[Cambium]

POSSIBLE ST. PATRICK DAY SNOWSTORM. AROUND THE 17TH. COULD THIS BE THE FINALE?
A shot of cold air should filter down after next week. Should be interesting.

[7 Wishes]

AccuWeather.com - Weather News | Are You Sick of Winter? (http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/25660/are-you-sick-of-winter-1.asp - broken link)

[wavehunter007]

Just to balance out the “wishcasting” by the winter fans at Accweather...keep a few things to keep in mind;

By the middle of March...mean daily normals across most of the Tri-State area are around 47/31 F. Even on a cloudy day at our latitude (40 N), with steady snow, energy emitted from the sun is strong enough to penetrate through to reach the Earth's surface. Darker surfaces absorb even more of the sun’s energy. Look what happened today...it did snow for awhile...but in melted on contact with the pavemnet in much of CT. Unless there is truly cold air (not likely as the month moves on) falling snow melts pretty much on contact. So during the day the chances of accumulating snow are pretty much a long shot. Overnight might have the best chance, again if there is truly a cold air mass. 2000 miles to the north of the USA... the air across the Arctic region is fighting a losing battle. Already the air masses are starting to warm as the daylight, and the solar angle begins to steadily increase. The effect down here in the USA is that Arctic air is already modified by the time it makes it down into the USA...then heads across the USA to the East Coast.

Some cold air looks like it might get into the pattern again on the 13th or so...but not nearly cold enough to support signifcant accumulating snow. The southern branch of the jet stream should continue to fade away. In fact, by late this Thursday...the upper level low will roll off the East Coast and a decent southerly flow will set up for the foreseeable future. Days should hit near 50 F nights around 35 F (above freezing). This will only serve to warm the ground even more next week.

We should see a few more days/nights of wet snow/mix with rain a few more times...but a true snowstorm is really a long shot. I think the odds are you won’t need that snow-shovel again until next December (lol).

[wavehunter007]

Since AccuWeather hypes the 90 days of winter...I give spring its fair due:

Spring arrives at 1:32 PM EDT on Saturday. Temps for the rest of the week and weekend should be in the lower 60's under blazing sunshine...in fact inland areas of the Tri-State area could see lower 70's Sat as a strong southerly flow sets up.

For the winter fans in seems once again winters lease was all to short.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Snowman27

POSSIBLE ST. PATRICK DAY SNOWSTORM. AROUND THE 17TH. COULD THIS BE THE FINALE?
A shot of cold air should filter down after next week. Should be interesting.

lol...

[ExNooYawk]

Ahhh, March in CT. Sometimes it can be in the 70's. 80's, even. Then April arrives, and you can have snow. Or 80's. Or a blizzard.
The entire spring period comes in like a lion and, well, you know....

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by Snowman27

POSSIBLE ST. PATRICK DAY SNOWSTORM. AROUND THE 17TH. COULD THIS BE THE FINALE?
A shot of cold air should filter down after next week. Should be interesting.

[wavehunter007]

Originally Posted by ExNooYawk

Ahhh, March in CT. Sometimes it can be in the 70's. 80's, even. Then April arrives, and you can have snow. Or 80's. Or a blizzard.
The entire spring period comes in like a lion and, well, you know....

APRIL SNOW IN CONNECTICUT…

Since most winters on the East Coast are a disappointment for snow fans…they have somehow physiologically convinced themselves there is a real chance of significant snow (let alone accumulating snow) in April in the Tri-State area. This has been perpetrated by media outlets like the cartoonish Weather Channel. The scientific reality is of course quite different (it always is). If you look at NWS Bridgeport data over the last 60 years... here are the 1 –inch or greater snows :


4/8/2003…2.0 inches
4/1/1997…4.0
4/9-10/1996….4.7
4/7-8/1996…2.0
4/7/1990…1.7
4/6/1982…6.0
4/4/1957…2.4
4/14/1950…3.7

In fact…if 6 + inches of snow is used as the minimal criteria for “snowstorm”…then there has been only ONE snowstorm in NWS Bridgeport in April in the last 60 years (1982). NWS Bridgeport records just 0.9 inches of snow in April on average. Snow in April in southern Connecticut is confined to a dusting in the first few nights/hours of the month on average.

A true “snowstorm (6-inches or greater)” in southern Connecticut in April …well it’s like the 99-yard pass with 0.2 seconds left in the game. Possible, yes. Likely, no.

A blizzard (defined as 20 -inches of snow...35-mph winds...and a temp of 20 F or less) in Connecticut in April…never.

[ExNooYawk]

Snow is snow is snow. The fact that it can get cold enough to shed a few flakes is what is significant.
We brought our baby girl home from the hospital in mid-April in the middle of a snowstorm. No significant accumulation but it was snow, nevertheless, lol.

[wavehunter007]

Originally Posted by ExNooYawk

Snow is snow is snow. The fact that it can get cold enough to shed a few flakes is what is significant.
We brought our baby girl home from the hospital in mid-April in the middle of a snowstorm. No significant accumulation but it was snow, nevertheless, lol.

...and on Christmas day 1983 I picked up my brother at JFK... and it was 80 F. Extremes work both ways.

The rare event should not be considered the likley weather. I think that's why the NWS keeps track...to give us an idea of what the normal weather should be. 99% of the time...there are no snowstorms in Connecticut in April.