from Victoria-Weather
Spring is probably my favorite season. I prefer warm weather and baseball, and both return this time of year. With the warmth, the weather can get a little more interesting as well. Will it get interesting in any of the places we have forecasts for this week?
Boston, Massachusetts
Decatur, Illinois
Road Trip from Augusta, Georgia to Decatur
St. George, Utah
Louisville, Kentucky
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Road Trip from Louisville to Elizabethtown
Not much!
Washington, DC
We’re moving a little bit more quickly around here, aren’t we? It’s kind of fun. We have a busy week ahead, too, so lets hope I can maintain this pace.
Road trip from Ocean City, New Jersey to Lubbock, Texas
Cumberland, Maryland
Road Trip from Lubbock to Cumberland
Topeka, Kansas
Road Trip from Rapid City, South Dakota to Topeka
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Sacramento, California
After a lull in our forecasts, Victoria-Weather will pick up the pace over the next several days.
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Dubuque, Iowa
Utica, New York
Gulfport, Mississippi
Ocean City, New Jersey
Not much! Not much is coming soon.
Dallas, Texas
We’re headed to the end of 2020, finally, and getting ready to welcome 2021 to the scene. Hopefully it goes better than 2020.
Road Trip – Fresno, California to Tucson, Arizona
Billings, Montana
Brunswick, Georgia
Road Trip from Lincoln, Nebraska to Kansas City, Missouri
I think we will be able to hit all these spots before the end of the year. Recent pacing might leave one suspect, but I’m sure going to try.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Akron, Ohio
Bakersfield, California
Fresno, California
After a pretty light stretch of forecasts (which is ok, given the late activity in the tropics) we’ll pick up the pace a bit for the next few days.
Road trip from Yuba City, California to Abilene, Texas
Tucson, Arizona
Road Trip from Atlanta, Georgia to Tucson
Owensboro, Kentucky
Road Trip from Tucson to Owensboro
Today, a narrow band of snow swept through the Twin Cities. At one point, the wind and heavy downburst of snow brought I-94 northwest of Minneapolis to a close thanks to a multi-vehicle accident. The Weather Service then issued a snow squall warning, but what is a snow squall, exactly?
In laymen’s terms, I would describe it as something similar to a severe thunderstorm, where the precipitation isn’t necessarily the most noticeable feature to the storm. In the northwest Twin Cities metro, for example, there were 40-50mph winds associated with the quick burst of snow. Buffalo, Minnesota reported 2.5 inches of snow in 90 minutes.
That’s another thing about a snow squall. The “squall” is important, because it is akin to a squall line, as with thunderstorms. There is a leading edge, and a well defined end, particularly as the storm is at it’s strongest. Instead of a bloated mass of snow showers you get with a typical winter storm, it’s a quick, intense line.
The primary impetus for the National Weather Service issuing a snow squall warning is the reduction in visibility, such as was the case in the accident seen above. The strong winds and heavy snow lead to white out conditions, in which visibility is at or near zero. They are targeted like a thunderstorm or tornado warning, to a very specific part of the storm, even if the entire line stretches for a longer distance.
This was Minnesota’s first ever issuance of a snow squall warning. They more frequently appear east of the Great Lakes, and are quite the curiousity in Minnesota.
All right, so this is definitely going to be a light stretch for forecasts, but given the rapid transition to winter time, there should be plenty to talk about!
Road Trip from Buffalo New York to Florence, South Carolina