The Storm’s Over — The Numbers Are In

The dry air was the wild card. Radar showed moderate snow over all of Connecticut for hours-and-hours before anything hit the ground.

snow-shovel-on-the-steps.jpgThe snow has come and gone. There’s never a bullseye, but the forecast was reasonably close. If success is judged by number of complaints, or lack thereof, I’m doing fine. Here are the final DOT numbers. I have also added the Boston and New York NWS snow totals, which include Connecticut, for the Dec 20-21, 2009 storm at the end of this entry.

Not everyone was as lucky. A friend who forecasts in Springfield sent a text message saying he’d received nothing! “Bust of the decade,” he said. Ouch. Been there. I know exactly what he’s going through.

I was right about Southeastern Connecticut getting the most snow followed by the shoreline in general. The snow was fluffy and windblown as predicted. Accumulations were generally in line with my numbers. My call for the Northwest Hills and most of the area directly adjacent to the Massachusetts line was a few inches higher than the actual totals.

I wrote about this last night, but it bears repeating the most unusual and interesting part of this storm was the exceptionally dry air. During the summer we sometimes see 30 grams of water content per square meter. Last night it was around 1 gram per cubic meter!

The dry air was the wild card. Radar showed moderate snow over all of Connecticut for hours-and-hours before anything hit the ground. Once the atmospheric column over any location became saturated light snow turned to heavy snow. I’d never seen a situation quite like this before. It cut inches off all the accumulations.

It’s a shame this storm will impact Christmas shopping. Otherwise we’re lucky it came on a Saturday night when travel is usually light.

And now the dig out begins.

(NWS totals after the jump)

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New Trial For Julie Amaro

I turned on the noon news to see a live report from Norwich.

Julie Amero, a substitute teacher convicted after pornographic images appeared on a classroom computer, was granted a new trial today. Amero’s lawyer says there is new evidence casting doubt on her conviction.

Outside court Amero, 40, was simply relieved, relieved because Judge Hillary Strackbein granted her attorney’s motion for a new trial. William Dow, III says new evidence discovered by state police investigators after the trial discredits information presented in her trial.

I don’t know whether she is guilty or not, but this obscure story about a Connecticut substitute teacher became a major cause c

Quoted in the Norwich Bulletin

It’s always nice to be called upon as an expert. I got a little mention in the Norwich Bulletin today, though they goofed and said the historical average for January was the actual average.

It’s also funny how irony is sometimes difficult to translate into the printed word. My comment about global warming, as spoken, reflects my somewhat skeptical view of the doomsayers.

Big chill to hang around

By GREG SMITH

Norwich Bulletin

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NORWICH — NORWICH — Snowfall did finally end Wednesday evening.

And as residents continued to dig themselves out from the 7 inches of snow in Norwich, they do have a brighter outlook for the remainder of the week.

Temperatures are expected to rise slightly through the weekend with highs in the upper 20s to low 30s with overnight lows in the teens.

There is no end in sight to cold temperatures that have been the norm this year, according to Geoff Fox, forecaster at WTNH-TV in New Haven.

The average high temperatures in Norwich have been 37.6 degrees and lows of 17.5 degree for the month, according to data collected at the weather station at the Norwich Public Utilities building.

“We’ve certainly been in a colder than normal pattern, and it looks like that pattern will persist,” Fox said. “It makes global warming a hard sell.”

State and local police urge caution on the roadways, especially during the morning commute to avoid spinouts and fender benders.

Despite the fact that temperatures will likely not reach far beyond the freezing mark, roadways should be clear of ice during the day as the asphalt heats up from solar energy. The constant warming and freezing, however, likely will lead to formation of more potholes.

gasmith@norwichbulletin.com

Norwich Bulletin

Another nice quote today in an article from the Norwich Bulletin. It is attached to the link below.

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