Saturday, December 19, 2009

Winter Wonderland!!!!

Here are some pictures from today's snow storm around 3:15 in the afternoon. Enjoy!



My House


The Front Steps


My car


Can you find it?

The backyard


It's beautiful!


Winter Wonderland!

Blizzard of 2009

I'm home (Moorestown, NJ) for the winter break from my school and with 2 more days until the official start of winter, the snow and the wind from storm that we have gotten today, really is a blast of winter. As of 11:45 am the total amount for Moorestown was 4.5 inches, but this storm is not over yet. The Weather Channel is calling this storm the Blizzard of 2009 and I can see that because of the snow and the high winds at 17 to 25 mph. The cams from the different areas that they are showing like the White Housed in Washington, DC and Philadelphia, PA, are also unrecognizable because of the whiteout conditions from the blowing snow. Around the area the totals from the storm vary in Mount Holly, NJ the total at 9:45 am was 2.3 inches and in Burlington,NJ the total was 1 inch at 7:46 am. Atlantic City,NJ at 7:00 am had 2.6 inches and Philadelphia, PA had 2.0 inches at 7:00 am. These are just the totals from earlier today and more is expected from the storm. The forecasters are saying that the rate at which the snow is falling is 1 to 2 inches an hour and are predicting the storm to be over by 6:00 am tomorrow.

Travel has been halted by the storm and I saw the Philadelphia International Airport is reporting 6 hours delays today and many cancellations. If you do not have to be on the road, do not go on the road. Stay indoors if you can, with the high snow totals the car may get stuck. This storm is historic in some areas. In Baltimore, MD they are reporting up to 15 inches of snow and in Washington, DC the totals are near 20 inches of snow. It may be more once the storm is officially over. For my area we've probably received much more accumulation since 11:45 this morning and 8 to 10 more inches is predicted to accumulate by the end of the day. Below is a map from the Weather Channel, showing predicted precipitation accumulations.


This is a surface map valid 12:42 PM Eastern Standard Time, from the Weather Channel. See how the low pressure is off to the coast. Further North of this map is a high pressure system which is blocking this low pressure system and the cold air from the high pressure system is feeding in with the moisture of the low pressure system and the result is the snow! The winds are strong because the isobars between the high pressure system and the low pressure system is tightly packed and the tighter the isobars are between the gradient of high pressure to low pressure, the stronger the winds are.


Stay tuned to your local weather channel or news report for more updates on the storm. I'll post some pictures from around my area of later tonight. Be safe!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Snowfall Totals and Rain Ahead

What a storm it was last week and tonight we'll be getting precipitation too, just not in the form of snow. Atlantic City did receive some snow on Saturday, NOAA measured 0.3 inches at the Atlantic City airport. Moving further northward from Atlantic City, Mount Holly National Weather Sation measured near 0.8 inches while Delran, NJ recieved 0.7 inches. I live in Moorestown, NJ for the time when I am not in school in Union, NJ and when I got back to Moorestown Sunday night, most of the 0.7 inches of snow had already melted, due to the partly sunny skies and the slightly warmer temperature near 43. There was some snow accumulation on my car. The total for Philadelphia Airport was a trace while the total for National Park in Gloucester County was a trace as well. Further North in Morris County, Marcella recieved 6.1 inches while Raldolph recieved 4.5 inches. Parts of Delware, New York and Pennsylvania recieved snow as well. If you wish to view more snowfall totals of last weeks storm, visit: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/phi/ and then click the icon at the top entitled "Public Info."

(Area Forecast, Union NJ- December 8 to December 13)
Tonight we'll be seeing much precipitation in the form of rain, so don't forget your unbrellas as a strengthening low pressure system from our west moves into the region. Except a low around 35 for tonight. That low pressure system will remain in our area for Wednesday as we can expect showers throughout the day and a high near 44. A warm front will be passing through the region Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday night as we can expect lows for Wednesday around 37. Thursday looks to be breezy with winds out of the west at 15 to 25 mps. Gust may reach up to 37 mph. Expect mostly cloudy sky conditions and a high near 40 for Thursday as well. High pressure will move into the area for Friday into Saturday as we can expect mostly sunny skies and a high near 37. Sunday looks to be another chance for some rain as a coastal low will move into the region. Expect a slight chance of showers and a high near 38.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

A Ripple In the Clouds

Just wanted to share a few pictures I took of the clouds yesterday from my work window. Please disregard the reflection of the lights on the window. These clouds were absolutely amazing!



It's coming!

I'm in Southern New Jersey in Moorestown, for today. In a few hours I will be going to Atlantic City for the weekend. Just wanted to post an update on the current conditions of this wintry mix that's bring some joy to many people along the East Coast and which has also brought Houston, TX it's earlier snowfall in history. Currently in Moorestown it is 38 degrees, with light rain. The system is moving up the coast and by tonight we should be seeing some snow! NOAA is stating that the chance for snow tonight is 100% and the area could be receiving up to 3 inches. For Northern New Jersey, around the Union area, the possibly for snow is high as well and the region could be receiving close to 1 inch of snow. Below is the current radar from Accuweather of the system:

We can see that to the north and north west, the snow is currently falling and for our region the temperatures are continuing to fall and the rain will be changing over to snow tonight. Stay safe!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Near Record Temp/Snow this weekend?

I'm sure you felt the warmth as you stepped outside earlier this morning and last night temperatures in our region were above normal as well. I'm sure so might be wondering is it December or Spring? Well, we almost reached a record here for our region this morning. The temperature was 67 recorded at 6:51 am and looking at the history for the Newark region, the temperature today reached rather close to the record set back in 1998 which was 70 degrees. The average for this time of the year is 40. Today's high was 27 degrees above normal though, and I must say, the temperature felt rather nice. The cold front from our west moved into the region this afternoon, dropping the temps down to 63, which is much cooler than this morning but still considerably away from the average for this time of year. It is also quite breezy outside as the front moves through. Currently the wind is from the west at 16 mph and gusts up to 22 mph. So will we be getting any closer to the average temperature for the month of December?

There is a chance for snow on Saturday night, as a low pressure system from off the coast moves into the area. The models (The GFS and the NAM) have shown this low off the coast with high pressure to the North which is an ideal set-up for snow. The temperatures will also be ideal for snow to occur in the region. NOAA is expecting temperatures to drop down to 29 degrees Saturday night. The chance for the region getting snow on Saturday is 30% according to NOAA and down in South Jersey is 50%. Let's our fingers crossed for a snowflake or two, for many areas of the state, Saturday night could be our first snow of the season!