JD Texas is cold enough right now. Is this stuff coming to Central Texas east of I 35? My goats will need their coats, and a heater.

I love your blog and love to see you on T.V. You are so funny and up beat all the time. Keep up the good job. It is a pleasure to watch someone that looks happy all the time.

Hey, Janice:

I always wondered about why snow levels tend to be different within NYC. For example, it seems that Queens always gets more snow than the other city areas.

I am of the opinion that each geographical area of the city has its own particular gravitational pull and weather conditions (heat generated by traffic and concrete in Manhatten not withstanding).

Are my beliefs correct? And where do I get these Sal-questions from?

Sal

BTW-Everyone who has a snow thrower, make sure that you get your thrower prepared for winter. DO NOT PUT THIS OFF UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!! Have the oil changed, drain out the remaining old gasoline, check filters and spark plugs. In case of severe snow fall, your machine will be in tip top condition to bail you out.

Remember…when you delay, you pay!

Hey, Janice:

Also, some years ago, Alaska had very severe cold and snow fall! The main cities came to a standstill (sort of like what Buffalo, NY experiences).

State troopers and other govt officials went around checking up on people.

The only ones who, for the most part, did not have any difficulty were First Nations People (Indians) and the Inuit!

Sal

Hi Janice,

I’m hearing that we’re going to get a wintery mix here in upstate NY on Sunday. I love that term …wintery mix. You really can’t go wrong with that one. lol

Hello Janice,

I feel for those in the Southeast suffering through the drought. While I was stationed in South Carolina, in the USMC, in 1980, I do remember a “hot” summer then. it didn’t last as long as this drought has.

This spring, we had our fair share of rainfall, to make up for the past two years and we are sitting at +16.00 inches for the year. This year made up for last year which was -16.00 inches not including 2005’s shortage.

Although the rains really stopped around mid-july and we have seen very little since then. We could use some more to finish the year out. Hey Janice can you throw in a few days of snow for Christmas?

Being a Northerner, from Indiana, these hot, long summers are the pits down here. After 14 years I still haven’t got use to them. LOL!

Best wishes to you,

David

JD,
I see by your cartoon, Bill Hemmer finally got to do the weather. Too, cute. He is a doll anyway. Glad to see your sweaters were well taken care of.

Yep we here can attest to some of the coldest air. We are sitting at 1 and that is up from -4. If you look at the IR satellite you can see the cold air in place over us. As that low pushes east, and it looks like it will impact pretty much everyone somehow, we here will be dealing with high winds and warming conditions. Our winds Sun-Tue should be 40-50mph throughout Montana, cant wait for that.

This week started off horrible with the death of Sean Taylor. I am a Redskins fan and it hit me pretty hard as I am sure it did for every fan. If you all didnt know who he was please hit up the compilation videos on youtube to see just how awesome of a free safety he was. Even while he was at Miami and I am a Hokie fan he impressed me with his tenacious attitude and the reckless abandon he played the game with. Please think about him.

Take care everyone and be safe with as this low moves across the country.

Dave

Hey Sal,

I lived in Alaska for 3 1/2 years and the city never really came to a stand still while I was there. Back in ‘02, I think, on St Patty’s day we go 19” in about 12hrs and we were out that night still having a great time. Mostly the coast regions like Valdez and the Prince William Sound gets heavy snow like that on a normal basis. Because of the mountains Anchorage doesnt get dumpings of snow like that very often. And in Fairbanks and the interior its too cold for heavy snow. Also on the western coast and along the Aleutians they get wippin’ storms throughout the winter with hurricane force winds that can pile up the snow usually as snow drifts but still 2-4′ snow drifts are bad. When it snows in Anchorage there nothing stops….school does not get canx ever….maybe for ice or they maybe be delayed for an hour or 2 but life goes on no matter the amount. The snow stays once its there and is usually about 2′ thick all winter.

And as for your gravitational pull theory of why snowfalls are different…not too sure that gravity has anything to do with it. I am not that familiar with New York and the locations but I just took a quick look at a map and it looks like there are a lot of peninsulas and coves. If Queens is where Google says it is it sits just north of a cove. So that cove can funnel in moisture and cause high amounts of precip. And to the SSE of you is Raritan Bay and the Atlantic is south. So I would expect southern Long Island to get heavier precip that the northern part. So generally a place with an onshore flow will usually get more precip than areas of an offshore flow. Also you may have island effects. If an area is on the leeward side of an island they will be in a drier area than the surrounding places. And yeah your heat island idea may make a difference in some areas. So my point is geography has all to do with it.

Sorry so long…I just like talking about weather.

Take care,

Dave

JD, Happy Friday!! Thanks for the heads up on Mr. Big Nasty system coming towards us. Great cartoon ! I’ll be looking for a weather rap on Snoop Dogg’s next album. Have a wonderful weekend. RP

JD Thanks, goaties are still warm as toast!

Hey, Janice:

Hey, David:

Not to worry, we like talking about the weather too. To echo Janice’s comments: “…keep them coming.” BTW-in your MOS as WX, what is the biggest weather emergency you had to deal with?

Sal

Hey, Sal

The most intense situation I have ever been in was while deployed to Iraq and we had thunderstorms pretty much everyday during March and April. Its was tuff because we only had satellite and maybe 4 or 5 reliable upstream observations. And having to tell the Army helo pilots that it ‘will’ do this or ‘will not’ do that is pretty stressful. You cant waffle when it comes to that. That is why it boils me up when people say that weather forecasters can be wrong 90% of the time and still keep there jobs. We cant be wrong, I just tell them that I am never wrong, my timing is just off. =) You can use the Janice.

Take care,

Hey, David:

Thanks for the reply.

Great answer about timing being off! LOL

Sal

I live in Utah now and am mazed how fast the city of salt lake clears thing. It can snow 12 inches and it is usually a clear morning commute. When I was in portland, Oregon, 2 inches was enought ot shut everything down.