"PREPARE THE WORLD FOR BAD NEWS"
Harry Stamper, played by Bruce Willis in the movie 'Armaggedon'
Time to throw in the towel on the winter? I think we are getting to that point. There are a few notable examples of how a winter like ours went out with a blockbuster storm...1993 is the best and most recent case. Another classic storm was March 9, 1984, which dropped 9 inches at my home in suburban Philly. Before that you have to go back to March 1958, in which Philly only saw 3-4 inches, but the western suburbs where my grandparents lived it was 4 FEET! The all time greatest March storm was the Blizzard of 1888 in New York City and throughout the Northeast, which was the event that changed the way the government forecasted winter storms and prepared the public.
THE FINAL WORDS ON THIS CURRENT NO STORM ARE... 'DANG, WHACK." As the dang thing missed most of us again (except for Central, Northeastern PA, central NJ and Southeast New England), and many forecasts got whacked with embarrassment.
ROUNDUP OF STORM GRADE TOTALS
WEST VIRGINIA: All locations...E MARYLAND: All locations...E VIRGINIA: All locations...E
PENNSYLVANIA: Altoona...2.0/4.0 = 50 % E State College...4.0/5.0 =80% B
York, PA...0.0/5.0= 0% E Paoli...2.5/3.0 =83 % B Philadelphia...2.8/3.0=93% A
Bucks County...5.5/6.0=91 % A. Statewide Average: 2.33 = C+
Bucks County...5.5/6.0=91 % A. Statewide Average: 2.33 = C+
NEW JERSEY...Forecast for Rutgers U next time NY CITY: (Central Park) 5.0/4.0=80 % B
MASSACHUSETTS: Read spotter reports of the area. Logan Airport...4.5/6.1 = 73 % C
Woburn...5.0/5.0 = 100% A Statewide Average: 3.50 = B+
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? WHAT DO HURRICANES HAVE TO DO WITH IT? That's a more complicated answer which will take time to process and explain, but I can say this much right now. What happened in Florida last summer is headed for the Gulf Coast and Texas in particular this summer. I have sound evidence to back up my theory, which I will explain later. If you want a snippet of the hurricane season ahead of us, read Dr. William Gray's preliminary forecast for land-falling tropical cyclone activity on the East Coast.