Saturday, December 6, 2014

Saturday, December 6, 2014 - Evening Weather Discussion

An amazing and ultra fascinating weather experience is going to occur in the Northeastern United States on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Unfortunately from a human perspective, there will be some serious problems to deal with…

First though, the rain will continue overnight, ending by morning, with clearing and a nice day on Sunday with a low in the upper 20’s to low 30’s and a high in the mid to upper 30’s.

A Nor’easter will then start to develop near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina early on Tuesday morning.  This storm will then track due north to a point south of Long Island by Tuesday night, intensifying rapidly as it does so.  It will then sit there and spin through the day on Thursday, possibly drifting northward a bit into New England. 

This track would ordinarily cause heavy snow in Northern New Jersey, and it might this time as well.  However, the data continues to suggest that warm air may work in off the ocean, causing a changeover to rain during the day on Tuesday for the bulk of the precipitation in Northern New Jersey, especially in Northeastern New Jersey.  Northwest New Jersey remains very much on the borderline between rain and snow and sections north and west of about Routes 78 and 287 could see 2-8 inches of accumulation of snow and sleet mixed with rain with the larger amounts in far northwestern sections and lesser amounts as you near Routes 78 and 287. Areas south and east of Routes 287 and 78 would see a dusting to 2 inches of snow with the higher amounts near Routes 287 and 78 and the lowest amounts near the Hudson River. 

As you start to head north and west of Northern New Jersey, Southeastern New York State will have the same situation and amounts as Northern New Jersey with the lowest amounts near the Hudson River and the highest amounts as you head west and north into Orange County with 2-8 inch amounts likely as you head west and north from Rt. 287. 

There should be widespread amounts of 1-2 FEET with local amounts of up to or exceeding 3 FEET from North Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania, up through Central and Northern New York State, Western Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire (excluding coastal locations), and Maine (excluding coastal locations).

The precipitation may become very heavy during the day on Tuesday and I would expect some thunder and lightning as well.  For areas that receive the heavy snow, the snow will be extremely intense and very wet, likely causing widespread power outages and severe travel difficulties with many people becoming stranded on the roadways.  Emergency management coordinators should be preparing for this storm in the heavy snow areas I outlined above.  Areas receiving rain will have serious flash flooding problems as 2-5 inches of rain could fall during the day on Tuesday. 

If you know anyone who lives in one of the heavy snowfall locations I mentioned from the mountains of the Poconos through the Catskill Mountains and Northeast, you should tell them to prepare for incredible amounts of snow and long duration wide-spread power outages.  This storm will be one that you will be hearing about in the news headlines and hundreds of thousands of people will be without power and many for 1-2 weeks in widespread areas of the Northeastern United States.  Right now I don’t expect this to occur in Northern New Jersey, excluding possibly some locations in far Northwestern New Jersey as we might be saved by the warm-up that the data is forecasting.

My concern continues to be that there will be dynamic cooling of the atmosphere during the day on Tuesday.  The precipitation will be extremely intense as the storm undergoes rapid intensification or bombing out as we say, during the day.  This is when there will also be lightning and thunder.  When this occurs, those people who get under the heavy band of moisture may very well find the heavy rain change to heavy wet snow that will accumulate rapidly as the atmosphere dynamically cools, and this could occur for at least a few hours.  In theory it would be possible that you could get 6 inches of snow under these conditions in just a couple of hours.  I can envision this possibility in Northwestern New Jersey during the day on Tuesday.  I am NOT at all certain that this will happen, but the data IS indicating this possibility right now over Northwestern New Jersey.  The precipitation should then go back to all snow on Tuesday night.    

I continue to be concerned that this storm could very well trend colder tomorrow.  In fact, I will remain surprised if it does not.  I suspect that it will trend colder and snowier but we will have to wait and see what happens. 

Monday we will have increasing cloudiness with snow developing at night.  The low on Monday morning will be in the low to mid 20’s and the high on Monday will be in the low to mid 30’s.

Tuesday we will have snow in the early morning that could accumulate to an inch or two in Northwestern New Jersey and a dusting to an inch or so in Northeastern New Jersey would be possible, then rain, freezing rain, sleet, or snow during the day, changing back to snow at night, with lows in the upper 20’s to low 30’s and highs in the low to mid 30’s.  There could be significant accumulations of snow and ice in Northwestern New Jersey, especially in far northwestern sections. 

Wednesday we will have snow in the morning with snow showers likely in the afternoon and highs in the low to mid 30’s.  The snow could accumulate to a couple of inches during the day, especially in the morning.

Thursday we will have a continued chance of snow showers with highs in the low to mid 30’s.  The snow could accumulate to an inch or two during the day.

Friday through Monday should then be nice with highs in the low to mid 30’s on Friday, the mid to upper 30’s on Saturday, the low to mid 40’s next Sunday, and the mid to upper 40’s next Monday.

Next Tuesday clouds will increase with highs in the low to mid 40’s.

Next Wednesday through Friday a Nor’easter will develop along the Middle Atlantic Coast, bringing us another chance of rain or snow.

It will then clear out for the following weekend.

Join me early tomorrow morning for the latest, with updates throughout the day.

Please tell your family and friends about this blog, especially if they live in any of the heavy snowfall areas I mentioned. 

If you want to escape the cold and snow, my dad owns a real estate company in Florida. 
Click here to view his company website.  

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