Forecast From 12/30

 

New day, new hairdo

Weather From 12/29 With Sarah Palin Hair

You know those annoying commercials for Bumpits!? I'm wearing one in my hair! Hahaha....They were $5.99 at Walgreens and I couldn't resist!

Lead in story was about how a North Carolina jeweler promised to refund all diamond purchases if it snowed 3" or more on X-Mas. It snowed 6" there!! We would have a lot of broke jewelers if they started making deals like that here in CT!

Morning Weather 12/29

 

Christmas Blizzard

Although snowfall totals were not epic, this storm will really be remembered for the high winds!

• Greenwich: 60 mph
• Danbury: 60 mph
• Bridgeport: 60 mph
• New Haven: 60 mph
• New London: 68 mph

Dry air wrapped around the storm last night, choking snowfall rates in eastern and central Connecticut (6"-10"). Meanwhile the western part of the state got into some of the heavier snow bands (10"-18"). See the graphic below. The purple shaded area in NY is the 15"-30" band, where the heaviest snow fell. This is of course an average snowfall amount for various parts of the state.

• Wilton: 18"
• Greenwich: 17"
• Norwalk:16"
• Southbury: 11"
• Granby: 8.o"
• East Hartford: 14"
• Burlington: 11"
• Glastonbury: 10.2"
• Hartford: 6.5"-14"

Here are links to more snowfall totals and peak wind gusts. Make sure to check out the 20"-30" snowfall reports in NY/NJ. My Mom and sister were right inside the bullseye!

Snowfall Totals
More Snowfall Totals

I Can Explain!

I'm recapping the weather forecast at the end of the FOX Midday News. My graphics are full screen.

Tim Paul, our floor director motions for me to lean into anchor Anthony DiLorenzo. Something is wrong with his microphone so mine will have to cover both of us.

Then we come back out to the couch shot...AWKWARD!!


And Anthony has no idea why I'm offering my chest to him.

I got an puzzled look and an awkward giggle. Last time I let him borrow my microphone! ;) Just another live TV moment!

Forecast From 12/25

 
Read previous posts for more details!

Snowfall Totals

Most people will see a foot to a foot and a half of snow out of this storm! No matter how much snow falls, the wind is really a bigger issue because it will blow a lot of the snow around making it nearly impossible to see with blizzard conditions and zero visibility at times.

Southeastern Connecticut (New London) may see the lower end of the (10"-20") range with some sleet mixing in at times. The higher end of the totals will land where "mesoscale banding" occurs. These bands are nearly impossible to predict and are usually a few miles wide. Very heavy snow will occur in the bands, with thunder possible. Looks like they might set up in northwest CT but it's too early to tell.

Most of the snow that falls will be fluffy, powdery snow (the kind that is NOT good for making snowmen). But southeastern CT could see isolated power outages with a wetter, heavier snow.

Winter Storm Warnings

A Blizzard Warning is in effect for much of Southern CT from Sunday through Monday afternoon with snow accumulations over a foot in many areas and strong winds causing blowing and drifting of snow. Visibility will get down to zero at times making it dangerous if not impossible on the roads. Strong winds may also take down trees, power lines and Christmas decorations. Wind gusts could get up to 45-60 mph.

A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for the rest of the state from Sunday night into Monday. Snow accumulations will range from 10”-20”. Blowing and drifting snow will make for difficult and dangerous travel conditions. Snow will start off light Sunday morning getting steadier and heavier as the day progresses. The worst of the storm will be overhead Sunday night into early Monday with snowfall rates of 1”-3” per hour and whiteout conditions.

Here Comes The Snow! Poor Travel Conditions....

There is growing confidence that a moderate to major winter storm will impact Connecticut Sunday and Monday. The NWS has issued a Winter Storm Watch for late Sunday through Monday afternoon.

Timing
Sunday (during the day)
Some areas of snow around; activity will be mainly light. Snow will pick up in intensity around sunset.

Sunday night
Worst of the storm - this is when most of the snow will fall. Travel will be difficult or impossible during the storm’s peak. A strong wind will result in blowing and drifting of snow. Power outages are possible.

Monday
Snow will become less intense and taper to flurries and snow showers. If the storm were to stall, then a light snow could fall for most of the day. A strong wind will continue all day; resulting in additional blowing and drifting of the snow.

Storm Late Sunday - Monday

Dry and chilly for this Christmas Eve. Santa will have to hold on tight to your presents this evening with a breeze in place. Temperatures will drop into the teens and 20s tonight with frost possible by Christmas morning.

There will not be any problems Christmas Day weather wise with just an increase in clouds throughout the day. High temperatures will be near 30 degrees with a very light wind.

On Sunday a powerful Nor'Easter will take shape along the Carolina coast and then move north toward Cape Cod Sunday night into early Monday. The track of the storm will determine accumulations. The potential exists for blizzard conditions to develop across parts of New England by Sunday evening. Winds could gust upward to 60 mph causing considerable blowing and drifting of snow, in addition to scattered power outages. Snow fall amounts could approach a foot. The question is…will Connecticut get the direct hit OR fringe effects with just a few inches combined with blowing and drifting snow? Right now a direct hit is less likely. But it’s not out of the cards either. To be honest, this remains a low confidence forecast.

The storm will depart the region by late in the day on Monday and skies will clear out that night. Winds will remain strong and gusty.

Fair with moderating temperatures by Wednesday with day time highs approaching 40.

Stay with CTnow.com, Courant.com, Fox CT and WTIC AM 1080 for the latest on the snow storm for Sunday into Monday.

Saturday's Weather

High pressure will dominate our weather today with mostly sunny skies, chilly temperatures and light wind. Highs will climb into the low to mid 30s for most towns. Sorry snow lovers, Sunday’s ocean storm is not going to bring the mammoth snow amounts you were hoping for. In fact, the storm is likely a complete miss, heading out to sea without much fanfare. There’s still a possibility for fringe effects. The best chance snow showers will be in eastern Connecticut, closer to the storm’s path. But at this point you are in good shape for holiday shopping both days this weekend.

Forecast From 12-17

 

Snow Lovers...Don't Hold Your Breath

High pressure will dominate our weather tomorrow with mostly sunny skies, chilly temperatures and light wind. Highs will average in the 30s, lows in the teens.
Sorry snow lovers, Sunday’s ocean storm is not going to bring us the "snowpocalypse" you were hoping for. But there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding the storm’s track. The low pressure system could head out to sea, completely missing Connecticut. A track further east means fringe effects for the state with snow showers and the possibility for some light accumulation.

The best chance for snow will be in eastern CT, as this area is closer to the storm’s path with lesser effects in western CT – there will be a sharp cut-off to the precipitation shield.

We won’t be able to pin down potential snow amounts until Saturday, stay tuned!

Sunday Storm Thoughts

Still uncertainty in Sunday's forecast. I'm at the stage of ripping out my hair.

Every run of the computer model produces very large fluctuations in snowfall. The majority of the models this morning are keeping the storm out to sea on Sunday. But there are still some outliers that show near blizzard conditions. Probabilistic models have a 50% chance of 4" of snow on sunday. 50%?!!!! Really? We have the same odds forecasting if you flipped a coin!! (Insert meteorologist joke here.)

If I had to bet today...I would say it looks like the storm is not likely to be a direct hit. BUT that could certainly change with the afternoon model runs. I'm very excited to see if there are any trends. I'm working tonight so I get to obsess over the forecast.

Personally, here's the worst part. I am off this weekend. So there better not be a big storm without me at work!!!

News at 4 12/16

I also unveil my new pair of glasses. Florida has the old pair.

 

 

 

Manchester Torch Light Parade 2010!

Jennifer Lahmers and I were the guest judges at the event this year. If you don't already know Jenn....she's hilarious. You'll see what I mean when you watch George Colli's coverage of the event. I also think this is the first time George covered something other than death and destruction! Way to go George!  

12/11 and 12/12 Weather Forecasts

 
 

Weather 12/3 News at 4

 

News at 4 12/2

 

 

 

Wind Gusts On Wednesday

Wind gusts on Wednesday were VERY impressive!!

Peak Wind Gusts (as of 7 PM EST Wed Dec 1)

Meriden: 58 mph
Bridgeport: 49 mph
Groton/New London: 49 mph
Waterbury/Oxford: 48 mph
Windsor Locks (BDL): 45 mph
Hartford: 45 mph

Now you know why there were 20,000 power outages! I hate power outages. If you can't watch TV, you should at least be able to open up the fridge to eat something to pass the time.

2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season Ends!

The season ended Tuesday! You can google a million detailed articles summarizing the season, but I am going to break it down even more!

This year's hurricane season was very active BUT the US got lucky!

Here are the stats:

• 19 named storms, 3rd highest number on record!
• 12 hurricanes, 2nd highest on record!
• 0 major hurricanes made landfall on US coasts (category 3 or higher)

This was the 5th year in a row that a major hurricane missed the US!