December went in the books as being the warmest in recorded history for the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. We flip the calendar to January, which is such a stark contrast with much colder temperatures and now a possible snowstorm.
Here's kind of a quick itinerary of our snowstorms trip across America. We have an area of low pressure moving into Washington State, then diving south towards California, then pushing east towards the Gulf of Mexico. At the same time, we have an upper low way up by Canada that will come south and combine with the low near the Gulf of Mexico somewhere in Tennessee. These two areas of low pressure will move off the east coast and strengthen into a blizzard before moving up the coast towards Boston as a classic Nor'easter.
The bulls eye as of right now looks to be areas west of Washington, DC and Baltimore, Maryland. Areas in this region will see anywhere from 1 to 2 feet of snow from Friday morning through Saturday afternoon. This region may also see blizzard conditions with wind gusts in excess of 60 mph. Some of the pressures associated with this strengthening storm are reminiscent of pressures you would typically see in a hurricane.
In terms of the immediate area, I expect to see anywhere from 1 to 2 feet of snow; however, some people disagree and suggest I should rely on the models more. One of my friends, Ben Michaux, an aspiring meteorologist, has great confidence in the models saying, "As models strongly agree with a big Nor'easter, DC residents should prepare for the worst!"
Now assuming we actually do get the 40 inches of snow that is currently being hyped about, we would deal with closed highways, airports, train stations, schools, gas stations, grocery stores, etc. We would also be dealing with collapsed roofs and essentially being stranded in our houses for about a week. Also, that amount of snow would lead to power outages, and this list goes on and on.
I only bring that up because everybody on Facebook is "yippie" to 40 inches of snow. I figure most people in this region don’t understand the impacts of that much snow. I love snow, but I also understand that anything over 24 inches is not necessarily a good thing.
If you haven’t already done so, be sure to drain outdoor pipes, clear storm drains and gutters, and purchase snow shovels or a snow blower while supplies last.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update on this developing storm.
My favorite thing to do is study the weather. It is truly fascinating. Nothing beats a good thunderstorm. I became very interested in weather when I lived in Okinawa, Japan for four years and was actually inside a super typhoon.
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