Wednesday featured a small snow occurrence (0.7″) during most of the early AM hours, then cold and slow clearing during the PM hours. The Wednesday maximum temperature from the VP2 (32.3°) was recorded at 0000 while the minimum temperature (17.0°) was recorded nearly 24 hours later at 2340. The PM Max temperature was only 23.8° at 1455, with the AM min was 22.5° at 0720. My dew point temperatures rose early then dropped with the colder, drier PM air, ranging from 29° at 0000 down to 8° at 2259, a very similar pattern to the air temperature patterns of the day. Relative humidity values remained high in the AM hours with the clouds and light snow, then dropped during the PM hours (91% – 55%). Barometric values lowered a bit from an AM high of 30.45″ at 0936 down to 30.31″ in the late PM at 2351.

Remember now you can get the VP2 data on Weatherlink. You can access the data through http://www.weatherlink.com/user/walrusman444.

I am posting daily to weather underground. My ID is KMDROCKV200 and my station is called “Gardens of Traville.” Data is online, normally just about in real-time. I contribute daily to cocorahs as Rockville 2.8 WNW, Station ID MD-MG-115. Please remember that Weather Underground does not report snow data, and reflects what is recorded automatically through the tipping bucket VP2 gauge.

I got calls from Ray and Marty discussing our snowfall amounts and observing experiences during the snow and thereafter. I measured my snow in the early afternoon, then melted the “catch” after swapping gauges out, inside to determine the water equivalent of the snow. Unfortunately, this minor event  I worked on blog posts, weather communication with other observers around the country, and revisiting old snow data to compare with this winter’s amounts. Today’s featured image shows a frozen pond covered in fresh snow along the route from my apartment to my Doctor’s late Wednesday morning. A few more images from today’s snow appear below. I particularly like the filtered sun photo showing some cloud orientation taken during my snow measuring session at the snowboards shown in the other photos in the mid-afternoon on Wednesday. 

We have clear skies now on this Thursday morning with one last cold morning before the big warmup starts taking shape on Thursday. Thursday should be sunny and seasonable with highs around 40° and lows in the mid 20s, then on Friday temperatures should rise more, with highs in the upper 40s and lows in the mid-upper 20s under sunny skies. Mostly Sunny conditions on Saturday with highs in the mid 50s, lows around freezing. Sunday should be partly cloudy with high temperatures around 50°, lows above freezing in the mid-upper 30s. Warmer than normal temperatures and dry conditions should continue into the early part of next week as it looks now.

On the Channel 4 weather website at 0555 radar is showing mainly a clear screen throughout the Eastern US, except for some continued light snow in the coastal areas of SE VA and Eastern NC mixed in with rain in the offshore areas of MD, DE and NJ at this time.

As of 0555, the data from the VP2 (coming from the ground radiation shield about 4 feet off the ground just under and out from the balcony) and the Lakewood WXBug station are as follows:

Clear and cold with an 0.5″ snow cover still holding.

Station Relative Location Temp RH DP   BP     Wind High/Low temp Wednesday
VP2           Ground          17.6  67   8 30.21F   NA    32.3/17.0

There was 0.06″ of water (after melting indoors) and 0.7″ of snow in the cocorahs gauge on Wednesday, resulting in a snow water equivalent (SWE) ratio of 11.7:1. The VP2 tipping bucket rain gauge under my balcony reported no precipitation on Wednesday through midnight, as no snow melted through the tipping spoons with temps staying well below freezing after the snow moved off in the later AM hours .

January precipitation is 1.51″.
Wednesday snowfall 0.7″
January snowfall is 1.2″.
Snow on ground 0.5″ (reported to the nearest half-inch)
The seasonal snowfall total is 5.0″.

Year-to-date precipitation total is 1.51″

WX Bug Lakewood 4500 ft, 14 65 5 30.12″R WNW 1 G NW 25
                            140° from station                        32/14

The Lakewood rain gauge reported 0.00″ of precipitation on Wednesday since it only measures melted snow through its automated sensors. However, it is now reporting 0.93″ monthly and yearly January 2018 precipitation, 0.36″ LESS than yesterday’s report. I plan on sending this into Weatherbug HQ located in nearby Germantown very soon to try to find out what they are recording.

Temp from the VP2 at 2400 was 17.0 RH 69% BP 30.31F DP 8.6. Clear and cold with 0.5″ of snow on the ground at 2400.

Good morning from the clear, cold, snowy Walrus early on this Thursday morning. Warmer temperatures on Thursday will put a serious dent in our snow cover, unfortunately. All traces of snow should be gone by the weekend.