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The 2023 Winter Outlook

Friday, October 31, 2014

Friday Morning's Halloween Weekend Forecast

Happy Halloween! The final adjustments are made and after much deliberation here is the final weekend forecast. 




Rain showers should start to develop late tonight and last through late tomorrow afternoon. Temps will hold steady in the low 50's tomorrow. By Sunday, expect clearing skies with temperatures in the mid to upper 40's with gusts of wind at times. 

Overall, it was not a perfect forecast 3 days out but things generally came by to my original ideas from Wednesday (considering yesterday morning most places had 40% chance of showers). I do not think however, that we will see any show showers for most areas in the green zone. Flurries might be possible at higher elevations towards the end of the day tomorrow. 

Still a volatile storm and it will now be fun to see what the end result is. 

Once this unsettled weather blows over, there is a lot to talk about in terms of the overall weather pattern. I will put it this way, winter is going to try to start knocking on our door mid-November on.

I will update as the storm is underway. Lets see now I end up doing when it is all said and done. 

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Thursday Night Video Update: A Storm is Coming but Some Questions Remain

Video below shows updated models for today and how they compare to the map I posted on Wednesday morning . Overall, models are now coming back to my original idea of most of our area receiving rain (show shower on back end) from this system. I will say, this is going to come down to the wire as things are very complicated with this storm set up. Hopefully when it is all said and done, I do a decent job and don't go 0-1 for the year (things did not look good this morning). Stay tuned!


Here is the going forecast issued Wednesday morning...


More of the exact details on start and stop time will come tomorrow morning. Hopefully that helps with weekend plans. 

Stay Tuned, Despite What you See in Other Forecasts..

You guys who follow me a lot know that I break down how I think a weather situation will evolve and try my best not to flip  flop with the models. The latest model runs have now started coming back to my original ideas.  I still might be wrong but let's see how this plays out.  Much more tonight.  My forecast map from Wed is a few posts below this entry.

Updated Forecast and Map Later Tonight

Not much to add this morning. I will finalize everything after today's run of the models. But overall, no major changes. Might have to take the amounts down a little in Maine. 

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

9pm Update: Sticking to My Guns

Quick video below looks at today's model guidance and implications on my forecast I put out this morning. More tomorrow. 

Wednesday Morning: The First Official Forecast Map

Good morning. After looking at the model updates, I am being to gain confidence on how this storm will evolve this weekend. For the most part everyone who is not in the interior will see mostly rain and wind. This will start on Friday night and last through Saturday early eve. The interior, especially in the West VA, VT,NH, and Maine see accumulating snow from this. I am not ruling out snow showers (light high elevation accumulations) for some areas closer to the coast at the end of this event. This is due to very cold air rushing in.

Here is the forecast...



Basically we have another fall Nor'easter on our hands here. The storm will get very strong, but not pull in enough cold air to produce accumulating snow for the Mid-Atlantic. Expect a very cold miserable rain for most of the viewers on this blog.  

Due to the complicated nature of this storm, things could still change. Don't forget, we are still over 72 hours away so there is a lot to monitor. I will made final adjustments to this map by Thursday if warranted. 

More tonight around 9 pm. 

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Tuesday Morning Update: Trend in Tact, Increased Chances at East Coast Storm

Good morning. If you are really interested in how this situation is evolving I recommend you watch my video from last night. Basically as I have been talking about the past several days I am tracking the potential for a big east coast storm this weekend. This is a tricky forecast due to the fact that this whole storm depends on the phasing of the northern and southern branches of the jet stream. I explain in the video how even the slightest deviation of this phase has drastic implications on the forecast.

So what did the models do overnight? In short, the trend for a stronger storm is in tact. The European really went bold and blows up a major storm right over the mid-Atlantic while the GFS is more the the north and east effecting New England more. Lets review a few components to this storm.

All depends on the phasing of the jet streams....we have seen a stronger trend for this. Here is yesterdays European model..


And last nights...



Notice the stronger deeper trend to the disturbances combining. This has big forecast implications as it results in a deeper storm that blows up off the coast. Here is the surface map of the new European..


This results in rain turning into snow showers for the Mid-Atlantic and a snowstorm over the Northeast. 

Things are never as simple as just buying one model however, take a look at its ensemble. What is an ensemble? Basically it takes the main model and tweaks its inputs to test for error. What you get are 52 different solutions. They more they are similar the more accurate a forecast is likely to be. Here is the European ensemble..


Two things to notice. For one, the average of all the members is the circle inside the green. Secondly, every individual member is represented by a low pressure symbol. Quite the spread on the micro level, but on the marco level we can confidently say a storm is coming. 

So where do we go from here...rain,snow,both? Too early to say, it all depends on the track.I will take a first stab at it tonight with a map I will put out, but first let me show you something. 


These are ocean temperature departure from normal. Notice how warm the Atlantic is along the coast. This creates something called a baroclinic zone or basically a boundary between cold air coming in from Canada and warm air over the ocean. Low pressure systems like to form over these zones to balance out the difference. I would not be surprised if that is the track the low takes. The recent trends back this up. A track like this would result in more frozen precipitation for many areas. Yes a more extreme solution but its something we need to consider. 

In Summary:


  • Increased confidence that a storm is coming this weekend
  • Question remains, how early do the jet streams phase, which will dictate how deep and close to the coast the storm is.
  • The ocean temperatures could be the wild card to this forecast
  • My first map will go out tonight on what I think is going to happen.
Stay tuned!

Monday, October 27, 2014

Monday Night Special Video Update: Models Suggest Winter Makes an Appearance This Weekend

What a day in the world of weather models! We saw what could be a trend develop for a potential winter storm for this weekend. Way to early to make a forecast but in this video I take you though what changed on the models and what trends I will be looking at over the next 24 hours. I will update again tomorrow morning with overnight model updates. If necessary, I will make my first prediction by tomorrow night, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. There is a lot of time to go, so stay tuned and I will keep you ahead of the "hype".

Buckle up the Weather Willy 2015 season could be officially underway!



Big Update Later Tonight..A Lot to Talk About

Monday Morning Weather Discussion: Taking a Closer Look at Halloween Weekend Mischief

The video below breaks down the latest model guidance on the big cold shot coming this weekend along with a developing storm system.




Here is what I am confident in at this time:


  • Coldest air of the fall season hits our area this weekend
    • high temps will be in the 40s and 30's for some spots!
  • I am keeping a close eye on a storm system that will develop and effect the Northeast
  • The biggest question at this time is:
    • Will this be a storm system that just effects New England with rain and mountain snow
    • Or will this be a bigger storm system that effects the whole Northeast with mostly rain and mountain snow
  • In any event, I think there is a shot we see a snowflake or two this weekend for most areas!
  • I will put my first official forecast out tomorrow night or Wednesday morning

Stay tuned. 

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Special Saturday Video: Halloween Weekend Looks Frightening

Buckle up, video below breaks down how I think the weather will evolve heading into Halloween..




Bottom Line:

  • Beautiful week ahead with warm temps
  • The weather then takes a drastic turn Friday as a potential Nor'easter develops
    • Snow is possible in interior New England
  • In it's wake the coldest air of the season moves in, but is short lived and we go back to warm a few days later

A lot more to come on this evolving weather situation. Keep checking in. 


Very Pumped About the Weather Pattern Right Now..Stay Tuned

A lot to talk about..stay tuned

Friday, October 24, 2014

Friday Morning: Big Chill Halloween Weekend?

Video below takes a look at the weather heading into Halloween weekend. Support is building for a big cool down along with a potential storm system. 



Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Tuesday Morning: A Look at How the Stratosphere Effects Our Weather

Good morning. The video below discusses the recent warming in the stratosphere and its possible impact on our mid November weather pattern. Bottom line: I think there is the potential for big changes after the 1st or 2nd week in November.

 In term of the storm developing today everything is on track and in line with my ideas in previous posts. I will have updates on that this week as well.




Sunday, October 19, 2014

Monday Morning Weather Discussion: Nor'easter to Effect the Area this Week

Good morning. we have an active weather of week ahead! If some of you recall I spoke about a possible storm developing after the 20th back in my weather discussion on Oct. 7th This mainly was due to the big typhoon we saw re curve off the coast of Japan at that time. A storm will end up effecting our area this week and will bring with it a prolonged period of unstable weather (Tuesday-Friday). Let's take a look at the components behind this Nor'easter.

An upper level disturbance is now on is way down from Canada..



This disturbance will ride the jet stream down towards the coast and develop a storm system that will become trapped underneath an area of high pressure to the north. The image below shows how this ends up occurring..



Looking at the red arrows above, you can see the jet stream moves over the top of the low pressure system.  This traps the low an area of high pressure now is blocking the low from escaping out to sea. The image below shows this..























What you are seeing above is high pressure in red, low pressure in blue. The high pressure takes on a shape of a banana and thus is called a banana high. In the winter this can cause some of our most significant storms as it blocks storms from escaping resulting in a prolonged period of precipitation. 

You can see the storm starting to wind up on Wednesday below..



We will see our first effects as showers develop by Tuesday night and linger around until Thursday night! When it is all said and done here are total rainfall amounts..

This will not so much be a steady rain as it will be waves of showers rotating through the area. In any regard, pretty impressive storm system. If only this was snow! Who knows maybe we will see this set up repeat in a few months during the cold season.

Thanks for checking in. More in the days to come. 

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Thursday Night Video: Coastal Low Dominates Next Week

Hope you all enjoyed the winter forecast. Feel free to spread the word. The video tonight focuses on a coastal low pressure system that will stall out off the east coast next week. Very interesting situation that bears watching. Remember last week I said to watch after October 20th..this storm next might back up that statement if it materializes...




Tuesday, October 14, 2014

WEATHER WILLY'S OFFICIAL 2014-2015 WINTER FORECAST


Welcome to my official 2014-2015 winter forecast! I want to start off by saying that, although scientific advances in long term weather prediction have come a long way, the weather will always continue to do what it wants to do. In fact every year that passes is a new opportunity for members of the scientific community (I am not a scientist) to study potential new drivers to the weather pattern. Why am I saying this? Quite simply, because I think its important to be humble and not think you have it all figured out when it comes to the weather. With that being said, my forecast below is the result of  studying many factors I have watched evolve over the last 6 months. It is my best educated guess and hopefully its a damn good one. If not the comment section is always open for everybody's choice words.

This outlook is broken down into two sections:



  • The Consolidated Forecast:
    • Graphics showing the prediction for temperature and snowfall compared to averages for the overall season. 
    • Let's admit, not everyone cares how I made the forecast. They just want the bottom line.
    • I will give specific parameters. No general statements.
  • The details behind the forecast:
    • This will be an explanation on the factors I analyzed to come up with this forecast and how each one of them could influence our winter pattern.
    • I will give month to month predictions.
    • This for the the people who are actually interested in the data behind my predictions.

The Consolidated Forecast:

Buckle up, a cold and snowy winter is in store for the Central and Eastern United States with some similarities and differences to last winter. Winter will start off strong in December and hold firm through the end of February. I think we see our first snow by the first week in December. By March the pattern breaks earlier than last year and spring arrives quickly. 

 Temperature Predictions (departure from averages):



Most areas of the country will see a big chill that will develop in December and last into late February with only occasional relief at times. But again, good news is the early arrival of spring in March.

Snowfall Predictions:


I expect the core of above average snows to be focused on the Mid-Atlantic and Southern New England. On average, I think this means 1.2-1.5 times normal snowfall in the above average region. Majority of this snow will come from two major coastal storms (10+ inches per storm). The Great Lakes region and central states can expect to see normal snowfall. Out west, reaching to Utah, it looks to be a below normal season. 

Since most viewers are from the NJ area, here is normal snowfall for the state:


Expect 25-35% more snow than average this year. Most of this should come from the predicted two major storms I mentioned above.

Storm Tracks: These are the types of low pressure systems I expect to develop this winter.



For the most part, coastal storms or Nor'easters should be more frequent than we saw last winter. 

Now for the details behind the forecast:

I look at many large scale factors when I organize a winter forecast. Some of these factors have a big influence on the weather pattern and others enhance an existing pattern in place. Lets start off by listing the factors that influence a winter in North America.

1. El Nino Southern Oscillation:

This is basically a water pattern in the Tropical Pacific off the coast of South America. When the water in this region is above normal in temperature we have an El Nino and when it is below normal we have a La Nina. Both have large effects on the overall placement of the sub-tropical jet stream in the winter. This year I am expecting a weak west-based El Nino. This means the sub-tropical jet stream will be enhanced at times and bring moisture into the United States that could potentially merge with the northern jet stream. The graphics below help explain. It is important to note, jet streams strengthen in the winter months due to the sharper contrast between cold air to the north and warm air from the tropical regions.

El Nino Region:

Typical effects of a weak El Nino:




2. Rate of snow over Eurasia:

A lot of research has been done on the rate of snow in Eurasia during October and its affect on the Arctic Oscillation in the winter. What is the Arctic Oscillation (AO)? In quite simple terms, it is the pressure pattern over the Arctic. During it's negative phase, high pressure develops over the Arctic which allows cold air to funnel south. In it's positive phase, low pressure prevails over the arctic and the cold stays locked up. Here is a diagram to explain.


The next image averages out all the years that had a negative AO during the winter and the corresponding temperature pattern in the USA. Notice the warm colors over the poles. These represent high pressure. Just as the diagram above shows, this weakens the polar vortex and pushes the jet stream south which bleeds in the cold arctic air.

On the flip side, here is what the positive AO years looked like: The complete opposite. The polar vortex over the pole is strengthened and the cold air stays locked to the north. As you can see this is a very important piece of the puzzle for this winter. 



Now back to snow cover. When snow advances at a high rate in October, research suggests this results in high pressure strengthening over the arctic thus creating a negative AO. Below is the current snow cover in Eurasia month to date. Blue is above normal, red is below normal. I boxed out the area that is most important.



At this rate, things look very good for this index to lead to a negative AO. You can see a lot of above average snow growth in the yellow box. In fact, September saw the 3rd most snow cover on record for the Northern Hemisphere! Based on model forecasts, the snow growth should maintain through the end of October.

3. Water temperatures in the North Pacific and Atlantic:

This is a very important piece of the puzzle. It is the reason we had such a cold winter last year. In general, when looking at water temps in the northern latitudes, warm water favors high pressure and cold water favors low pressure. This naturally steers the jet stream. When temperatures are above normal off the West Coast and in the Gulf of Alaska, a ridge of high pressure develops downstream over the West Coast. This leads to a cold air trough over the East. In addition, when we see warm water in the North Atlantic near Greenland, high pressure forms due to warm air expanding and creating higher pressure areas. Here is a particular climate model's projected water temps for this winter (this is common among many models).

I circled important areas including the El Nino I spoke about earlier. The black line basically shows how the jet stream should react to very warm water in the Pacific. Also note, the cold water in the Central Pacific. This is something called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation in its positive phase. This difference in water temperatures should cause a nice trough to develop south of the Aleutian Islands due to the contrast in ocean and air temps with the warm water off the coast and the colder water south of the Aleutians. This is a big driver of cold along the east coast. 

Turning our attention to the Atlantic, I marked something called the Atlantic Tri-Pole. This basically is a pattern of warm water in the Central Atlantic, cold water in the North/Central Atlantic, then finally warm water in the North Atlantic. This pattern favors the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) which I will discuss in a little.

To illustrate my point further, here is what happens when water is cold off the Pacific Coast and Gulf of Alaska. Image below shows some of the warmest snowless winters on record. Take a look at the difference in water temps compared to the above model.

Very cold water off of the West Coast. This is the kiss of death for snow lovers along the East Coast as it usually results in a trough over Alaska which locks the cold air to the north resulting in very warm winters. You can see below what those ocean temps in particular off the West Coast caused for temps those winters (technically 500mb heights).


This should not be the case this year, however, as seen by the model projected ocean temps.

To conclude, I expect a deep low pressure area to form south of the Aleutian Islands (the chain of islands off of Alaska) which in turn will pump up a ridge over the West Coast and trough over the east due to the water temperature profile this winter.

4. The Sun and Solar Impacts

When the sun is active, it breaks down the ozone in the stratosphere which leads to the positive phase of the Arctic Oscillation I spoke about above. We are currently in a very quiet sun cycle as measured by a low number of sun spots. This means the sun is not active at all. This causes the build up of ozone in the upper atmosphere which leads to a negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation due to something called stratospheric warming. Sun cycles last around 11 years roughly and the sun has been extremely quiet lately compared to other solar cycles. The image below shows the current cycle 24 compared to the last two.


As you can see, cycle 24 is very low in sun spots which favors more high pressure forming over the poles. In fact, the current solar cycle is the quietest we have seen in nearly 100 years! Real quick - here is the upper air pattern for low solar winters notice the impact on the AO.




5. Stratospheric Winds (QBO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO):

Along with the Arctic Oscillation, another big component of a cold snowy winter in the east is the North Atlantic Oscillation that some of you may have had me talk about before. In its negative phase high pressure develops over Greenland which blocks the jet stream south over the East Coast. In its positive phase, lower pressure is over Greenland and high pressure offshore takes over causing warmer than normal conditions due to a flatter jet stream. Here is an image to help show the negative NAO. This is a big component to big East Coast storms.


Winds help transport heat to the upper levels of the atmosphere over the poles. This heat transport can lead to the AO and NAO going into their negative phases due to something called stratospheric warming. This transport is called the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO) and in simple terms favors heat transport in its easterly phase. In its easterly phase, winds from high above in the stratosphere are moving down in an easterly fashion. This favors the negative AO and NAO. A westerly QBO in simple terms (solar has an impact on their effect too) does not favor the negative NAO and AO. This year the QBO will be in its easterly phase which means combined with the other factors, the diagrams showing the effects of a negative NAO and AO above could tell the tale for this winter. 

Here are all the years the QBO has been in its easterly phase and the corresponding pressure pattern over the northern hemisphere:


Again, another factor predicted for this winter that should support those high pressure areas to our north which will bring the cold air south. 

6. Model Projections:

Always a wildcard in long term forecasting. Climate models are very volatile and need to be taken with a grain of salt. With that being said here are an example of a few of them and what they show:

 The American CFSv2 model shows a very warm winter..

However, this model over the last few years has been way off and its projections for sea surface temperatures do not match the output in temps it is showing here. In addition, it is bringing on the El Nino too strong which floods the USA with pacific air. 

Here is a model out of Japan which has a little bit of a better track record that has a cold look. However, it too has been known to swing rapidly. In fact, last winter it flopped to warm around this time which was way off.

The next model is what I think the most accurate assessment compared to my winter thoughts are. It uses sea surface temperatures to make its forecast.



There are many other models I can show (the very accurate European model shows a cold winter but I don't have access to its seasonal forecast) but to restrict the length of this post I will cut it off here. We will see how these models trend by December. From my experience they never do a great job and instead it is important to look at what factors are driving the atmosphere such as the ones I listed above. But who knows maybe I am way off that is always a possibility. 

If you take a look at all of those factors above and then say when in history did things look similar and what were those winter like, then you can get some hints on what this year will bring. From what I am observing the past winters that are the closest matches in order of relevance are:

1977,2003,1959,1994 and 2010. 

If you average these winters out, you end up with a weak west based El Nino, high snow cover over Eurasia, warm water in the north east pacific, the Atlantic Tri-Pole, low sun activity and finally a easterly QBO. Below shows what the water temps looked like if you average out those years and double weight the top two.

The historical years sea surface temperatures:

                            
An average of the climate models projections for sea surface temperatures:

Not a perfect match but close enough for my liking and to give me the confidence to make my winter forecast. 

Now finally if you take a look at this winter using the historical years shown above, which  have all the factors I am expecting this winter(El Nino,low solar,east QBO,high snow cover,ocean temps) you end up with what we have below for each months temperatures. These are departure from normal in degrees C. 

December: Cold works its way into the East Coast as the western ridge develops


January: Very cold central and east


February: A continuation of the colder than normal temperatures


March:A snap into spring with warmer than normal temps over the east

The winter as a whole: Which naturally looks like the graphic I drew.


And of course taking a look above at the pressure pattern for those winters: There it is the negative AO and NAO




So there you have it my 2015 winter outlook. I hope all of you enjoyed reading (if you made it this far down the page) and I encourage you all to spread the word. The comment section is open from those who have additional questions along with those who are far more certified than I in this field to insert your commentary. 

I look forward to updating everyone as the months go on leading into winter. As you can see the forecast I made is bold so the pressure is on!


Monday, October 13, 2014

Monday Weekly Weather Summary: Winter Forecast out Wednesday Morning!

Good morning, we have a pretty active week of weather ahead. All due to the impact of a big storm system over the central US right now...




Ahead of the impacts of the front that will swing through from this storm, expect very warm conditions to develop tomorrow and Wednesday due to the storm pumping up a ridge ahead of its pass into our area. You will also hear talk of severe weather in parts of the east (not so much our area) due to the powerful cold front that this storm is bringing along with it. Here is the severe weather outlook from the Storm Prediction Center:

















The main effect our area will see is by Thursday but cloudy conditions should prevail for most of this week with a shower or two as the low pressure system approaches are area. In fact, this low pressure system will actually "cut off" from the jet stream and be separate from the overall flow in the weather pattern. This can happens from time to time and results in persistent unsettled weather due to the low spinning over the area.. The image below shows the low cut off from the overall jet stream.




















You can see by Wed night into Thurs the main rains hit our area..




























Taking a look a the longer range:

A few items to note. For one as I have been talking about the period after the 20th should see some active weather along the eastern part of the country. This is due to a trough that will develop in the jet stream over our area (troughs bring cold air and can develop areas of low pressure) and a very active tropical Atlantic. In fact a storm over the weekend brushed by Bermuda and another tropical system will develop this week...



















Right now it does not look like a treat, but the tropics will remain active through the end of October and my concern is one of these developing storms can effect someone from the Gulf states to the east coast.

Here is the trough that will form over our area around the 20th I have been talking about last several posts..

















This opens up the door for developing systems to get enhanced as they move closer to the country. Although the potential is there, this is no time to start preparing for any type of hurricane hit. Just be aware that the Atlantic is active with an approaching trough along the eastern USA from the 20th-27th time period. That typhoon over Japan I discussed last week has helped enhance this pattern during the period being discussed. 

Past this period, the models try to warm things up and end October on a pleasant note. I will keep monitoring this.

More details on how I expect this pattern to evolve into Winter in my Winter Outlook 2015 on Wednesday.