WEATHER BEAT: Residents Should Expect Significant Snowfall Starting Friday

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weatherbeatlogoThe area of low pressure that we have been monitoring for several weeks has finally made landfall in the Pacific Northwest, and models are now providing us with a much better indication of what this storm will do on the east coast. It is still a few days away, and we have a lot more data to sift through, but here’s what our thinking is as of today.

I know everybody is excited and maps are floating around as to how much and where. The GFS American model has it dumping right on top of us while the European model has shifted the storm further south. I am not really concerned where the models take the storm at this point, as shifts are very common at this stage of the game.

What we should gather from these models is guidance suggesting a major snowfall of at least a foot. Anything over a foot of snow is just speculation at this point. I know what you’re thinking, "These meteorologists have no idea what this storm is going to do." Consider this, I’ve been tracking this storm since it was just a little speck on the satellite, and now we are seeing the fruits of our labor come true. Just the fact that snow has been consistently in the forecast since before it was cool is rather impressive.

So what are we getting and when? I’m sticking with my prediction of 1-2 feet of snow, but I do have plans to narrow this down in tomorrow’s Weather Beat, so stay tuned. As for the timing, its looking like about mid-afternoon on Friday and lasting into Saturday evening. I expect the storm to clear out by Sunday, but the cleanup could take a few days.

The take away from this Weather Beat is that we should prepare for a minimum of a foot of snow in the immediate Bristow area; which quite frankly, is enough to keep us inside for quite a while.

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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