Kenan Coverage

You gotta hand it to The Weather Channel. For pure entertainment value (or is it just me?) they are keeping it jumping across the eastern seaboard. Of course, there's Jim Cantore being wind blasted in Boston, but I am also duly impressed and riveted by others (more below). Yes, things are significantly calmer here in Amherst, but with near-hurricane force winds bearing down in Boston (and earlier South Shore and other coastal locations), there's a lot to experience vicariously. It's a truly impressive broadcast/coordination effort - the network is seamlessly handing off to meteorologists in about two dozen blizzard locations. 

As expected, Jim Cantore is slaying the commentary from downtown Boston today - "YOU CAN'T SEE ANY OF THAT, YOU CAN'T SEE ANY OF THAT!" (referring to buildings on State Street) - but there are other Weather Channel meteorologists to watch for:

• Felicia Combs - she's situated in Montauk, New York (Long Island) and is superb at describing every aspect of this storm, from what wind driven surf feels like, to being stranded in a car, etc. She just never runs out of ways to talk about the situation. Also, she's from Macon, Georgia, so it's fun hearing her marvel on just how extreme it feels to be in the midst of a blizzard. She's "oh, wow," like an innocent to our weather, and then proceeds to show her real weather chops (just in case you thought she was a mere neophyte to blizzards or the weather world). 
• Tevin Wooten - he's in New York City, where things aren't that wild, but he managed to demonstrate how light and "not sticky" the snow was this morning by trying to "dunk" a snowball (it just fell apart). And then he said something like, "I can't dunk like Lebron James, but I CAN talk weather." And then he proceeded to do just that. 

There's some amazing talent out there, meteorologists you don't always see up front and center.

And that's just a start. Props to the weather forecasters - people love to complain about the forecast, but a lot of lives are saved (and entertained) on days like these, thanks to folks like them.

Sub-zero to mid-40s, with snow, rain and ice (that's New England!)

UPDATED AT 10:30 AM SUNDAY, 1/16

STORM SUMMARY for Amherst/Pelham and nearby areas (initial post at 3 AM, Sunday):

The outdoor thermometer reads just 1°F at 3 am in Amherst right now, and if you aren't sound asleep, you are likely consumed with piling on the covers, while turning your attention to our Sunday/Monday storm. The news is so saturated with weather coverage, it's easy to miss one very key point - namely impacts will vary significantly depending on where you're located. Here in the Pioneer Valley (in and around Amherst) it will certainly be messy - but we won't get the most snow or the highest winds. In fact, we are forecast to get a turnover to rain with rising temps on Monday. How much those temps actually rise remains to be seen. It is not uncommon, particularly after extreme cold snaps like we are having, for surface cold to hang on longer than predicted in the Valley. We can end up having our own localized temperature inversion where cold air stays trapped at the surface with warmer air at higher elevations. Sometimes this phenomenon can affect relatively tiny pockets. For example, temps can be in the low 40s in Hadley, while a few miles away, at Puffer's Pond in Amherst, it's still icing with temps not budging past 32. So, in short, be prepared for everything with this upcoming event: snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain, roughly in that order.

Here are the main forecast takeaways for Western MA:

1. A Winter Storm Warning is now in effect for Western Franklin, Western Hampshire, Western Hampden Counties of Massachusetts from 12 AM tonight to 12 PM Monday for 6-12" of snow with snowfall rates of 2" per hour and wind gusts to 40 mph (Amherst is in Eastern Hampshire, so this Storm Watch only applies to points to our west and north, at higher elevations.)

2. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect from Midnight tonight to 7 AM Monday for Eastern Franklin County Massachusetts for 3-5" of wet snow and is also in effect for Northern Connecticut, Eastern Hampshire, Eastern Hampden, Southern Worcester, and Central Middlesex Counties of Massachusetts for 1-4" of snow and a light glaze of ice.

3. The current storm track will bring a front-end thump of snow to Western MA - including an estimated 1-3" of snow to Amherst and areas nearby. Snow is forecast to start around midnight, followed by a turnover to all rain between 3-6 AM and temps up to 42°F by mid-day Monday. Given the cold ground temps we could still be dealing with a glaze of ice by the morning commute. How long icing lingers is the question. As I said, weather forecasts tend to underestimate the degree to which cold temps hang around in discrete parts of the Valley.

Fingers crossed the temps really do climb as quickly as predicted. But keep your ice cleats handy, just in case.

Stay warm, safe and have a cozy Sunday.

Whirling of the Celestial

Photo by Joshua Wolfsun, taken at Puffer's Pond on 12/26/2021

Strepsiades: Who makes the thunder that makes me shake in terror?

Socrates: It is just the Clouds rocking in the sky.

Strepsiades: Is nothing sacred! How do they do that?

Socrates: Simple. When they become completely saturated with moisture, they are forced by Necessity to begin to oscillate to and fro. Every now and again they ram each other and of course, being packed with precipitation, CRASH! A cloudburst!

Strepsiades: But surely someone must force them to move in the first place. That must be Zeus.

Socrates: Not at all, it is the whirling of the Celestial.

~ From The Clouds, a play by Aristophanes first performed in 423 BC (some 2,444 years ago) at the Festival of Dionysia, Athens, Greece. Translated by Peter Meineck

Contemplating the passage of time - and the passage of clouds - on this first day of the year. I feel certain our endless grey stratus clouds will break sometime soon, yielding to a glorious blue and white tableau. 

Wishing all friends of Head in the Clouds Amherst a wonderful 2022, with abundant, inspiring, and beautiful clouds to spark your imagination! 

Happy New Year!