The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...?

7:30 AM 12-21 COMMENT  We are mindful of the many people whom have to brave the icy conditions today regardless of schools being closed. It was a welcome relief that systems across many states announced their decisions early enough for parents to make care arrangement.  For the school kids, Andy William's famed holiday song "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" is most apt right about now, but maybe not for their parents!

A morning update is in progress to briefly discuss the roadway & school situation for Tuesday, and what may be placed in your stocking over Christmas Weekend. Later today, we'll post the storm grade report, and take a glimpse at the pattern ahead as well as add our new facebook page info. As The Carpenters (a late 60's - early 70's group) might say, "We've only just begun." That applies whether we are talking about the website, or the winter which officially begins at 12:47 PM today.

Be A Forecast Friend

9:00 PM 12-20 UPDATE: Share your storm pics in our photobucket created by PasadenaMatt. To receive permission for image posting, make a request in the comments, your email address is visible only to site administrators. All approved pictures added in the "Blizzard of December 2009" gallery, automatically appear in the slideshow.

If posting in the main gallery, please limit photos to your 5 best per participant. You are welcome to create your own album and place all pics there and provide a few classic shots for the main gallery. All images will be moderated, are expected to be appropriate, in good taste and related to the storm.  The forecast team retains admin control over all images in the album.

Thanks for joining, now go share in the fun of this historic event where many locations across the Mid-Atlantic received 20" or more throughout the weekend. So much for the "flurries" some reported The Weather Channel's local forecast had for Baltimore on Saturday.

So I Heard You're Having A White Christmas?

7:15 am Sunday 12-19-09   Although astronomical winter has yet to officially arrive, Enya's White in the Winter Night I believe captures the essense and beauty of the  season to come. A pre-Christmas Blizzard in Baltimore was fun albeit a bit shocking, but it did require one thing some don't often do prior to the holidays: Spend time with our immediate family.  Despite the feeling  that  we're smack dab in the middle of February, having our scripted Saturday routine whisked away in a rush of snowy wind was for some,  a welcome relief.  Yet we must not overlook this reality: Thousands of people who would rather spend time with their families are instead working on your behalf to clear our roads, schools and businesses for re-opening.

Instead of jamming the day full with shopping, many stayed home to simply enjoy the snow, shovel a piece, sip the hot choc afterwards or juuusstt take a break. I am mindful that many many other people unfortunately suffered terribly  in this storm. But times like these bring people together in ways unlike any other.

Enya's delightful winter melody is a lyric that conveys the thrill of being a child in a snowstorm: "Have you heard their sweet heart's cry for all this time they're waiting..."  From the joyous sounds I've already heard emanating at a "Who-ville" in Virginia, it appears the waiting for many will soon be over.

Our storm grade report will be based on the spotter and official reports in public information statements at NWS offices in Wakefield, VA  Sterling, VA and Mount Holly, NJ Members of the forecast team will revisit our snowfall predictions and confirm the final accumulation. We can given you an early glimpse based on the observation data from BWI. Mr. Roylance of the Baltimore Sun has a detailed data summary of the records.

Predicted 3:30 PM Friday 12-17  Amount 24.7"  Liquid 2.06"
Forecaster Grade 9 BCPS Crossroads student, Mr. Foot's Period 4
Location BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport
Actual 21.1 as reported by the Sterling, VA NWS office
BWI storm grade: 21.1 / 24.7 = 87.5 B+ or a 3.50 GPA.
Pretty darn good for a 9th grade "student" meteorologist wouldn't you say?

If you are new to the site, we warmly welcome your participation and input. We hope you find the comments to be a pleasantly respectful place of robust discussion, especially when winter storms threated the Mid-Atlantic. I am grateful for the diligent work of all our student climate collaborators, and snow-filled kudos to our four county/two-state forecast team. Special acknowledgement goes out to Mr. Roylance of the Baltimore Sun, for his detailed report on the student project as featured on Saturday's 12-19 front page (even above the fold!)

Check back before the 4:15 PM Ravens game for some refreshing improvements that will include a separate Facebook page, a Photobucket sharing site and perhaps even Twitter. Our team is moving these projects forward quickly, because if this winter resembles that of 1957-58 in any way, it won't be long before we're back together all over again! Enjoy the snow.