Latest ICE and SNOW chart's for Northern Hemisphear

[CaptinCrunch]

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/SNOW/index.html

A COOL site if you haven't already been there.

Looking good so far.....

Can someone PLEASE turn down the Sun......I'm about to burn up down here....

[LMolineux]

Very Disapointign for the EAST here
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/SNOW/DATA/cursnow_usa.gif

Very much a lack of Snow cover is disheartening

[Stormsfury]

IMHO, let it build out there ... and build steadfast for people who want colder weather ... good shots of arctic air don't modify as fast with a good snowcover and have much better chances of reaching farther south (and can have enough of an effect as well to redirect mean storm track a little farther south as well) ...

SF

[LMolineux]

IMHO, let it build out there ... and build steadfast for people who want colder weather ... good shots of arctic air don't modify as fast with a good snowcover and have much better chances of reaching farther south (and can have enough of an effect as well to redirect mean storm track a little farther south as well) ...

SF

IMO SF
If it also builds east and south also the whole of any arctic outbreak or dump will not have much of a chance to modify which could boad well for major snow and cold her ein the East IMO. Do you agree?

[Stormsfury]

IMHO, let it build out there ... and build steadfast for people who want colder weather ... good shots of arctic air don't modify as fast with a good snowcover and have much better chances of reaching farther south (and can have enough of an effect as well to redirect mean storm track a little farther south as well) ...

SF

IMO SF
If it also builds east and south also the whole of any arctic outbreak or dump will not have much of a chance to modify which could boad well for major snow and cold her ein the East IMO. Do you agree?

Yes, LM, snowcover doesn't allow for cold air to modify as quickly AND the colder air is able to readily build southward ... Have you ever noticed sometimes how a median stormtrack will settle several miles south of the edge of a snowpack line?

Anyways, Refer to January 1977 for the IDEAL winter weather lover's dream.

BTW, ALL 50 STATES had measurable snowcover at one point in January 1977 ... and January 1977 as a whole was absolutely brutally cold as a whole, especially for the Southeast ... (CHS all-time record coldest month) ... and it was a prolonged cold ...

January 19th, 1977 ... saw snow fall in Miami, FL ...

850mb Temeratures on January 19th, 1977 00z
http://pscwx.plymouth.edu/cgi-bin/gen_r ... m=&dd=&hh=

850mb Temperatures on January 19th, 1977 12z
http://pscwx.plymouth.edu/cgi-bin/gen_r ... m=&dd=&hh=

Here's a pretty decent story about the Miami surprise snow and some details about the winter 1977 as a whole ...

[RNS]

as far as not having a chance to modify, yes...an increase in snowcover over SE canada would greatly help...but its not the full equation.

we must have a favorable pattern (+PNA / -NAO...cross polar influence...and low solar activity (less zonal flow tendency) and very extensive snow cover in order to amplify any trough that significantly to allow a historic arctic intrusion or series of intrusions.

this winter will not have the same severe...sustained cold as the winters of 1976/77 and 1977/78...however something more along the lines of 1993/94 is better suited. Ie...more periodic severe cold shots. followed by a warming then another major arctic intrusion.

Keep in mind...a +PNA and -NAO produce the coldest possible wester pattern for the eastern part of the country as is meteorologically possible (during these times the trough amplification can become rediculous...flooding the EUS with extremely cold air).

[JCT777]

The snowcover in Canada is coming along just fine, IMO. It will progress into the southeast part of Canada soon enough.

[CaptinCrunch]

Last year, you may recall, snowcover came on very fast across the hemisphere in October (achieving the second highest level since that kind of data has been compiled, 1973). The snowcover increased rapidly during the first half of the month.

The snowcover continued to build through the winter. The average snowcover from October through March reached the highest level since 1973. It was more extensive than the great winters of 1976/77, 1977/78, 1978/79 and also 1985/86.

The snowcover dropped to very low levels by August, 2003. This October, snowcover was slower to build than last year. Even in mid-October, snowcover lagged the snow a week earlier last year. The snowcover has come on very rapidly in the last few weeks. It is at roughly comparable levels to the falls in recent years including the harsher winters of 2000/01 and 2002/03.

The snowcover in summer the last few years has been very low. This has been attributed by some to global warming. However, they selectively neglect the rapid fall and winter increases to high or even record high levels in recent winters. Why is snowcover swinging widely from winter to summer? Perhaps some of this could relate to changes in how the snowcover is estimated. NOAA(SSD) cautions us that the snow cover data since 1999 should be regarded as experimental.

Perhaps another factor could be volcanic ash ( or lack thereof). Volcanic ash has been estimated by NASA(GISS) to be at the lowest levels in recent years going back to at least 1950. In a cleaner atmosphere, the summer sun would be more effective in melting snow. Perhaps, the cleaner atmosphere could allow for more efficient high latuitude cooling in fall and winter and buildup of snow in the fall

Extensive snowcover produces a breeding ground for polar and arctic high pressure that can make winters colder in middle latitudes. Cohen etal (Geophysical Research Letters, 2001) suggest the link may relate to the strength of the Siberian High and the phase of the Arctic Oscillation. High snowcover in Siberia leads to a stronger Siberian high pressure and a favored negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation, which favors cold weather across the continents..

IMO, I think the central part of the US east of the Rockies will see a much colder winter than the East/Northeast part...but who really knows, maybe we could ask Santa, after all he does live up North around the pole some place.

[LMolineux]

Wow somethign i never took into account was the effects of Volcanic activity and ash. Somethign to ponder on. and look into.

[LMolineux]

Good Call CaptinCrunch. An overlooked item like that or underestimated weather earth effect item.