Saturday 2:20pm - Snowfall is wrapping up now. Will be updating the blog with snowfall totals by 4pm today. Thanks for submitting your report!
Saturday 11:03am - It appears that the accumulating snow is wrapping up as expected. Will be posting snowfall totals early this afternoon. Still keep in mind that roadways will be slippery and snowpacked through the mid to late afternoon as road crews continue their work.
9:45pm - Going forecast seems pretty good at this point. If anything models may have overdone the available moisture. While I'm not deviating from my 5 inch gut feeling, I am lowering the forecast grids to 3-6 inches...just due to the lack of snow intensification thus far. -ES
9:20pm - We have added a simple button that you can click to send us storm reports. During severe weather events we always welcome your input and reports as we can't be everywhere all the time. Thanks in advance! -ES4:33pm - All counties within the WREX coverage area are now under a Winter Storm Warning.
Snow will begin to accumulate shortly after midnight and continue for much of Saturday. Right now I am looking for the highest totals to be right along the Illinois/Wisconsin stateline where 6-7 inches of snow seem reasonable. For the Rockford metro, I anticipate 5-6 inches on average. Lesser amounts will fall along the I-88 corridor, points southward.
Snow will taper to flurries around noon Saturday bringing this event to an end. While it will be one of the biggest snows we've seen in a month or two, it will come at a time when few of us need to travel. If you must head out, use extra caution and allow plenty of time. And only travel with a fully-charged cell phone!
19 comments:
I am hoping we get 6-7 because of a bet I made with my best friend. Under 6 inches costs me 5 dollars towards her and 6 or more costs her 5 dollars towards me. Eric, I hope this is ok to post. If not go ahead and delete it and welcome back from your well deserved vacation.
Yeah ummm Eric did you not get the memo that you were to bring the warm weather back with you after your trip and not this garbage.
Hope the train ride down was fun, that would have been a blast I bet.
I think eric had a memo but threw it away when he returned just to torture us that he was in near 80 degree weather while we were shivering. hehe. Justin and adam did a superb job preparing us for this storm and now eric gets to forecast it.
Eric,
You cannot go on vacation anymore because each and every time you step away from the studio, a major weather events happens. A cot in the old analog transmitter room should ensure no more major weather events. WELCOME BACK!
Curt
That button you just added to the blog looks cool. I will definitely utilize it tomorrow after I get home from work and I hope you get better soon.
What's this I hear that the City of Rockford is not going to use the private contractor plows on the side streets until there is 6 inches or more? This will make it fun driving in the morning.
To all of the WREX storm team,
First off I really dig the new easy to use snow report feature, it's a terrific idea. I do have one beef with it though. I know that most of the reports will be coming from non trained spotters, so it might be helpful for non weather buffs to know how to properly measure the snow so that you guys get a bit more accurate submissions.
Also, I was wondering if you plan on continuing the same type of viewer input when the severe weather season kicks up ?
I just got home it's now 1:45am and the snow is starting to come down at a good clip. The snow flakes themselves are a pretty good size.
Take it easy while driving tomorrow folks, and if you have an elderly neighbor help em out with their snow removal. Sure it's a bit of back breaking work, but trust me it feels good to help a neighbor.
Sorry for the wall of text.
@ SnowCrazy,
I am a self contacted plow driver, I don't plow in Rockford, but I can see the cities concern. I have no idea on how it's setup as far as pay and what not goes, but plowing is very hard on trucks. For instance I have a friend that owns sixteen plow trucks. If he were to do this and have a couple of his trucks break down which always happens, he would take a big hit to the wallet.
Then again that depends on how well the private contractors are compensated..
At any rate, the reason I think it's a reasonable idea considering all private contractors have their own plow account lists they need to get done to keep their business in good standing. By not having them show up until there are 6 or more inches on the roads, gives the private guys time to get their personal routes done.
From my experience when I get called by another plow company to come lend them a hand I make $50.00 an hour. Of course I also do lawn care, so we all know each other which makes good snow seasons like this a nice way to earn extra income. Plowing is really straight forward, but the money we do make we earn it. Plowing takes a toll on you, you're basically getting into several minor car accidents every time you push the snow into a pile. After about 18-30 hours of this you are pretty beat up.
I've never driven a city plow before so I have no idea if it's any different. I would like to ride in one just to see what it's like plowing so high up.
Boy, I'm rambling again, this is what I get for having a cappuccino before bed time.
it's looking lame so far
8:40am 3.1" Belvidere - Still snowing.
WARNING extended till 6pm for Boone, Winnebago, and McHenrey.
DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, La Salle, Lee, Ogle downgraded to Winter Weather Advisory till 6pm.
Be safe and don't drive
Unfortunately the NWS does not usually cover snow measuring in the spotter class, so even trained spotters do not always know how to measure snow.
Here is the NWS-Milwaukee official instructions on how to measure snow:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mkx/measure-snow.php
When I took a couple of college meteorology classes at UW-Madison (oh, about a million years ago) I was taught that when there is blowing and drifting you need to take ten (10) separate measurements over a 100 meter x 100 meter area (about 2 football fields laid side-to-side). Record all these measurements and then go back to someplace warm and get out a pencil and paper (calculator today) and calculate the average. Then report that depth and if the smallest measurement is more than 10% less than the largest measurement, report minor drifting. If the smallest measurement is more than 25% less than the biggest measurement report drifting and report the highest measurement as the depth of drifting (i.e., "drifts of 26 inches").
Always report snow depths as either "estimated" ("E") or "measured" ("M").
That's how I learned it anyway.
Morning all! First of all, we diligently go over every report to make sure there are no bogus reports. In fact, during the month of March we are going to start a new interactive live feature where your reports will automatically plot onto our radar! (It's being beta tested by our NBC affiliate in Evansville, Indiana right now. 14wfie.com)
Next, I have no idea why they would extend the warning through the afternoon. Yes, there will be a little more snow and driving will be hazardous but sheesh!
Next, WiWeatherBuff you're wonderful at explaining that! Right on...and Thanks!
12:15pm Belvidere 4.9"
Some drifting, gusts and steady winds.
This message is for Eric Sorensen. I was recently speaking with a guy from Rockford, IL who calls himself "The Man Who Can Stop a Hurricane". I am from Boston, MA, though most of my family is from Louisiana (where they get a lot of hurricanes). I work for an airline. The guy with whom I was speaking claims that if one were to take a whole fleet of planes, fly over a forming hurricane, and drop a whole bunch of dry ice on it, that that would dissipate the hurricane. I thought that this guy was crazy. He did say that he had spoken with you, though he didn't ever really say what your opinion was on that matter. I would like to know.
baditude: Not possible. :)
Just got home from work. 4 inches in loves park as of 3:25p.m.
Thanks Eric!
I finally got to see you on TV again tonight after going out & buying a 25 ft coax cable, drilling a hole through my ceiling and threading the cable up into the attic. Then I put my new $50 indoor antenna in the attic and viola, my converter box "found" WREX again. Sheesh. So much for "simply" attaching a converter box...
Thanks for that WI Weather Buff , that was a terrific and informative post. I always love learning new things as far weather goes. Thanks for the story and the great link !
Wi Weather Buff: To be honest, I haven't hooked up my converter box yet. (I don't watch much TV.) I am going to do that on my day off tomorrow. I am hoping I don't have to reroute the antenna.
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