January 2010 Forecast Results Part I

These forecasts were posted on December 22, 2009. The first one read:

Forecast
January 4-5, 2009
There is strong potential for a Nor’easter type storm to hit the New England area with cold, snow, and windy conditions.


Results

The storm hit earlier than forecast. The above map is for January 3rd dumping nearly 3 feet of snow in parts of northern New England. Howling winds and snow lashed a swath from northern New York to Maine. By the 4th, it was still blustery and snowy over the area.


Forecast

January 13-16, 2009
A major winter storm is indicated for the Great Lakes area southward through the Ohio Valley and into the Southeast. High wind, snow, and falling temperatures assail the area. The storm then moves into the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast disrupting travel and causing power outages.



Results

For most of the forecast period, the weather was a bit warmer and dry. By the 16th, however, travel was interrupted by heavy rain over the Southeast. Some communities from Alabama to the Florida Panhandle and southwestern Georgia were inundated by up to half a foot of rain. By the 17th, it was windy, rainy, and snowy over the Northeast. The above map is for January 16th.

Forecast

January 27-31
Another significant winter storm forms over the East Central States (Michigan southward to the Gulf Coast). By the 29th and 30th, storm warnings should be posted for New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware as the storm moves eastward into New England.


Results
On January 30th, a major snow storm brought travel to a standstill across the southern mid-Atlantic. Heavy snow shifted eastward across Virginia and parts of Maryland, Delaware and southern New Jersey, creating major disruptions to travel and affecting people from Richmond, Va., to Washington, D.C., and Cape May, N.J. Meanwhile, icy winds blasted parts of the Northeast.

Forecast

January 10-12
A storm system or front affects the southern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley.

Results
The Weather Channel map at right is for January 11th and shows the leading edge of a cold front pushing past the Upper Mississippi Valley and into the southern Plains.

Forecast

January 25-27
A strong low pressure area is shown over the central Mississippi Valley.

Results

On the 25th, blizzard or near-blizzard conditions affected the northern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley. By the 27th, a band of heavy snow developed from eastern New Mexico to southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.

Forecast

January 29-31
A strong storm system is indicated over the Mississippi Valley with an area of severe weather over Mississippi and Alabama around the 31st.

Results
The storm that swept through the southern Plains on the 28th, affected the lower Mississippi Valley on the 29th. The Weather Channel map at left is for Jan 29th. According to Accuweather, Northern Oklahoma to northern Arkansas and Tennessee saw the heaviest snow, while central Arkansas, and northern Mississippi and Alabama, saw freezing rain.

The following is a list of storm total rainfall in inches as of 1 p.m. CST, Friday, Jan 29:

•Shreveport, La.: 1.69
•Oakdale, La.: 1.55
•Alexandria, La.: 1.5
•Greenville, Miss.: 1.58

On January 3oth, the national high precipitation was 2.06 inches at Ozark, AL.

Introduction to the Weather Alternative

How Long-Range Forecasts Are Made

Saint Patrick's Day 2010 Weather Forecast

Greatness


Great men have but a few hours to be "great." Like the rest of us they must dress, bathe, & eat. And, being human, they must make visits to the dentist, doctor, & barber & have conferences with their wives about domestic matters. What makes men great is their ability to decide what is important, & then focus their attention on that.--Anonymous


Do not be dazzled by the World's false judgments. The common soldier is often nobler than the general. ... Nor is it otherwise on the battlefield of life. There is a yet harder & higher heroism--to live well in the quiet routine of life; to fill a little space because God wills it; to go on cheerfully with a petty round of little duties, little vocations; to accept unmurmuringly a low position; to smile for the joys of others when the heart is aching; to banish all ambition, all pride, & all restlessness, in a single regard to our Saviour's Work. To do this for a lifetime is a greater effort, & he who does this is a greater hero than he who for one hour stems a breach, or for one day rushes onward undaunted in the flaming front of shot & shell. His works will follow him. He may not be a hero to the World, but he is one of God's heroes, & though the builders of Nineveh & Babylon be forgotten & unknown, his memory shall live & shall be blessed.--Fredric W.Farrar