Day 360: White Christmases & a Nor’Easter

Posted by pmarshwx on 26 Dec 2010 | 0 comments

So who enjoyed a White Christmas? Well, the image above (National Snow Analysis) for Christmas Day depicts areas of the country that had snow fall during Christmas day (12AM to 11:59 PM Central Standard Time). As indicated by this product, the heaviest snow fell in the southern Appalachian Mountains across northern Georgia, eastern Tennessee, and the western Carolinas/Virginia. The image below depicts places where snow was present on the ground during at least part of Christmas Day, which is a much larger area. In fact, slightly over 50% of the area of the United States experienced a White Christmas.

One thing that might stand out in the image above is the lack of snow cover in southern New England, specifically in and around New York City, New York. It’s amazing what difference a day makes. As mentioned last night, portions of this snow barren area was forecast to have a blizzard today, and this appears to have verified. Portions of the New York City, New York area are expecting between 15 and 20 inches of snow from this event, with isolated areas nearing 2 feet.

The radar image below depicts precipitation in and around New York City, New York, which is mainly falling as heavy snow, with occasional sleet pellets mixed in for good measure. Additionally, very strong winds, upwards of 60 miles per hour are occurring in and around Long Island, New York as a sub 980 millibar low is continuing to deepen just southeast of New York City, New York.