The J-SNOW: Snow Videos From AccuWeather HQ
UPDATE (8 PM): All videos and photos are now available below. The latest reports from the SnowMatrix indicate that Drums, Pennsylvania has the highest snowfall so far with 6 inches. The NWS says that Albrightsville got 5 inches and Lebanon, New Jersey has picked up just over an inch.
ORIGINAL POST:
Well we've got a decent November snow outside my house and AccuWeather HQ in State College PA this morning... to the tune of three inches so far. Given that we usually get the shaft with regards to snow here in Central PA, I'm a little surprised and the map looks more like Henry's and less like our official map that I posted yesterday. Here are some photos coming in from across the state on the AccuWeather.com Weather Photo Gallery. See the bottom of this entry for all of my photos.
Today I've made the J-CAM mobile once again and brought you with me as I run some snow-related errands such as...
Measuring today's snowfall
Checking the road conditions
Turning on the AccuWeather Rain Gauge Heater
Watching a Heating Vent make Fog
Checking our Winter Forecast
...and more. I hope you enjoy this educational winter tour.
First, because the temperature is around freezing, it's accumulating pretty quick, and like Joe Bastardi said last night, I'm a little concerned about power outages because of the late fall foliage that's still on many of the trees. My first video talks about this and shows examples of snow-laden trees. I also talk about why the roads are worse than usual with this storm, and what different materials are used to treat the roads. I also take a quick look at the AccuWeather Heated Rain Gauge, which I'll talk more about that in the video below.
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Next up, a video of me powering up the AccuWeather Heated Rain Gauge, which I was supposed to turn on yesterday but forgot (oops). See, without melting the snow, consistent meteorological rain records can't be kept. Now snow is nearing the top of the gauge and I have to find a 200-foot all-weather extension cord pronto and plug it in. When I first installed this Davis Rain Gauge Heater last year, I showed pictures of the internal components on my blog.
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It's hard to get a feel for accumulations across the area because there have not been very many reports yet. If it has snowed at your house, enter the amount on the SnowMatrix. Below are my official observations along with some from the NWS:
AccuWeather HQ: 3.5"
Shenandoah Heights: 3.3"
My House: 3.0"
Park Forest: 3.0"
Port Matilda: 3.0"
Rockton Mountain: 3.0"
Measuring snow is an interesting topic, and a job that's easy to mess up. In the video below, the J-CAM goes for a ride as I give you a tutorial on correctly measuring the white stuff, both at AccuWeather HQ and at my house. Did you know? Snow can't be measured automatically, and it makes a big difference where you measure it. What the snow melts down to, called the Snow Ratio, depends on a lot of factors, and I'll discuss more about that in an upcoming blog entry. So peep my advice below, and when you're ready to measure your snowfall, enter the amount on the SnowMatrix as I did with the amounts measured in the video.
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Next, a quick reality check on the AccuWeather.com Winter Forecast. Wasn't this supposed to be a WARM Winter?? Actually, we just issued an update but the forecast hasn't changed. I explain below.
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And for our final weather-related video today, a look at how the heating vent from my house is making clouds in today's cold, humid air.
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This next video is optional, it's just footage of my Siberian Husky dog named Maya, enjoying the snow. As you can see, she's quite in her element. Huskies run best at -10 F degrees, which we didn't have here today.
Well that's all the videos I have for you. Here's a look at the AccuCam this morning when the snow was at its best. The J-CAM, when not travelling around with me, has been temporarily repositioned to show the snow outside my window at AccuWeather. And finally, here's a set of photos that I took today while out and about in State College. I think I got some good shots of the snow against the remaining fall foliage.
