It's Gonna Be HUUUUUUGE!

"I love it when a band comes together!"

What could be the biggest event of the OWLeS field program is now underway with a great long-lake axis snow band extending from Lake Ontario into the Tug Hill Plateau.

These bands typically move around a bit, pulsate, and sometimes feature two or more embedded high-intensity bands.  This morning we were just south of the strongest snowfall, but it moved over us and might actually be just to our south at the moment.  In the image above, our observing sites are indicated by red squares and we were right in the center of the action.  Total snowfall in past 3 hours (from 1200-1500 UTC) of 4 inches, most falling in 2.5 hours.  It was all low-density snow with a water content of perhaps 4%.

Looks like about 10 cm/4 inches if one accounts for the effects of wind on accumulation around the stick

And this is just the beginning.  This is a quote that can be appreciated only by upstate NYers, but this event is going to be HUUUUUUUGE (click here if you are from Utah or elsewhere).