4 Sse Winslow [Stephenson Co, IL] trained spotter reports SNOW of M7.0 INCH at 08:25 AM CST -- light snow still falling.
Saturday, January 10, 2009 8:26 AM
Wsw Freeport [Stephenson Co, IL] trained spotter reports SNOW of E5.0 INCH at 06:11 AM CST -- still snowing. overnight total is 5 inches. total snow depth is 7.5 inches.
Milton [Rock Co, WI] nws employee reports SNOW of M3.0 INCH at 07:00 AM CST -- snowfall since friday evening. 9 inches since early friday morning
Whitewater [Walworth Co, WI] trained spotter reports SNOW of M4.3 INCH at 07:16 AM CST -- total since friday evening. 11.9 inches of snowfall since early friday morning
Beloit [Rock Co, WI] co-op observer reports HEAVY SNOW of M10.0 INCH at 05:30 AM CST -- 24 hour snowfall
Janesville [Rock Co, WI] trained spotter reports SNOW of M5.7 INCH at 06:11 AM CST -- snowfall since friday evening. 11.4 inches since after midnight friday.
Saturday, January 10, 2009 7:38 AM
Brodhead [Green Co, WI] co-op observer reports SNOW of M5.2 INCH at 07:00 AM CST -- 24 hour snowfall
Janesville [Rock Co, WI] trained spotter reports SNOW of M1.5 INCH at 04:15 AM CST -- 1.5 inches of new snow between 315 am and 415 am. total new snow since friday evening is now 4.3 inches.
4 Nw Rockford [Winnebago Co, IL] co-op observer reports SNOW of M2.7 INCH at 01:55 AM CST -- storm total snowfall. still snowing.
Saturday, January 10, 2009 2:00 AM
Rockford [Winnebago Co, IL] official nws obs reports SNOW of M2.7 INCH at 12:00 AM CST -- storm total snowfall. 1.4 inches of snow from 6 pm to midnight. still snowing.
Polo [Ogle Co, IL] co-op observer reports SNOW of M1.7 INCH at 09:00 PM CST -- .7 this morning. 1.0 tonight. 0.21 liquid equivalent.
Friday, January 09, 2009 10:32 PM
(5:45:55 PM) nwsbot: MKX: Orfordville [Rock Co, WI] trained spotter reports SNOW of M5.0 INCH at 05:41 PM CST --
(5:14:50 PM) nwsbot: LOT: De Kalb [De Kalb Co, IL] trained spotter reports FREEZING RAIN of E0.00 INCH at 05:00 PM CST -- light freezing rain being reported with roads becoming slick.
(5:11:43 PM) nwsbot: DVN issues FREEZING RAIN WILL MIX WITH SLEET AND SNOW EARLY THIS EVENING for Buchanan, Delaware, Dubuque, Benton, Linn, Jones, Jackson, Clinton [IA] and Carroll, Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Whiteside [IL] till 8:00 PM CST
(1/9/2009 4:38:53 PM) nwsbot: LOT: Rockford [Winnebago Co, IL] broadcast media reports FREEZING RAIN of E0.00 INCH at 04:00 PM CST -- all surfaces becoming covered with ice.
(1/9/2009 4:03:41 PM) nwsbot: MKX: Beloit [Rock Co, WI] trained spotter reports SNOW of M3.2 INCH at 03:30 PM CST --
4:00pm Update - Within the past hour the atmosphere has had trouble keeping its below 32° profile. Because of this we've had some pretty widespread freezing rain! Surface temperatures remain in the 20s so this rain will freeze on contact. We have received many reports of spin-outs and slick conditions. Please use extra caution when traveling or walking!
(1/9/2009 1:35:29 PM) nwsbot: MKX: Milton [Rock Co, WI] public reports HEAVY SNOW of M6.0 INCH at 01:18 PM CST --
(1/9/2009 1:51:23 PM) nwsbot: MKX: Whitewater [Walworth Co, WI] trained spotter reports HEAVY SNOW of M7.6 INCH at 01:25 PM CST --
12:30pm Update - I just updated the web weather video on the main weather page. It has snowfall totals from the first punch of this snowmaker.
Noon Update - We are sitting in the break that I expected. The latest suite of models is still generating some more snow tonight. I'm thinking the snowflakes will start flying again between 4pm-6pm. It should fall at a moderate pace this evening before it completely tapers off by 6am Saturday. The map to the left is from the GFS model between 6pm-midnight. It still places the majority of the accumulating snow this evening between the IL/WI border and I-88. As far as additional accumulations, take a look at your driveway and add another 2-4" on top of what is already sitting out there.
Morning Update - Today's snow event is coming in a couple of waves. The first wave is starting to push east. During the midsection of the day, I expect the snow to weaken a bit. This lull in the activity is only a temporary thing as a secondary wave of accumulating snow starts up later this afternoon and continues through the evening. As shown here, wind speeds aren't too bad right now. Although, with the fluffy nature of the snow it doesn't take much to cause some blowing and drifting. I expect visibilities to worsen tonight as our winds grow stronger out of the northeast between 15-20 mph.
Welcome to the first big snow storm of 2009. It has been 16 days since our last significant snow, which came on the morning of Christmas Eve. The graphic to the left is a product called "Snow Scanner". We use it to estimate snow that has already fallen. The snow started around 3am. Over the course of the last five hours you can see that most locations have already picked up an inch or two of the fluffy stuff.Today's snowmaker just had me shaking my head this morning. It is incredible that just three days ago our normally reliable models had the core of this system swinging through central Wisconsin and barely grazing us with precipitation. In the past 72 hours the data has pushed the storm track nearly 500 miles to the south through central Missouri and southern Illinois. That is a dramatic change that doesn't happen too often with the first few days of the 7 day outlook.
Another nugget of knowledge that makes me unsettled this morning is where this system originated. It started in southwestern Canada, which is why we typically call a snow storm like this an "Alberta Clipper". I was talking with Eric last night, and we couldn't recall a 'clipper' ever producing more than 6 inches of snow. The models are still spitting out a lot of liquid, which is part of why I couldn't find enough data to support a change in the snow forecast. What stresses me about this prediction is that sometimes when the models are advertising a system that seems too intense to be true, it probably is. The 7 day outlook still has a slot of 4-8" of snow on it, but I would emphasize that I believe the majority of the viewing area will end up on the low end of that spectrum.
4 comments:
Adam, we have a hockey tournament at 9:00am tomorrow in Kenosha. We live in Belvidere. Will travel to Ken. at 6-7AM be quite bad or should we plan on staying in Kenosha tonight? Just curious as to the storm schedule. Thanks.
Will that mean the snow amounts will be lower or are you keeping the 4-8 inch forecast.
Freezing Drizzle began at about a quarter to 5, and is currently falling. Occasional freezing rain, only a trace of accumulation to a few hundreths of an inch at best.
Well I do hope this does all change back over to snow soon. Snow is much easier to drive on that ice. Eric if my comment I had on here earlier was out of line I do apologize. I notice it got deleted. Just remember everyone, with this bitter cold coming to remember to fill your gas tanks and keep an eye on the elderly and you pets.
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