Storm # 2

If you follow the Weather Channel you would notice a very large winter storm moving across the northern portions of the country which the station has named for the third time this year.  The practice of doing so is stupid and only recognized by that particular station.  By the time January begins they could be half way through the alphabet cause guess what?  It's winter.  The county sees a lot of storms and snow. 

Let's rewind a bit.  The pre-Thanksgiving day storm turned out to be more of a dud than anything else.  Most local areas received some snowfall at the very tale end.  In some areas, especially elevated, the snow stuck to the grass.  More surprising was the areas that were in line to receive hefty totals received far less than expected.  With it being the holiday I didn't get a chance to post any snowfall total maps.  In this case it wasn't really worth it anyway.  That could be changing.

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Enter storm # 2 for the northeast or named storm four if you follow TWC unless they say it's the same energy as the current storm which it technically might be but is developing another area of low pressure to the south to cut across the southeast before making it's way up towards our area.  But I mean with those strict storm name characteristics they have I'm sure we will get a clearer answer.  Sorry if it seems like I'm continually making fun of the name thing, but I'm going to continually make fun of the name thing.  Any who.   

Winter storm watches are already posted for parts of Texas and much of Oklahoma.  I'm sure Dallas will once again see a watch or warning shortly as the cold air has plunged southward from Canada.  Like really cold air.  The high in Oklahoma City on Friday is forecast to be 24 with a low of 10.  Don't fear, the weekend should be even colder.  Either way the south is getting hit again and there should be a swath of ice and snow that extend north and east as the week progresses.  For us the timing looks to be Sunday.  Looks to be.

Out ahead of the storm we sit in milder temperatures which keeps most if not all the precip in the form of rain.  Once again we could see some snow/sleet on the backside however I think that's unlikely.  However, like many times in winter the storm will help bring in cold air after it passes through which sets us up for part two.  This would be in the Sunday/Monday time frame.

A wedge of moisture slides north into our area as high pressure sits over top of us.  Now normally high pressure blocks areas of low pressure.  It also tends to keep the cold air in place.  The low pressure eventually overtakes the area.  The question instead might be does the cold air hold on or how long does it hold on.  This potential snow has been on the models since the weekend.  And all the models.  Being that long away and us being in the tri-state triangle where winter storms disappear, I figured I wouldn't mention anything quite yet.  But now we can at least start tracking this with a little more curiosity.

Too many questions yet with this one.  Go figure, a battle between cold air and warm air in our area will be the determining factor.  What a shock.  Either way this does have the possibility of being a measurable, shoveable or perhaps plowable snow for our region.  As usual, best chances to the north and west of the big cities.


NOTES:


In case anybody is keeping track, November was two degrees below normal (Reading) and three in Allentown. 

Meteorological winter began on December 1st.  Astronomical winter begins December 21st.  If you live in Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, North Dakota, Maine, UP of Michigan, higher elevations of the Rockies, parts of the Cascades, Alaska, areas along the Great Lakes or countless other areas you might already be two months in.