Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Heavy snow and ice Wednesday could fell trees, power lines in Bethesda

The weather forecasters got it wrong yet again, and we are facing a much more serious winter storm Wednesday than we were told last week. Heavy snow is expected to begin falling sometime after 3:00 AM Wednesday, most likely toward 5:00 or 6:00 AM. Accumulation of 3-6" is possible before precipitation switches over to freezing rain and ice mid-afternoon. Locations in the northern half of Montgomery County could see totals rise to 10". The storm is expected to end by 10:00 PM Wednesday night.

The combination of heavy, wet snow and a coating of ice will create conditions favorable to trees and limbs falling, and power outages. Temperatures will be the critical factor in the ultimate accumulation totals by nightfall Wednesday. This will be another serious test of the "new" Pepco system. With 48 hours of advance notice, the utility will have no excuse to not have called in backup workers from out of state. As a multi-state operation, Pepco parent Exelon has even more resources within its own nationwide workforce than the old Pepco did, so again, there will be no excuses.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has urged residents to check their home emergency kit, and to prepare a plan for power outages.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The weather forecasters got it wrong yet again, and we are facing a much more serious winter storm Wednesday than we were told last week."

So you're saying a change in forecast for a weather event that has not yet happened, by the same weather forecasters who made the previous forecast, is "they got it wrong"?

Anonymous said...

"Heavy snow is expected to begin falling sometime after 3:00 AM Wednesday, most likely toward 5:00 or 6:00 AM. Accumulation of 3-6" is possible before precipitation switches over to freezing rain and ice mid-afternoon. Locations in the northern half of Montgomery County could see totals rise to 10". The storm is expected to end by 10:00 PM Wednesday night."

Source?

Robert Dyer said...

6:00: Yes, they got it wrong. They forecast it as a minor event.

Anna said...

These days a lot of storm tracks depend on energy balance computations and that part is still difficult to predict.

It isn't just this area, it's a global kind of thing.

Anonymous said...

Still waiting for the source of Dyer's "forecast".

Anonymous said...

Since Larry is advising me to check my home emergency kit, I better go and do that.

Anonymous said...

I think it's great that our governor is giving us such helpful advice ahead of the storm, but I think it's even greater that our attorney general is suing Resident Rump over his phony "national emergency".

Anonymous said...

"With 48 hours of advance notice, the utility will have no excuse to not have called in backup workers from out of state."

Nowhere does Utility Bob recognize that this storm is a very large, multi-state affair -- affecting states from CA to Maine.

This a case of hyperlocal becoming myopic.

Anonymous said...

"This will be another serious test of the 'new' Pepco system. With 48 hours of advance notice, the utility will have no excuse to not have called in backup workers from out of state. As a multi-state operation, Pepco parent Exelon has even more resources within its own nationwide workforce than the old Pepco did, so again, there will be no excuses.

"Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has urged residents to check their home emergency kit, and to prepare a plan for power outages."

That text looked rather familiar.

September 11, 2018:

"Pepco will face its first real test of its 'new' system. The utility will have no excuse to be short on personnel, because Hogan explicitly mentioned that he has personally alerted the state's electrical companies to mobilize now.

"The governor urged residents to 'start now to prepare your families and your homes for potential heavy rains, wind and possible flooding.' He recommended citizens 'have water, batteries, and flashlights at the ready in case of power outages.'"

Anonymous said...

No name for this winter storm?

Anna said...

6:56AM - Winter Storm "Petra"

Anonymous said...

At first I was afraid, I was Petra-fied...

Anonymous said...

Thank you Bob Ryan!

Maloney Concrete said...

Love when Dyer gives us the latest WX news AP style!

Anna said...

7:24AM - you win! ;)

Anonymous said...

Can't really fathom Dyer's perspective on this storm and forecast. I thought the forecaster's I heard @ NWS & elsewhere nailed this one pretty much spot on. Even Dyer seems to acknowledge this when he states that "PEPCO had no excuse, since they had 48 hours notice". An accurate forecast 48 hours out on a storm like this is tremendous. Saying that the "The weather forecasters got it wrong yet again, and we are facing a much more serious winter storm Wednesday than we were told last week." seems ludicrous to me. One should not expect a perfect forecast a week out, yet even a week out, forecaster's recognized that a more serious storm was a possibility, just not a probability. Continued cutting/limiting budgets for agencies like NOAA & NWS will prevent us from ever having week ahead forecast accuracy. And moronic government shutdowns by a crybaby President and fake national emergencies that, among other things, prevented NWS models from being routinely updated further exacerbate any limitations on forecast accuracy. The forecaster's nailed this one, issuing first a Winter Storm Watch, then a Winter Storm Warning and predicting 3-6" of snow following by sleet, freezing rain, and rain...which is pretty much exactly what we got.