Get the snowblowers out and gassed up!!

If you like snow you will love this forecast!  At this hour the south is getting hammered with rain and even thunderstorms with some isolated threats of tornadoes in Florida.  All of that energy will be skirting up the coast, bombing out over Cape Hatteras, and then affecting the Mid Atlantic region starting on Wednesday morning.

Expect to see some light snow/mix/rain on Wednesday morning depending upon your location.  This will be coming up from the south so Delaware and South Jersey will see some precip by daybreak.  It will start off as snow or a mix in those areas and most likely change to all rain for a good portion of the day.  Philadelphia metro will most likely see a mix through some of the morning and then change to rain as well.  The suburbs, north and west of Philly, will most likely not see any rain from this system and will see snow or a snow/sleet mix.  It will be on the light side throughout the day so don't expect to see any schools closed tomorrow.  If anything there will be an early dismissal north and west of the city.

The meat of this storm will be coming around the 5 o'clock rush hour and will only get heavier from there.  Expect a rough commute home if you are in the office all day and plan on the office being closed or opening up late on Thursday morning depending upon location again.  The storm will explode off the coast tomorrow night and we could see snowfall rates ranging from 1-2 inches an hour in spots.  If you are in a heavy band putting down thunder snow, expect to be in the 2 inch an hour range.  Thursday morning will be a morning of clean up and this isn't like the past storms with light and fluffy snow, we are talking heavy wet snow so if you have a bad back, like me, bend with your legs!!!

So here is my guess at how much snow we are looking at from tomorrow morning through early Thursday morning.

South and East of Philly:  3-6 inches
Phillly Metro:  4-8 inches
N&W of Philly:  7-12 inches
Lancaster:  2-5 inches

The chances of schools being closed on Thursday is very high so if you have kids plan on them being home on Thursday and possibly home early tomorrow.

We still have a few more model runs to look at so these totals could go up some.  I do not see these numbers coming down at all and there will be a few areas that will have over a foot from this.

I hope to put out another blog this evening and will be checking the other weather outlets to see what everyone is saying.

Thanks for reading,
Gman the Weatherman!

Gman the Weatherman

Alright folks, you know I love the weather and all forms of it so I've decided to start blogging.  Most blogs will stem from severe weather on the horizon, I will not be blogging when it's 75 and sunny.  Though I desire that weather right now its just not exciting if you are a weather nerd like me. 

Some background on my love for weather and where it all stemmed from.  I grew up watching the Weather Channel since I was in the 6th grade.  Everyday after school you would find me plopped in front of the tv watching the Weather Channel for hours on end.  Then comes along Rob Guarino who started forecasting for Fox 29.  That was the turning point in my life where I went from looking at weather forecasts that contained nothing more than pictures and hi and low temps to reading weather maps, models, and using acronyms that would you with the deer in headlights look.

So why start blogging now?  Well, after many years of being the family forecaster a dear old friend of mine suggested that I start blogging.  Instantly I knew she was onto something so thank you Shannon!!  I love to talk about weather and everyone comes to me for the forecast so why not just put it out there for everyone to see and that is what I'm doing.

I have two favorite seasons, summer and winter.  Why you ask?  Those are the two seasons we see the most severe whether in the Philly metro area.  The heat of summer brews instability in the air which leads to severe weather.  Unlike Kansas, Kentucky, and other states along tornado alley, we just get a lot of lighting, thunder, and wind.  Thanks or no thanks to the Appalachian Mts, our chances of a tornado aren't very good.  One day though I will travel to the mid west and see a tornado before I die, it's on my bucket list!  And then there is winter and a little thing we call a Nor'easter!!  From a forecasting standpoint they are a royal pain in the ass.  50 miles here or there in the movement of the low could mean snow, rain, sleet, or nothing but a few passing flurries.  They are also the most fun to watch since they draw off moisture from the Atlantic and really build these storms into an equivalent of a cat 1 or 2 hurricane.

So feel free to follow the blog and I'll do what I can to blog daily.  If a storm is on the horizon except me to be blogging several times throughout the day.

Thanks,
Gman the Weatherman