Central Ohio

A Pattern Change

Posted by: Buckey2745, 3:06 PM GMT on January 06, 2013

When December 2012 looked like it would be just another snowless month like December 2011, the weather pattern changed in our favor. Storms that were passing to our west because of a dip in the jet stream over the center of the country were now passing to our east as the jet moved position to a point more favoriable for those east coast storms.

In a 10 day period, from the 21st to the 31st, we got 10.25" of snow here in Canal Winchester, with the final inch coming on New Year's Eve. That's all it took was that change. And now, after being used to shoveling out constantly and battling commuters that are scared of snow, it's gone.

Since New Year's Day we've seen relatively dry weather. Nothing measurable. Cloudy and cool conditions, and some would say fridgid with a morning low of 4.4° on the 3rd. That would be because of a pattern change that dipped the polar jet far south over our area. But we'll see a slow warm up because of another pattern change: the northern jet flattening and raising back over Canada:

These changes make a huge difference in when we get snow. Because of this flattened jet it'll eventually make room for a large high pressure to set up over the eastern US. This will steer systems off to our west. And anytime a low pressure comes from the south and stays off to our west, taking almost a south to north path, we will always get rain.

That'll be the case for mid-week and also again this upcoming weekend with an identical system. The pattern change went from putting us in a prime location for snow makers, to leaving us wet all week:

Long Term
A system next weekend will finally be followed by another major pattern change which should bring the polar jet far south and allow systems once again to ride up the east coast.

Season Stats:
Winter Weather Advisories- 2
Winter Storm Warnings- 1
Ice Storm Warnings- 0
Blizzard Warnings- 0
Freezing Rain Advisories- 0
Winter Storm Watches- 1
Wind Chill Advisories- 0
Wind Chill Warnings- 0
Blowing Snow Advisory- 0

Snowfall Totals:
October: 0.1" (Predicted: 0.1")
November: 0" (Predicted: 0.1")
December: 10.25" (Predicted: 10")
January: 0" (Predicted: 0")
Season: 10.35"

Permalink | A A A

Top of Page

Reader Comments

Display: 0, 50, 100, 200

Sort: Newest First - Order Posted

Viewing: 1 - 1

Page: 1 — Blog Index

1. WunderAlertBot (Admin) 2:50 PM GMT on January 19, 2013
Buckey2745 has created a new entry.

Viewing: 1 - 1

Page: 1 — Blog Index

Top of Page

New Comment

Community Standards Policy Comments will take a few seconds to appear.

Post Your Comments

Please sign in to post comments.

or Join

Not only will you be able to leave comments on this blog, but you'll also have the ability to upload and share your photos in our Wunder Photos section.

About Buckey2745