Day 36: National Weatherperson’s Day
Today weatherpersons all across the United States are celebrating National Weatherperson’s Day. I know a lot of people consider Groundhog Day (2 February) to be National Weatherperson’s Day because, after all, what screams weatherperson more than a furry rodent looking for its shadow? However, they would be wrong. It is celebrated on 5 February because today is the anniversary of American John Jeffries’ birth, who began recording daily weather observations in Boston, MA in 1774. Jeffries is considered to be one of the first weather observers in what became the United States. This day celebrates meteorologists’ continuous efforts to produce the best forecasts and warnings.
With this said, there is a lot of high-impact weather to observe across the United States today. The strong shortwave trough over eastern Colorado last night has continued to dive east-southeast into central Kansas and is aiding in the development of widespread snow across eastern Kansas and much of Missouri. Also, the conglomeration of weak shortwave troughs over the Gulf of Mexico last night continue to track off to the northeast aiding the development of extremely widespread precipitation across much of the eastern United States.
The areas shaded in blue are places where a computer model believes the precipitation is falling as snow; orange is a mixture of rain, freezing rain, sleet, or snow; and green is rain (or thunderstorms). As you can see, snow is evident from the far western edge of the map (in reality it extends all the way into Missouri) all the way to the east coast. All of this precipitation will slowly move east over the next 24-36 hours yielding a near historic snowfall for the Washington D.C. area. In fact, Washington D.C. is under a Blizzard Warning! 16-22″ of snow is expected to fall overnight!
Below is the text of a Special Weather Statement issued by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Sterling, VA (which covered the Washington D.C. metro). Notice the strong wording and the 20-30″ totals that are expected. Earlier today I saw some model guidance that predicted almost 40″ of snow! Sheesh!
000 WWUS81 KLWX 051734 SPSLWX SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1234 PM EST FRI FEB 5 2010 DCZ001-MDZ004>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ042-050>057-501-502- 060145- DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-FREDERICK MD-CARROLL-NORTHERN BALTIMORE- HARFORD-MONTGOMERY-HOWARD-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE-PRINCE GEORGES- ANNE ARUNDEL-CHARLES-ST. MARYS-CALVERT-LOUDOUN-ORANGE-CULPEPER- PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK-FAIRFAX- ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA-STAFFORD-SPOTSYLVANIA- KING GEORGE-NORTHERN FAUQUIER-SOUTHERN FAUQUIER- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WASHINGTON...FREDERICK...WESTMINSTER... GAITHERSBURG...COLUMBIA...BALTIMORE...ANNAPOLIS...WALDORF... ST MARYS CITY...LEESBURG...CULPEPER...MANASSAS...MANASSAS PARK... FAIRFAX...ALEXANDRIA...FALLS CHURCH...FREDERICKSBURG...WARRENTON 1234 PM EST FRI FEB 5 2010 ...RECORD SNOWFALL FORECAST IN THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON DC REGION... ...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS DEVELOPING TONIGHT... GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH WITH VISIBILITIES FREQUENTLY FALLING BELOW ONE-QUARTER MILE DUE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT TO PRODUCE NEAR-BLIZZARD AND EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. TRAVEL IS HIGHLY DISCOURAGED TONIGHT AND WILL BE VERY DANGEROUS. LOOKING BACK AT THE BIGGEST STORM OF RECORD FOR WASHINGTON DC... THE JANUARY 1922 KNICKERBOCKER STORM...28.0 INCHES OF SNOW WAS PRODUCED FROM 3.02 INCHES OF LIQUID WATER. CURRENT FORECASTS FOR THIS EVENT HAVE TOTAL LIQUID FALLING FROM THIS STORM APPROACHING 3 INCHES...WHICH ACCORDINGLY WOULD CREATE A SNOWFALL THAT WILL RIVAL THE KNICKERBOCKER STORM TOTAL. GENERALLY ACROSS THE REGION...20 TO 30 INCHES OF SNOW WILL FALL BY SATURDAY EVENING. BALTIMORES RECORD OF 26.8 INCHES FROM THE PRESIDENTS DAY FEBRUARY 2003 STORM WILL ALSO BE THREATENED. A FEW PRECAUTIONARY AND PREPAREDNESS ITEMS TO NOTE: 1. FOLLOW MANUFACTURERS INSTRUCTIONS WHEN OPERATING A GENERATOR OR AXILLARY HEATER. ENSURE PORTABLE GENERATORS ARE ADEQUATELY VENTILATED. 2. TRAVEL CONDITIONS TONIGHT ACROSS THE REGION WILL BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING. HELP YOUR LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT FIRST RESPONDERS AND TRANSPORTATION AGENCIES BY STAYING OFF ROADS LATER THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. 3. FOLLOW LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY DECLARATION ORDERS. IF YOU ABSOLUTELY NEED TO TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY...DO NOT TRAVEL ALONE. LET SOMEONE KNOW YOUR TIMETABLE AND YOUR PRIMARY AND ALTERNATE ROUTES. CARRY WITH YOU A WINTER STORM SURVIVAL KIT WHICH INCLUDES A MOBILE PHONE...BLANKETS...FLASHLIGHT WITH EXTRA BATTERIES...HIGH CALORIE NON-PERISHABLE FOOD AND WATER...AND A SHOVEL. 4. IF YOU GET STRANDED IN YOUR VEHICLE...DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO WALK FOR ASSISTANCE...YOU CAN QUICKLY BECOME DISORIENTED IN WIND DRIVEN SNOW AND COLD. THIS STORM WILL SUBSIDE SATURDAY AFTERNOON...SO WAIT IN YOUR CAR FOR EMERGENCY HELP TO ARRIVE. PERIODICALLY RUN YOUR ENGINE FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES EACH HOUR FOR HEAT. ENSURE YOUR EXHAUST PIPE IS CLEARED OF SNOW AND ICE. CRACK YOUR WINDOWS TO AVOID CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. TIE A COLORED CLOTH TO YOUR CARS ANTENNA TO BE VISIBLE TO RESCUERS. FROM TIME-TO-TIME...MOVE YOUR ARMS...LEGS...FINGERS...AND TOES TO KEEP BLOOD CIRCULATING. 5. AVOID OVEREXERTION WHEN SHOVELING SNOW. BREAK THE SHOVELING DOWN INTO SMALLER JOBS AND TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS. 6. IN CASE OF POWER SUPPLY DISRUPTIONS...HAVE AVAILABLE FLASH LIGHTS WITH EXTRA BATTERIES...EXTRA FOOD AND WATER...EXTRA MEDICINES. 7. ENSURE ANY PETS AND FARM ANIMALS HAVE PLENTY OF WATER...FOOD... AND SHELTER. FINALLY...THE KEY TO GETTING THROUGH THIS AND OTHER PERIODS OF HAZARDOUS WINTER WEATHER IS WITH ADVANCE PLANNING AND BEING AWARE OF CURRENT CONDITIONS. THIS STORM WILL BE WINDING DOWN EARLY SATURDAY EVENING...SO DO YOUR PART AND LET YOUR LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS RESTORE ROADWAYS TO NORMAL CONDITIONS BY STAYING AT HOME. $$ LEE/CS
