Location, Location, Location
The big Arctic blast that has been in the news lately has bypassed our region. We can thank the Great Lakes of Superior and Michigan for that. Being "locked-in" so to speak, kept us much warmer than most, if not all, of the states west and south of us in the Midwest. Bitter cold up in Duluth, MN, in Clayton, WI, and even as far south as Fulton, MO. Temperatures around here have been seasonable and for the month we are just a degree below the average mean. The middle of last week saw a decent sized snow storm move through the region dumping most of the snow in Southeast WI. As for next week, forecasts call for a warm up. See the WxBrief for more details.
(OSNW3 January Observations)
(OSNW3 January 2010 Summary)
(click on graph for the month summary data - it will open a new tab/window)
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Weekly Snowfall
Each day this past week saw at least a Trace of snow. Seven days in a row. It's always a pleasure for us here at OSNW3 to see snow falling from the sky. This past week was great. The storm that rolled through mid-week brought over 3" to the area with lots of blowing and drifting. It was a difficult observation but we found a spot that was minimally affected by the wind. For daily radar loops of the storm see the "OSNW3 January Observations" link above and click on the linked daily weather description.
(Jan 7, 2010 - 1.2")
(Jan 8, 2010 - 2.1" : Storm Total - 3.3")
The Jan 8 photo above is a measurement of the storm total in a spot that wasn't much affected by the wind and blowing snow. The station's ground snow took a small beating from the wind which made it impossible for the snowboard to catch the falling snow on a consistent basis. The water content of the snow was taken by a snowcore sample of the snow that was measured for the total in the photo above. The webcam shot of the station at 7:30pm signifies when the snowstorm had completely ended at OSNW3. Click here for the NWS GRB storm summary.
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Lake Michigan
I was working in Sheboygan this past Friday and took a spin down to the lake. The storm was out of the area mostly, but strong north winds kept the lakeshore under clouds, wind, and light snow. It was a fantastic show as always. The north shoreline was coated in mountains of ice 10-15' tall with water thicker than soup below them. The south shoreline not so much but still a must see. The first video was taken before I dared to walk out on to the ice. The second video was taken closer to the water and you may notice I back a away a couple times because I didn't know what was in store once the large waves that were rolling in hit the walls of ice. The third video is of the south shoreline which was little less wild.
First Video - 20MB
Second Video - 50MB
Third Video - 35MB
(Lake Michigan - Sheboygan, WI - Jan 7, 2010)
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Front Of House
The snowfall this past week provided a good wovel session and is keeping our snowpack in check. Current depth of 8".
(FOH - Jan 9, 2010)
(OSNW3 January Observations)
(OSNW3 January 2010 Summary)
(click on graph for the month summary data - it will open a new tab/window)
----
Weekly Snowfall
Each day this past week saw at least a Trace of snow. Seven days in a row. It's always a pleasure for us here at OSNW3 to see snow falling from the sky. This past week was great. The storm that rolled through mid-week brought over 3" to the area with lots of blowing and drifting. It was a difficult observation but we found a spot that was minimally affected by the wind. For daily radar loops of the storm see the "OSNW3 January Observations" link above and click on the linked daily weather description.
(Jan 7, 2010 - 1.2")
(Jan 8, 2010 - 2.1" : Storm Total - 3.3")
The Jan 8 photo above is a measurement of the storm total in a spot that wasn't much affected by the wind and blowing snow. The station's ground snow took a small beating from the wind which made it impossible for the snowboard to catch the falling snow on a consistent basis. The water content of the snow was taken by a snowcore sample of the snow that was measured for the total in the photo above. The webcam shot of the station at 7:30pm signifies when the snowstorm had completely ended at OSNW3. Click here for the NWS GRB storm summary.
----
Lake Michigan
I was working in Sheboygan this past Friday and took a spin down to the lake. The storm was out of the area mostly, but strong north winds kept the lakeshore under clouds, wind, and light snow. It was a fantastic show as always. The north shoreline was coated in mountains of ice 10-15' tall with water thicker than soup below them. The south shoreline not so much but still a must see. The first video was taken before I dared to walk out on to the ice. The second video was taken closer to the water and you may notice I back a away a couple times because I didn't know what was in store once the large waves that were rolling in hit the walls of ice. The third video is of the south shoreline which was little less wild.
First Video - 20MB
Second Video - 50MB
Third Video - 35MB
(Lake Michigan - Sheboygan, WI - Jan 7, 2010)
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Front Of House
The snowfall this past week provided a good wovel session and is keeping our snowpack in check. Current depth of 8".
(FOH - Jan 9, 2010)
You've definitly been a lot warmer there, Today we managed about 14.F after a low of -9.F for our low Saturday Morning. This past Arctic blast wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be for me, It dropped our highs to the mid teens. we should rise to the 20s and even 30s now!
ReplyDeleteI will send you more data tomorrow!
We're pretty cold down here. But we're gonna warm up this week and a lot of the snow could melt.
ReplyDeleteVery informative blog post Josh. Looking at the 2 week GFS model, they are showing temps warm enough and critical thicknesses high enough to support rain if any system comes up from the Plains. I'm sure will see model changes between now and the last week or two of January (which is when this could all happen btw) should be interesting to watch in the coming week.
ReplyDeleteD, I got the data and I am prepared to enter it very soon. Thanks! We'll find out how much cooler you've been!
ReplyDeleteChris, temperature is relative. :)
Tim, thanks! I suppose I don't mind a slight warm-up. A selfish side of me wants Lake Superior to be open when I visit MQT in mid February.
Nice video of the ice. Goes well with a story we read today by Wilfred Grenfell..."Adrift on an Ice Pan"
ReplyDeleteSuzieE, I just read a summary of that story. I bet it's a great read. The ice pans that were floating further from the shore on the waves of my video would have been large enough for a man and his dogs, for sure! Thanks for checking out the videos, makes the time spent putting them on the Internet all worth while! :)
ReplyDelete