at 11:11 AM by Pierce Larkin

WxRecap: A Decent Snow Event

Our forecast from Wednesday night.
Our forecast from Wednesday night.

Well, our well-advertised snow event occurred yesterday afternoon and into last night. Though the timing was a bit off, the event verified as well as it could have considering the circumstances. I am happy with our forecasts, and the emphasis placed on impacts over accumulations.

This is how I feel about out forecast! h/t giphy.com
This is how I feel about out forecast! h/t giphy.com

The snow formed in the fashion that we expected it to. A weak shortwave trough moved southeastward across the midwest, and then up into southeastern Canada. Associated with this was mid and upper level jet streaks, and these were the primary forcing for the precipitation.

The progression of the upper level trough, and associated jet streaks. h/t SPC
The progression of the upper level trough, and associated jet streaks. h/t SPC

We were in the right entrance region to start the day, and then the exit region of another jet streak last evening for our snowfall. This enhanced the precipitation as it moved into our region, especially last evening. The majority of our snowfall came during a heavy band of precip that quickly advanced through the region in association with that jet streak, and some vorticity advection into the region.

This band of snowfall dropped 0.5″-1.5″ of snowfall across the region as it moved in. Overall, the region saw 1″, maybe 1.5″, of snowfall, right in line with our forecast (first figure above).

The snowfall reports from yesterday. h/t NWS Louisville
The snowfall reports from yesterday. h/t NWS Louisville

And, just like we mentioned on Tuesday and Wednesday, the snow event may have had minor accumulations, but they caused major impacts. Plenty of wrecks occurred across the region last night, with people sliding off slick roads and into ditches. There were even some abandoned cars left this morning!

Just goes to show that while there wasn’t much snow, it was impactful, and significantly impacted travel conditions. While these issues prevailed, I considered our forecast as good as it good have been, especially with some uncertainty in the forecast. Hopefully in the future, we can improve out forecasts even more to better prepare you all to avoid the travel issues in the future!