The moisture content of this snow must be quite high because it packed quite hard underfoot when I took Ike out this morning. We have now had another 4 inches of snow to add to the total for December. That is up to around 07:30 hours. The visibility is not great, only about the length of a football field, and the snow has not coalesced to form the big flakes that we usually wee when a storm is getting close to its end. It does appear that N.O.A.A. got this one right so far. The snow did start sometime after midnight, and continues as I write this report.
The N.W.S. is calling for snow to continue through the morning and change to ice in some form this afternoon. After checking the NEXRAD composite regional radar I am not so sure of that. The back edge of this storm is at the border with Maine and New Hampshire, so we may only have a couple more hours before we begin to see some clearing. The Weather Underground model forecast maps indicate that this will be over by early afternoon. Unless this storm stalls in the Gulf of Maine we should see an end to the snow by noon. That is my prediction.
My Weather Stick is frowning mightily as a result of the 89% relative humidity. There is no surprise there with the heavy wet snow that is falling. All three of the electronic instruments see the barometric pressure falling. The La Crosse Weather Station is issuing a storm warring, the Min/Max Thermometer sees foul weather and the remote weather station only predicts cloudy conditions. I guess we cannot have a storm or foul weather without clouds. The low temperatures were not very low, 27.3°F, 27.7°F and 30.7°F. My feeling is, as I said above, that this storm will not last a great deal longer unless the system stalls in the Gulf of Maine at which point all bets are off on the amount of snow we will get.
Low Temperature (°F): 27.3
Current Temperature (°F): 27.5
Relative Humidity: 89%
Dew Point (°F): 24.6
Heat Index (°F): N/A
Barometric Pressure (in Hg): 30.05
Wind Direction: Calm
Wind Speed (mph): 0.0
Wind-Chill (°F): 27.5
Precipitation (Type): Snow
Amount (Inches): 4.00
Cloud Cover (AM): Overcast
Cloud Type: Stratus
Weather Stick: Down
Comparative data for the overnight.
Temperature28°F/28.5°F//25°F/28.2°F//27°F/28.5°F//28°F/27.6°F.
Relative Humidity: 84%/82%//92%/84%//81%/85%//88%/87%
The N.W.S. had all four temperature forecasts and all four of the relative humidity forecasts close to the recorded readings from my La Crosse Weather Station overnight. That really was a good job. I do give praise when it is deserved, just as I give criticism when they get it wrong.
Forecast data for today.
Temperature: 25°F/31°F/36°F/35°F.
Relative Humidity: 100%/88%/79%/72%

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