February 8-9 Snow

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day.  The roads had finally dried, yet snow was still prevalent on the yards and fields (except for a neighbor's yard, where nearly all their snow was used up in constructing a 10' snow monster!)  Clouds began to drift in from the west by evening, and overnight, light snow developed in our area and across Missouri.

The air temperature is 6° colder than during Friday's snow.  This has completely changed the structure of the snow that's falling, along with the snow-water ratio (which was 6.3 : 1) .  Today's snow is a very light, disc-like flake that acts like a million reflectors on the ground.

:: Feb. 8, 6:00 a.m. ::

New snow:  0.7"

SWE:  0.07"

Water Ratio:  10 : 1 

Storm Total:  0.7"

Total Snow:  2.5"

 

(new snow)

(total snow)

What a beautiful day it has been!  After this morning's observation, we got the call from school that we'd be staying home.  I headed into town to get a cup of coffee and enter the first part of today's entry.  On my way back home, I was treated with some sun dogs.  I typically see these on the other part of the sky, at evening (although, I usually drive to work before the sun comes up, too).  I just happened to have my camera with me:

 

The sun came out shortly after this picture was taken (roughly 7:30 a.m.), and we had partly sunny skies for a moment or two.  The snow didn't pick up again until around noon (giving us the chance to head to Columbia and hit Bass Pro *score!*).  Our temperatures hovered just above freezing for the majority of the day, so any snow that fell melted as soon as it hit the ground.  I feel that this greatly impacted our storm total amount.  It has been snowing at a steady rate since noon, and it is still snowing.

However...the accumulation didn't begin until late evening, when the temperature dropped below freezing once again.  Hence the long break between observations.  

:: Feb 8, 9:30 p.m. ::

New Snow:  1.2" (since 6 am observation)*

Storm Total:  1.9"

Total Snow:  3.9"

Observation:  The wind has just now picked up, as it has been calm all day.  It is gaining strength out of the WNW.  Light/Moderate snow is falling.

(new snow)

 

(total snow)

* - Much snow fell today that didn't accumulate.

Monster Snowman!

 

At least 10' tall

Final report tomorrow morning.  Measurement will be difficult as the strong NW winds will blow most of what falls tonight.  

:: Feb 9, 6:00 a.m. ::

The snow continued overnight until around 2 a.m. and the temperatures plummeted quickly!  When I went to bed, they were just beginning to drop, at 30°.  This morning, it is 4° with wind chills down to -6°.

Storm Totals

New Snow:  0.2"

Storm Total:  2.1"

Total Snow:  4.1" 

February 4-5 Snow

Updated 6:30 a.m.Feb. 6

A strong surface low is taking a very similar track as last week's storm, causing headaches for many.  This storm, however has pushed precipitation and warmer temperatures farther north.  So many people that ended up with near a foot of snowfall last weekend won't have to deal with that this time.  It also means that we are in line to get snow this time!  In fact, we already have some on the ground.

I'll try to update this entry as often as I can today:

Thursday, Feb. 4

4:55 p.m. | Precipitation began as light rain/sleet, changing over to very light snow, creating a dusting on elevated surfaces and grass.

Overnight, the precipitation tapered off, and slightly above freezing temperatures melted what we had when the sun went down.

Overnight precipitation:  0.03"

Friday, February 5

This morning, at 5:00 a.m., light rain was falling.  I could see a very wet snowflake fall in concert with its liquid friends from time to time.  By the time I left the house at 6:00 a.m., there was a little "slush" on my car as the snowflakes became more prevalent.

Here are some pictures I took at 7:15 a.m.

By this time, the snow had all changed over, and the flakes were huge -- sometimes the size of quarters!  It felt like small snowballs hitting your face.

 

(in Fulton)

  

(in Fulton)

  

(Hwy 54, just North of Fulton)

  

(At Auxvasse)

:: 12:35 Update ::

12:30 p.m.

Total Snowfall:  1.2"

Conditions:  Light to moderate snow

:: 2:30 p.m. Update ::

Total Snowfall:  1.5"

Conditions:  Light snow, wind N 6 mph, gust N 12.

:: 4:30 p.m. Update ::

Back in Fulton

Total Snowfall:  1.9"

Conditions:  Light snow, wind N 2-4 mph

 

  

  

:: Update 6:30 a.m. Feb. 6th ::

The snow ended overnight, and we are left with a perfect blanket on the ground.  The temperatures were slightly above freezing all day yesterday, which made the job easier for road crews, and the roads look nice.  Just a bit slushy.

Storm Snow Total at MO-CW-1:  2.9"

SWE:  0.46"

6.3 : 1 snow to water ratio

 

The birds are happy that I put out their feed today!

January Summary

Normally I'm not a fan of January.  Memories of it ring of dry, cold weather.  While the climatology of the area speaks a different story, I think recent memory has tainted my view of the month.  This January, however, provided some nice contrasts, and a good little snow.  Generally dry, and overall colder than normal, we experienced a good 5.5" snow, temperatures that ranged from -5° to 52°, and a rain event that sent gulf moisture to the tune of 1.48" in the rain gauge.  Not a boring month at all!

January Daily Observations

January 6-7 Snow

Total Snow:  5.4"
Total Precip: 0.27"
Max Wind Gust:  WNW 29 mph (Jan 6)

Arctic air spilled in just before the new year, bringing the coldest air of the season so far.  Wind chills flirted around -20° at some times.  With extreme cold air in place, a strong system slid through the area from the Northwest.  Traditionally, these storms don't carry much moisture, especially with the polar air in the region.  But this one packed enough punch to give much of the midwest a decent snow cover.  As the storm passed, winds picked up, and sustained in the 20 mph range.

As the storm began, we had a few hours of nice, BEAUTIFUL vertically falling snow.  Overnight, the winds picked up, and a different scene could be found.  Below are a few of pictures of the drifting that occurred:

 

 

The snow was extremely dry, with a water content of 20:1.  I literally swept the snow off my car in the above picture with a broom.  The drifts are telling of the wind gusts we experienced overnight.  The drifts you see in the pictures were 12" in some places.  Click HERE for more pictures.

Temperatures

Mean Temp:  24.7°
Deviation:  (3.1°)
Maximum:  52° on Jan 13
Minimum:  -5° on Jan 9


Heating Degree Days:  1250 | 1178 last year
Cooling Degree Days:  0


As I stated before, the arctic air was the story of the first part of the month.  On December 31, we dropped below freezing, and we didn't get above that mark for 11 days.  That's a long time for our area.  Some shallow ponds around here have risked a major fish kill as the ice reached ~10" (as reported to me by some).  It is easy to see from the below graph that we rebounded very quickly during the second week, and stayed in a warm pattern for 10 days.

The warmer temperatures are deceiving because during that time, we were under a cloud (in it, actually) for much of that time.  Dense fog was the word through that period.  For a nine-day period (from Jan 15 - 23), we had fog, lasting all day at times!

Precipitation

Average January:  1.87"
Actual January:  2.47" (+0.60") 

Average January Snow:  7.2"
Actual January Snow:  5.6" (1.6")


Days with measurable precip:  5
Days with measurable snow:  3
Days with snow cover (>T):  13


For the third year in a row, January has fallen short of its snowfall quota.  After reading OSNW3's January Report, I made an interesting realization.  January is supposed to be our snowiest month, but as of late, it hasn't.  It is the same in his area (Oshkosh, WI).  We did make an improvement from last year's precipitation, thanks to a nice storm system that brought over an inch.  Our ground drank up 2"+ more water than last January.  Unfortunately, we currently do NOT need any more moisture.  I'm afraid our luck will run out this July and August with a crippling drought.

 

  

Even though we didn't get many measurable events this month, we did see snow falling from the sky 10 days.  The current outlook for the beginning of February promises a combination of a sub-tropical jet (thanks to El Nino), and northern jet stream that could converge enough to provide some interesting weather.  It'll be fun to see it pan out.

Days with Precip:

As stated before, the last three years have been lacking in the snow department.  It's interesting that we have had equal amounts of measurable precipitation days for each of the years, and although we exceeded the precip amount two out of the three months, we still didn't hit the mark with snowfall.  Looking at the NWS STL data for January 2008, I see that it wasfairly warm (3.4° above average), with the high temperature reaching 73° on the 7th! 

 

Other Weather Info

Days with thunder:  0
Days with fog:  9
Days with wind gust (>= 20 mph):  6

CoCoRaHS Recruitment Video

If you haven't read it yet, Nolan sent an e-mail that contained a link to a video containing some great information about CoCoRaHS.  This would be a great link to add to websites, signatures on e-mails, and to send to anyone interested.  I'm not sure who created it, but it is well done.

Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKlpFuaLw0I

2009 Year In Review

Monthly Summaries

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Temperature

Maximum Temperature:  97° on 6/17, 6/19, 6/21, and 6/22

Minimum Temperature:  -4° on 1/15

Coldest Month:  January | 27.0° mean temp

Warmest Month:  June | 77.4° mean temp


Coldest than average month:  October | -5.2° mean temp departure

Warmest than avg month:  November | +7.6° mean temp departure

Looking at the above yearly temperature graph, I made an interesting realization.  It seems, this year at least, that there is much more temperature variability in the winter and spring months (sorry there's no X axis labels...couldn't figure that one out).  The temps really flatten out in the middle of the year, from late spring to early fall. 

Precipitation

Average Yearly Precipitation:  41.22"
2009 Precipitation Total:  58.22"
2009 Precipitation Deviation:  +17.00"

What a year for precipitation.  2008 and 2009 was the wettest two-year period for the area, as noted by state climatologist Anthony Lupo.  We had 10 months that exceeded the monthly precipitation average.  On the flip side, we were very lacking in the snow department.  Only 8.8" fell in the entire year!  14.5" below average.  It was not a fun start to the year...just cold and dry.  December gave us the only month with above-average snowfall.

For two years in a row, we haven't had any droughts to speak of, which is not common in this area.  Usually, we will experience a bad drought at least once a year.  I'm afraid of what may come next year.

I was excited for this last graphic.  The "Days With Precipitation" graph tells you what kinds of rain/precipitation events we experience here in Fulton. 

Total Days with Measurable Precipitation:   127  (34.8% of year)

Total Days with Precipitation (T or more):  158 (43.3% of year)

I'm excited to be able to compare this with each year as we will inevitably have a drier year this year.

Other Data

Days with thunder (from March to December):  45

Stormiest Month:  June (11 days)...also the warmest month

Windiest Month (no data Jan/Feb):  March and April

I'm working on a graphic depicting each wind event we had here at the station.  So check back for that later.  I'm sure I have forgotten to add something, so some updates may be necessary. 

January 6-7 storm

The beginning of the new year has started a new trend in our weather.  Cold and snowy.  We are currently in the middle of one of the coldest cold snaps (close to the top 10 for Columbia), and from the period of January 1 - 8, our mean temperature is a mere 9.8°.

A low pressure system plunged SE on Wednesday, January 6.  In the morning, the system was centered in South Dakota, and by 2:50 p.m., we started to see our first flakes fly.  The line of snow had to push through the area by about 50 miles before the snow could saturate the lower layer of the atmosphere and reach the ground.  With the sub-freezing temperatures we experienced prior to this (we hadn't seen above-freezing temps since 12/31), the snow stuck quickly and the roads got slick in a hurry.  Of course, folks in Missouri really freak out when snow hits the roads.  Many people don't realize that you can't drive the same in all conditions.

The snow continued at a moderate rate throughout the night.  I went to bed around 10:30 p.m. (late for me) before the winds picked up.  We had right at 2.0" of light, fluffy snow.  The flakes were beautiful, perfect dendritic works of art.  The true work of a master craftsman.

By morning, the scene had changed quite a bit.  After the strong low pressure system pushed through, the backside brought strong NW winds gusting around 30 mph.  I have picures to share with you, and will add them to this post early next week.  The houses in the neighborhood created wind tunnels and provided some wonderful drifts between and around them.  This made measurement a nightmare!

How in the world do you measure such a snow??

I went around, taking multiple measurements...some were 1/2", some over 12".  I finally decided to let math do the work for me.  Using the data from the KCOU station at the Columbia Regional Airport, I calculated the snow density, and using my melted snow from this station, I figured up a number of 5.4".  This turned out to be close to the average of all my measurements, so that's the figure I went with.  Not as quantitative as I wish, but it's the best I could do!  If any old hats have any suggestions for measuring blowing snow, I'd be happy to learn more.  Our snow density was 20 : 1

Frigid Temperatures

Here's a rundown of this month's temperatures so far:

1/1:  20  10
1/2:  18   0
1/3:  15   2
1/4:  16  -3
1/5:  21  -2
1/6:  24   3
1/7:  19   1
1/8:  10   2 

It has snowed 5 of the past 8 days.  It's turning out to be a beautiful winter.  Look for updates including pictures early next week. 

December Weather Summary

As this month came to a close, I have tried to think of a creative way to describe its events.  None come to mind...maybe its the sinus infection that has taken residence in the creative part of my head.  For all I could tell, this December, although it had its significant events, was an average one for Mid-Missouri.

View Daily Observations Here

Temperatures

High Temp:  57° on 12/1

Low Temp:  7° on 12/10

Mean Hi Temp / Average:  39.3° / 41.5°  (-2.2)

Mean Lo Temp / Average:  24.3° / 22.5°  (+1.8)

Mean Temp / Average:  31.8° / 32.0°  (-0.2)

As you can see, aside from the brief extreme changes which define life in the midwest, we were able to keep a near-steady mean temperature for the month.  In addition, we exceeded the average high temp mark 10 days and were below the mark 21 days.

Precipitation

Two things come to mind with precipitation:  Flooding rain and lots of snow!  During the period of 12/22 - 27, we recorded 2.77" of precip (103% of our monthly average).  And it sure seemed snowy, as we recorded 9 measurable days of snow (13 days if you count the days with only a trace).  While we only recorded 6" for the month, it was above average, and with low temperatures it has stuck around a while.

Days with snow on the ground:  9  (0.5" or higher)  OSNW3 was right in the comment he left on the last post, when it snows, it doesn't stick around long.  That's why it seems so snowy to me here.  Its nice to see the white stuff stick around.  And with current forecasts, the snow doesn't look like it'll be leaving us any time soon.

December was the 10th month this year to record a surplus in precipitation.  More on that and the yearly graph in a future Year-In-Review post.

Average precip:  2.70"

 

Average December Snowfall:  4.7"

Total This December:  6.0"

The days with measurable precipitation for December: