Blizzard in SE Pa. good?

salmo

salmo

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Southeast Pa continues to suffer from low precipitation. That part of the state remains in moderate drought status with many stations in emergency status for ground water: https://pa.water.usgs.gov/drought/indicators/composite/
Parts of the area will get hit with fairly significant amounts of snow today and tonight. What is your opinion on a major snow dump in the area?
I am not a geologist, ichthyologist, hydrologist nor meteorologist but like most members of this site I have an opinion. My feeling is that the major snow dump is a net positive. The ground for the most part has not bee hard frozen. If we get major accumulations of snow that melt slowly, that should help recharge the ground water if it melts slowly. I understand that there could be issues with accumulated acid in the snow and runoff of road chemicals from road treatment. Also if there is a big snow dump and then a big rain or melt it could cause some runoff and stream damage. All in all I feel it's a net good thing. Please pick your set of "ifs" and let the members of this site know your opinions.


 
With the compaction of the snow/ice crystals and sleet, coupled with the slow melt off over the next week with temps barely getting over freezing, I'd say we get a solid 2" equivalent rainfall over a week rather than the 24 hours it fell. That is a positive for sure.
 
It's not as significant as you might think. 10 inches of snow is equivalent to one inch of rain. Not great but I'll take it.
 
Think Mo is getting more over his way. Snow in my area of Lancaster County is getting compacted by sleet. Think the storm is already starting to move on too. SO I would say in my immediate area it will have a minimally positive impact.
 
I checked the Gauge at Valley Creek. Looks like 1.5 inches of precipitation, probably mostly rain.

 
Yes!!!
 
It's good, even if it mostly fell as sleet in some areas. Next two weeks look to have a couple more storms that move a little slower than those quick, dry fronts that got us into this drought. I'm hopeful that this storm was the beginning of a wetter pattern. TBD.
 
HopBack wrote:
It's not as significant as you might think. 10 inches of snow is equivalent to one inch of rain. Not great but I'll take it.
Click to expand...

But, but, snowpack!?!?

We added 1-2" of precipitation over the past 24 hours. Not a drought buster at all but better than a dry day.
 
My back says no but my head says yes. It should slowly soak into the ground over the next couple of days. What does concern me is the rain scheduled for late week
 
https://water.weather.gov/precip/index.php?analysis_date=1489622400&lat=40.8260043457&location_name=CONUS_+_Puerto_Rico&location_type=us&lon=-77.3192077162&precip_layer=0.53&product=observed&recent_type=yesterday&rfc_layer=-1&state_layer=-1&hsa_layer=-1&county_layer=-1&time_frame=last7days&time_type=recent&units=eng&zoom=7&domain=current

Precipitation in the right place to help out with low water conditions.
 
2.0" of liquid over much of eastern PA, most of it locked up in sleet which is compacted and will melt slowly. Temps are not forecasted to spike for a while and rain looks to be a no issue at least for the next 5 days. Honestly couldn't ask for a better gift for spring water levels.
 
I don't think the question is whether its good or bad, the real question may be can you, I or anybody else do anything about it. This planet was a molten ball of goo. This planet will be consumed by the sun one day. Time marches on whether we're here or not. That's Gods job. He's only got forever to get it right.
 
hendeylathe wrote:
I don't think the question is whether its good or bad, the real question may be can you, I or anybody else do anything about it. This planet was a molten ball of goo. This planet will be consumed by the sun one day. Time marches on whether we're here or not. That's Gods job. He's only got forever to get it right.
Click to expand...

Well this got existential quickly! :lol: I certainly hope the recent storm, and what ever we get this weekend, will help with the water levels down here in the SE. It is really sad seeing the low water levels in the area.
 
Hop, 10 inches of snow to 1 of rain is an average. But varies a lot. The "accumulating sleet" we got in chester county is more like 4:1. We got about 8" in my back yard but was the liquid equivalent of about 2".

A dry fluffy snow can be 20:1.

It is quite possible for one place to get 5" of snow, and another 20" of snow, and have it be the same amount of liquid. Not only that, but for the shoveler, it weighs the same too! Not just possible but common. It's one reason snow totals are often higher at higher elevations. Ratios are better. It's also why predicting accumulations is tricky business.

To answer the question, it's a plus. Especially the sleet, which melts slower than snow.
 
Any...A.N.Y. precip is vital right now, regardless of shape or form. Look at that freaking map over there in the lower right corner... way, way, way toooooo much red and yellow for this time of year (it's elfin' late March after all!). Go ahead an parse specifics if you need...but we need a major, MAJOR!, shift in the long term weather pattern(s).


I would love to be wrong...
 
We need numerous all day soakers to make any real difference in our situation. Many streams can't take a repeat of last season!
 
Tom, I don't disagree. We need water.

But remember the red, yellow, etc. Is based on percentile for that date, not the year. Meaning, you have equal chance to be red or yellow on any day of the year. Red means it's low "for that date". And the same exact flow rate could be red in March but blue in August.

Water would certainly be good, but in terms of wild trout survival, I'm more concerned about rain in June-September. I'll take a dry early spring in exchange for a wet summer every time.
 
We need rain period. There is no sugar coating those orange and red dots. The creeks and rivers should have more water in them right now. End of story.
 
Troy wrote:
We need rain period. There is no sugar coating those orange and red dots. The creeks and rivers should have more water in them right now. End of story.
Click to expand...
Exactly. It got sugar coated last year as well, and look what we ended up with. Like I said, a repeat won't be pretty. It's plain to see, we just aren't getting the moisture we used to get in this region.
 
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