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NYC Weather & Storm Blog 2012Click here to select another year
May 5th, 2012---: Big storms moved southeast through the NYC metro yesterday morning almost catching me off guard! I knew there was a chance of storms during the overnight period, but wasn't expecting them to be very intense. About 6am I awoke to the sound of distant thunder and before I knew it, the pre-dawn sky was lighting up! I grabbed my GoPro Hero camera and quickly mounted it on the outside of my 2nd floor living room window. Over the next 20 minutes I managed to capture a few bolts and some loud thunder. Not the most severe storm we've experienced here by any means, but a great way to start the day for sure! More storms were forecast for later in the day, but they never materialized. To check out the video of yesterday mornings storms, head on over to my "Storm Chasing Videos" page!
Image Below: The link of storms right as they were over Queens County and Nassau County yesterday morning.
April 20th, 2012---: Been a bit quiet on this side of the blog as most of my posts have been on my storm chasing blog, however I felt there was some things to mention so here we go! First off, the past 3 months have been WAY above average in the temperature department, and WAY below average in the precipitation department. We ended up just shy of the all time warmest March ever on record, and the trees in NYC, which normally begin blooming in early April, began budding in mid March. Completely insane! Now that we're in late April, the colors are just exploding everywhere here and I love it. But, we really do need the rain and rain is what we are going to get late this weekend and into early next week. A late season nor'easter will make it's way up the coast and will bring some much needed rain to the area. Up to 4 inches in some areas is forecast! This will also cause some flooding concerns since we will be getting a lot of run off due to the very dry soil. Below is the latest 12z Euro showing this late season nor'easter just off shore Monday morning. If this were the middle of winter, we'd be looking at a heck of a snow event! Something that eluded us this past winter.
March 1st, 2012---: Big time severe weather threat for many states east of the Mississippi tomorrow! Unfortnately due to family and work I cannot chase this one but wow, we're already getting off to a heck of a start to the spring storm season. Definitely be on alert tomorrow if you live in the risk area, and please keep that NOAA weather radio in alert mode! Take this seriously, and be sure to give the heads up to family and friends that live in the risk area. If you do not have a NOAA radio, that's ok, in that event stay tuned to your local news outlets and radio. They'll keep you on top of the situation. It's all about being prepared. The severe threat even extends into western PA and western NY so this threat covers a vast area. Check out the image below...45% risk area for many states like Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. This risk area outlined below is for the overall severe weather threat, and does not just focus on tornadoes. It essentially states that the chances of seeing severe weather within 25 miles of any given point within the purple shaded area is 45%. That's very high. If you live in the red shaded area, your chances of seeing severe weather is 30%, and so on. All modes of severe weather are forecast tomorrow. Large hail, damaging winds, lightning, and yes...tornadoes as well.
February 20th, 2012---: Here we are getting towards the end of February now and still, no snow at all! And, it's looking like we're not going to see any for the foreseeable future. If anything, this week is expected to be way above normal, and we could see 60 degree temperatures come Wednesday. Colder weather could be on tap for next weekend, but we're still a few days away from that so details are still sketchy.
February 9th, 2012---: It sure has been quiet here in the NYC area this winter. Hardly any snow at all has fallen but it's beginning to look more and more likely now that we could see at least a few inches of snow overnight tomorrow into Saturday morning. Models have trended a bit stronger with this upcoming coastal storm, and as it stands right now, we could see upwards of 3-4 inches. We'll see what future model runs have to say about this. Image below: Latest snow fall totals forecast for the period Friday night to Saturday night.
January 31st, 2012---: As we close out January we once again skated through another month of winter here in NYC with minimal snow. Only 4 inches recorded here in the city! Actually, that's all we have received this entire winter! December was snow less, and January only saw one minor snow event. What a difference a year makes. This time last year we were fixing for another major snow and ice event here in the city, and we had already recorded over 50 inches of snow for the season so far. Not this year. Still though, we have all of February to go and some of our biggest snow events have occurred in February so there's still time. Right now, I am not seeing any major events on the horizon so it's very likely that we'll get through at least the first week of the month without any snow. What will come after that is anyone's guess right now. Today you would have thought it was early April here in the city. Temperatures here at my place in Queens reached 63 degrees! What is going on! lol
January 20th, 2012---: Our first significant winter storm of the season is less than 18 hours away. While initial forecasts seemed to point towards a more wet, than snowy scenario, the various forecast models have converged on a mainly snow event now, even for locations near the coast like NYC and Long Island. Areas north and west of us here in the city will receive more snow from this quick hitting storm, but even the NYC area could see upwards of 6 inches in spots. Because of this the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for parts of northern New Jersey and the Lower Hudson Valley of NY, and a Winter Weather Advisory for the NYC Metro, Long Island, and parts of Connecticut. Snow should begin to fall here in the city after midnight tonight and continue through about mid day. There is still the likely hood that the snow will mix with sleet and rain here at the coast as warmer air surges in from the south, but as it stands right now, this may happen after the majority of the snow has already fallen. So, to sum up, plan for a plowable snow here in NYC and on Long Island. For those of you living north and west of NYC, you all could see upwards of 7 inches from this storm so travel will be a big difficult if you are out and about early tomorrow morning. This is a quick hitting storm once again, so things will wind down by tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned to your local news outlets for the latest on this storm. I will be live streaming this snow event right here from my place in Queens, NY beginning tomorrow morning so be sure to check back then and click on the "Live Streaming" link on the navigation bar at the top of this page!
Image Below: The latest snow fall totals forecast for the NYC/NJ Metro, Long Island, Lower Hudson Valley and southern Connecticut.
January 19th, 2012---: FINALLY! Our first shot at snow fall this winter here in NYC. Well, only about 1/2 inch is expected in NYC but still, I'll take it. While many have been happy that we have had a snow less winter thus far, I am not happy. Just plain cold is boring, the winter seems to drag on that much longer when it's just cold. The snow at least in my opinion makes things interesting. Either way, whether you love it, or hate it, it's on the way for tonight! And another more significant system will be right on it's heels. Saturday is looking like a nasty day here in the NYC Metro. Everyone should start off with snow, even here at the coast, but as warm air surges north all coastal areas are expected to change over to sleet, and then just plain rain by mid day Saturday. I'll be keeping an eye on things of course just in case the forecast changes but that's how things are looking right now.
Image Below: Regional radar showing the light snow advancing east through PA towards the Tri-State area
January 10th, 2012---: Here we are almost in mid January and still no significant snow events have been seen here this winter so far! By this time last year we were already preparing for our second major snow storm, this year all has been quiet since our late October snow storm. A perfect example of how wildly things can swing from one extreme to another. With that said we are looking at a significant storm to affect the northeast overnight Wednesday into Thursday, but for those of us along the coast, it's looking like an all rain event, with snow to our north and west. Still plenty of time for things to change and by no means does the past month or so reflect what the rest of the winter will be like. It can go either way, but I am beginning to see signs that a pattern change may be taking shape. The NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) has been trending downward the past week or so, and this usually translates to more troughs/lower heights along the east coast. The NAO is forecast to go neutral, or even slightly negative as we get into the later part of January, and if this verifies we could be looking at more typical January temperatures and more storminess compared to what we have been seeing. It's just one of the tools used to predict pattern changes and by no means is any of this written in stone. But, as of right now a trend towards more typical winter weather is looking a bit more likely. Keep in mind, we still have the rest of January, and all of February to go still. Some of our biggest snow events have been during that time frame. I'll be keeping tabs for sure!
Top Image: The current NAO chart
Middle Image: Current snow fall totals forecast ending Thursday evening for the NY/NJ and CT. Note little to no snow accumulations along the coastal regions, but areas to our north and west could see a few inches overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.
Bottom Image: Latest rain fall totals forecast for NY/NJ and CT ending Thursday evening. Looks to be a good soaker for our region.
January 1st, 2012---: Yet another year is in the record books! Happy New Year everyone! Here are some 2011 facts. NYC's Central Park had the 2nd wettest year on record with 72.81 inches of rain recorded. 1983 still ranks as number one with 80.56 inches of rain. This was is question however and the data from that year was reviewed as it appears that some of the equipment used by the NWS may have been malfunctioning that year. After a careful analysis, the final judgement was that the readings were accurate, and 1983 still holds the number one spot. In other news, December 2011 saw no snow fall what so ever here in the NYC Metro. What a difference a year makes as December 2010 saw over 20 inches of snow! All is still quiet here in the new year and as of right now, I don't see any big snow storms on the horizon. What is just around the corner however is a big time chill down. Temperatures will really plummet tomorrow night and by Wednesday morning we will be waking up to temperatures in the teens here in the city! With single digits in the normally colder spots north and west of the city. High temperatures both Tuesday and Wednesday will most likely remain below freezing, so it's going to really feel like winter here shortly! The bitter cold will last until about Thursday when another warm up will commence. The pattern that we have been in is not conducive for long term chill, and storm systems strengthening and riding up the east coast. Will this change as we get further into January, time will tell.