29 December 2008

Weather Update

Through A.D. 2008 December 29:

Days with snow cover: 048
Days with complete snow cover: 24
Total snowfall: 066 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 25 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 20 centimeters
Lowest temperature: -15º Celsius (05º Fahrenheit)

Two-thousand eight marked our first white Christmas since 2003. Unfortunately, it was pretty anti-climatic after the overwhelming majority of snow melted on Christmas Eve. At daybreak on December 24, snow coverered the ground to a uniform depth of 10 inches. At daybreak on December 25, snow covered the ground (in most places) to a depth of no more than three inches. In fact, we had less than 90% snow cover and the average snow depth did not exceed 1 inch. Still, I guess it did count as our first "white Christmas" since I moved up here. By the end of the day December 27, only a handful of patches of snow were visible from my house.

Temperatures on December 27 and 28 were in the upper 50s Fahrenheit.

20 December 2008

Weather Update

Through A.D. 2008 December 20:

Days with snow cover: 039
Days with complete snow cover: 16
Total snowfall: 062 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 22 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 20 centimeters
Lowest temperature: about -13º Celsius (08º Fahrenheit)

We had our greatest snowfall of the season yesterday: 20 centimeters. That beats last winter's greatest snowfall by a third, but that's not saying much. In the middle of the storm we had an hour of freezing rain. That makes five times this winter. More snow is expected over the next two days - we could have more than a foot of snow on the ground by Tuesday.

19 December 2008

Weather Update

Through A.D. 2008 December 18:

Days with snow cover: 037
Days with complete snow cover: 14
Total snowfall: 042 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 15 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 15 centimeters
Lowest temperature: about -13º Celsius (08º Fahrenheit)

Haha! A white Christmas appears inevitable! We're in the middle of a pretty significant storm for our area. The weathermen forecast 6-10 inches, and we've already had about three. At the rate that it's falling, we may end up with a foot. It will be my second white Christmas out of 27, my first out of five in New York, and my second out of six north of the Mason-Dixon line.

Earlier in the week we had another significant icing - so much that it has been dangerous to walk around since Wednesday. We're up to four this year.

14 December 2008

Weather Update

Through A.D. 2008 December 14:

Days with snow cover: 033
Days with complete snow cover: 12
Total snowfall: 039 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 15 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 15 centimeters
Lowest temperature: about -13º Celsius (08º Fahrenheit)

Finally back to that Christmas-like weather! Fifteen cm of snow last Thursday/Friday - tied for our largest snowfall from last year. I'm hoping that it'll lead to even bigger totals! The storm started as freezing rain - that makes three instances this season, and all have been "significant."

11 December 2008

Weather Update

Through A.D. 2008 December 10:

Days with snow cover: 029
Days with complete snow cover: 09
Total snowfall: 024 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 08 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 07 centimeters
Lowest temperature: about -13º Celsius (08º Fahrenheit)

Snow 22 out of the past 25 days, but you have to hunt to find any left on the ground. Tuesday (December 09) brought our second freezing rain event of the season - another with a fair amount of ice. Today (December 10) started around 10ºC but quickly dropped to -5ºC. Even though we didn't get any freezing rain, the rain we got this morning was solid ice by this afternoon...

08 December 2008

Through A.D. 2008 December 08:

Days with snow cover: 027
Days with complete snow cover: 09
Total snowfall: 023 centimeters
Maximum snow depth: 08 centimeters
Greatest snow event: 07 centimeters
Lowest temperature: about -13º Celsius (08º Fahrenheit)

Snow has fallen 20 of the past 23 days. That total will probably become 21 of 24 after tomorrow, though the storm that will start as snow is forecast to turn to ice and, eventually, rain.

Incredibly, during the past 20 days, we have only received 22 centimeters (about 9 inches) of snow. Almost all of that came during a week-long stretch in mid-to-late November. Though it has snowed 11 of the last 13 days, we've only had 4 centimeters (less than 2 inches) during that time. (and I was VERY generous with the totals) There has not been complete snow cover since November 29, and it appears that the next 10 days will be the warmest in a month. Are we heading toward our fifth consecutive brown Christmas?

02 December 2008

Weather Update

Through A.D. 2008 December 02:

Days with snow cover: 021

Days with complete snow cover: 09

Total snowfall: 022 centimeters

Maximum snow depth: 08 centimeters

Greatest snow event: 07 centimeters

Lowest temperature: about -12º Celsius (11º Fahrenheit)

We had a full centimeter of ice on 2008 November 30 after about 12 hours of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. It was our first ice storm of the season.