Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2021 12:16:29 GMT -5
Upstate NY’s snow drought could end soon -- with a bang
Updated 11:42 AM; Today 9:45 AM
Areas in purple, including all of Upstate New York, could see heavy snow the weekend of Jan. 15 to 17.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- There hasn’t been much snow in Upstate New York this year, much to the dismay of skiers and snowmobilers.
That could change next weekend with a big flip in global weather patterns, including the shifting of the polar vortex.
Upstate could get 6 inches or more of snow Jan. 15 to 17, according to the Weather Prediction Center, the mid-range forecasting arm of the National Weather Service. Strong west winds could also generate heavy lake effect snow downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario for days, the center said.
“I would think there would be a lot of lake effect snow if this materializes,” said Dave Samuhel, a meteorologist with Accuweather. It’s too early to know how much or where snow might fall more than a week away, he said.
Samuhel predicts that will happen around Jan. 18 and 19, a few days later than the weather service forecast.
“The last half of the month we see a pattern change and get a lot more cold air,” he said. “We should see this arctic air really start to come in bunches, and it’s probably going to be cold the rest of the month.”
Upstate cities, including Syracuse and Buffalo could see heavy snow that would start making up the snow deficit this year. Buffalo has had 34 inches, compared to the normal of 43.7 inches through Jan. 7.
Syracuse is much farther behind: just 16.9 inches of snow has fallen, while the normal so far is 51 inches. That’s the 16th-least-snowy season on record.
Binghamton is way ahead of its seasonal snowfall, thanks to the massive nor’easter in mid-December that dropped 40 inches of snow. The city has 55.5 inches, compared to 30.2 normally.
On Christmas Eve, most of that snow melted amid heavy ran and temperatures in the 50s.
The lack of snow and cold temperatures in most of Upstate is due to the jet stream, which has parked itself above the northern tier of the U.S., helping to trap cold air in Canada and pushing storms to the south. The jet stream is likely to dip well to the south next week, opening up the path for cold air and snow.
The jet stream is likely to dip into the Southeast later this month, allowing cold air to spill into Upstate New York. That could bring heavy snow, especially downwind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
The cold air could be aided by a dip in the polar vortex, the bitterly cold air that swirls around the north pole but often breaks off into chunks that dip into the northern latitudes of North America, Asia and Europe. It’s already encasing Beijing in below-zero temperatures, a rare occurrence, Samuhel said.
Updated 11:42 AM; Today 9:45 AM
Areas in purple, including all of Upstate New York, could see heavy snow the weekend of Jan. 15 to 17.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- There hasn’t been much snow in Upstate New York this year, much to the dismay of skiers and snowmobilers.
That could change next weekend with a big flip in global weather patterns, including the shifting of the polar vortex.
Upstate could get 6 inches or more of snow Jan. 15 to 17, according to the Weather Prediction Center, the mid-range forecasting arm of the National Weather Service. Strong west winds could also generate heavy lake effect snow downwind of lakes Erie and Ontario for days, the center said.
“I would think there would be a lot of lake effect snow if this materializes,” said Dave Samuhel, a meteorologist with Accuweather. It’s too early to know how much or where snow might fall more than a week away, he said.
Samuhel predicts that will happen around Jan. 18 and 19, a few days later than the weather service forecast.
“The last half of the month we see a pattern change and get a lot more cold air,” he said. “We should see this arctic air really start to come in bunches, and it’s probably going to be cold the rest of the month.”
Upstate cities, including Syracuse and Buffalo could see heavy snow that would start making up the snow deficit this year. Buffalo has had 34 inches, compared to the normal of 43.7 inches through Jan. 7.
Syracuse is much farther behind: just 16.9 inches of snow has fallen, while the normal so far is 51 inches. That’s the 16th-least-snowy season on record.
Binghamton is way ahead of its seasonal snowfall, thanks to the massive nor’easter in mid-December that dropped 40 inches of snow. The city has 55.5 inches, compared to 30.2 normally.
On Christmas Eve, most of that snow melted amid heavy ran and temperatures in the 50s.
The lack of snow and cold temperatures in most of Upstate is due to the jet stream, which has parked itself above the northern tier of the U.S., helping to trap cold air in Canada and pushing storms to the south. The jet stream is likely to dip well to the south next week, opening up the path for cold air and snow.
The jet stream is likely to dip into the Southeast later this month, allowing cold air to spill into Upstate New York. That could bring heavy snow, especially downwind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
The cold air could be aided by a dip in the polar vortex, the bitterly cold air that swirls around the north pole but often breaks off into chunks that dip into the northern latitudes of North America, Asia and Europe. It’s already encasing Beijing in below-zero temperatures, a rare occurrence, Samuhel said.
