MEMA offers tips on roof clearing as rain moves in

Posted by Matt Noyes February 25, 2010 (3 weeks ago) at 10:01 am

In yesterday’s post and today’s broadcasts, we outlined the threat of roof collapses. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency follows suit with an advisory today:

MEMA POSTS ROOF COLLAPSE & STORM DRAIN WARNING INFORMATION
Snow Buildup & Subsequent Heavy Rain Can Present Dangers
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Clear off the rooftops and batten down the hatches – The W concerns to be aware of

Posted by Matt Noyes February 24, 2010 (3 weeks ago) at 1:35 pm

Heavy snow continues to gradually shift northward after dropping up to two feet in some of the Berkshires, and will perform the same feat in the Green Mountains of Vermont, and when all is said and done, perhaps the White Mountains and Mahoosucs, as well.

Of course, my job is to look ahead to what nature will deal us next. I’m concerned with three W’s for Thursday…weight, wind, waves and wet.
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Snow to fall for all of New England on Tuesday – Ski Country to benefit, as well!

Posted by Matt Noyes February 15, 2010 (4 weeks ago) at 1:09 pm

A well-defined swirl evident on radar and satellite imagery today represents the next energetic disturbance that will affect New England weather. A piece of this system delivered snow to Kansas over the weekend, causing three separate pileups involving 90 cars in total! Of course, we expect New England drivers to handle the snow better, but some spots may see a foot of the white stuff on Tuesday. The first question that comes to many minds very well may be, “Is this one for real?”…
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More snow for the Mid-Atlantic and New England this time too

Posted by Danielle Niles February 8, 2010 at 9:20 am

The clean up continues across the Mid-Atlantic this Monday morning after a historic winter storm brought feet of heavy snow to the region this past Friday and Saturday. Baltimore, MD saw just over 2 FEET of snow from the storm, bringing their seasonal snowfall total to 60.4″, 4 FEET above what they would have normally received by now! Check out some of the other snowfall totals across the Mid-Atlantic! Here in New England, we’ve had above average snowfall amounts thus far this winter too, with Boston, MA running 3.7″ above the average, and Burlington, VT, an impressive 17.8″ above the norm.

With snow on the mind, we now turn our attention to the central U.S. where another storm is taking shape, slated to impact the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by midweek. We’ll talk more about that in a second, but for now let’s focus on today’s weather -and the details are pretty straightforward. Read more

“Say it ain’t so!” Mount Washington dethroned as fastest wind speed on earth

Posted by Matt Noyes January 26, 2010 at 1:33 pm

It would appear as though the summit of Mount Washington may still be “Home to the World’s Worst Weather,” but no longer the world’s fastest recorded wind speed. It’s taken since 1996 to surface, but the April 12, 1934, gust of 231 mph atop New England’s highest peak fell to an intense gust of 254 mph at the center of Tropical Cyclone Olivia on Barrow Island, Australia, on April 10, 1996. The site is located just off the northwest coast of Australia, and the wind speed recording instrument (an “anemometer”) was of the three-cup variety, on a site located 210 feet above mean sea level.

The official word on any record must come from the World Meteorological Organization, who recently published their report confirming – to the best of their knowledge and ability to authenticate – the New England record has, indeed, been toppled. The extensive time between the observation and this statement has raised skepticism for some, but it would appear, at least upon initial review, that the observations and process of authentication were not flawed. I spoke with Cara Rudio, spokesperson for the Mount Washington Observatory on Tuesday afternoon, and she describes the sentiment at the Observatory as “bummed,” but acknowledges the validity of the World Meteorological Organization’s work, adding that the WMO was kind enough to provide Mount Washington with a copy of the report, and the summit personnel will be carefully reviewing it in the coming days. Executive Director of the Observatory, Scot Henley, adds, “This doesn’t change the fact that Mount Washington is one of the most fierce locations on the planet…that can’t be taken away from us.” As I mentioned this morning on NECN in my weather broadcast, some interesting items that should be examined meteorologically include the composition of the anemometer (a three cup anemometer typically cannot withstand such strong winds, and should normally break apart at far lesser wind), and the large gap between steady, or sustained, wind and the maximum gust. Additionally, this wind gust represents a 3-second average wind speed, rather than the 10-second wind speed recorded on Mount Washington, which makes a significant difference in the result.

This isn’t the first time Mount Washington’s record has been challenged, but it is the first time it’s been confirmed to have been broken using valid wind measuring tools – Doppler radar estimated 318 mph in a tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, in 1999. This wind speed, however, was hundreds of feet above the earth’s surface, and recorded by Doppler radar, which is not accurate enough to be an official measuring instrument for wind speed. Of course, New Englanders know Mount Washington still is “Home of the World’s Worst Weather” – and from a technical standpoint, still holds the fastest recorded wind speed on earth, outside of a tropical cyclone, and that’s no easy feat! Additionally, Scot Henley reminds me that the Australian site was unmanned, meaning Mount Washington – with the spirit of adventure that was alive in 1934 and still just as strong in 2009 – is home to the fastest wind speed ever observed by man.

The Mount Washington Observatory provided me with a copy of their Press Release, below, which you can read by clicking the “Continue Reading” link of this post. I’m also including the text from the World Meteorological Organization. Want more information on the Mount Washington Observatory? It’s membership supported and non-profit…and I’ve included a link in the documentation.
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Wow! Mild air makes its move…but so does the rain and wind.

Posted by Matt Noyes January 25, 2010 at 11:56 am

A strong storm has moved across the Great Lakes, and the intense counter-clockwise flow of air around its core has driven deep warmth and moisture northward up the Eastern Seaboard. The change in air was evident early Monday morning, as temperatures rose rapidly into the 50s, with Boston’s Logan Airport recording a 12 degree temperature jump in just one hour from 4 AM to 5 AM! This warmth comes with deep moisture direct from the Gulf of Mexico…
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Potent Midwestern storm to only slowly move east…but icy patches still possible in New England through Christmas

Posted by Matt Noyes December 24, 2009 at 11:20 am

Though the weather will remain fairly quiet for most New Englanders through Christmas, there are some subtle features that will have important localized effects. Additionally, a complex weather map across the nation ensures challenges in the days ahead. For now…
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Carefully watching Texas rain…which will become weekend snow from the Mid-Atlantic…to New England?

Posted by Matt Noyes December 17, 2009 at 3:09 pm

Throughout the week, we’ve been slow to close the door on snow potential for this upcoming weekend. We continue to tow that line. The issue is this: we’ll be watching a somewhat uncommon east to west movement of a large storm over Eastern Canada, and the precise timing of this westward motion, along with its interaction with two other energetic disturbances, will have great impact on New England’s weekend weather.
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