Wacky Week

When winter is all said and done wacky might be the term used to sum the season up.  We aren't done yet so I will save that post for another day.  And yes, a post about the historic storm will surely precede my summary.  There continue to be storms to talk about and right now I don't have the needed amount of time to properly give to a storm that dropped over 30 inches of snow.

On to February we go.  Stay with me as I throw out useless information just for the hell of it.  If you thought February has been cold you must not remember the past two winters.  The highest temperature over the past two February's recorded in Allentown was 49.  The first three days this February were over 50.  The wacky theme continues.  About those lows in the single digits or even approaching negative numbers for the weekend?  It's about time.  Here is how many times in 2014 and 2015 we hit zero or below.

2014 = 8
2015 = 6

So far Allentown has only reached single digits twice let alone zero degrees.  I believe Reading has not hit single digits once this winter.  Looking at the trends it's unlikely we will get a colder air mass the rest of the year so let's get to zero.

Thanks to that arctic air mass the lake effect machine is back on which has lead to scattered pop up snow squalls.  Various areas of the region have seen quick bursts of snow.  I was most impressed with the event on Wednesday morning (I believe it was Wednesday) when I left for work with the sun rising and 40 minutes later was in quite the heavy snow squall.  On the radar it was about the size of two towns and basically came out of nowhere to quickly produce a snow that covered the roads.

** Random info alert **

That slow moving system of snow that pushed in on Tuesday that left many locations in Berks, Chester and Lancaster counties with 5 to 7 inches of snow also managed to accomplish another small feat.  It was the third straight year it has snowed on February 9th.

TO THE WEATHER WE GO...

Always nice when the two main model systems completely disagree.  Euro says next storm tracks well to our west which puts us predominantly in the heavy rain.  GFS suggest a few inches of snow before a change to ice mixed with rain.  Tiebreaker goes to the Canadian.  It currently agrees with the GFS.  So basically stay tuned and expect wintry weather to begin the week.  Plus there could also be something Wednesday night.

If you are trying to look ahead all the models agree that temperatures will rebound next weekend.  Though there does appear to be a chance for showers.


As strange as the weather has been for us, it's also been like that for virtually every other part of the country.  The warm weather in the beginning of the season kept the lake effect areas dry in November and December when they normally receive the most lake effect snow.  However it also now has kept the lakes unfrozen which will keep this area prime for more snowfall.  They still lag well behind compared to average.  Where am I going with this?  Allentown currently sits in 10th for the most snowfall this season for cities of more than 100,000 people.  The past two winters when Allentown received over 50 inches both years the city didn't finish higher than 20th.  We will never be able to compete with towns like Erie and Syracuse but a top 5 finish would be pretty cool.


 February 9th, 2016 Snowfall