee.  Can't say I blame the guy for changing it.  But I'm not paying.  So it's back to finding random maps and the scarce amount of free model runs floating around somewhere in the internet universe.  Maybe it is better to stay away from those anyway.  If you would have dove in to the world of model forecasting last week you would have seen multiple stories of the snowstorm about to hit the east.  That's because one model trended towards a coastal storm taking a path up along the eastern states in some capacity.  That storm ended up going out to sea.  The snow shower we got was from a front.  That's why you can't make accurate predictions a week before.  It's why I never mentioned a word.

The rest of November looks to have an up and down pattern not that abnormal for the month.  It shouldn't be as wacky as the first half where we've had a high of 73 in Reading and a projected high of 38 tomorrow.  Sunday through Tuesday looks like some chances for rain and then another shot next weekend.  Both are associated with warmer air which is as per usual.  Temps fall behind the rain.  Nothing at this time shows any indication of the type of cold we are seeing now for the rest of the month.


KEEPING TRACK

I am going to continue to find as many local winter weather predictions as I can and post them on the right side.  The order will be in which the prediction was made from first to last.  ABC was the first major news channel to throw their prediction out and to their credit they went with a number below normal.