Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Watch

snowy apocalypse meter 2012-02-28

Updated Wednesday morning

The Non-Winter of 2012 has forced the Icy, Snowy Apocalypse Meter to roll itself out for some otherwise underwhelming apocalypses. The fair weather has made us soft. But this could be an apocalypse deserving of some respect.

The updated situation: a "complex" winter storm out of the Midwest is projected to roll through the region Wednesday and stretch into Thursday evening. By the time it's finished, there could be as much as 10 inches of snow (or as little as 4). The paraphrased forecast from the National Weather Service:

Wednesday: Snow in the afternoon. Accumulations of 1-3 inches possible. Temps in the mid-30s.
Wednesday night: Precipitation shifting between snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Another 2-4 inches of snow possible. Temps in the upper 20s.
Thursday: Rain and snow, with rain in the morning and then snow again in the afternoon. Another 1-3 inches of snow possible. Highs in the upper 30s.
Thursday night: Chance of a bit more snow. Lows in the upper 20s.
Friday: Cloudy, maybe some rain in the evening. Highs in the mid 40s.
Saturday: Rainy, cloudy. Highs around 50.

The forecast discussion mentions this snowfall could be the heaviest since the Winterween storm in October. But it sounds like there's a fair amount of uncertainty about how much snow will actually end up accumulating -- especially given the possibility of rain and sleet. If anything, it just sounds like the next 24-36 hours are going to be cold, wet, and messy.

That said, only the brave will bet against this snowless winter. It's like Jack Frost has been shaving points.

By the way: The least snowy February on record is 1912 at 1.3 inches. As of this morning, February 2012 had tallied just .6 inches of snow. If this wasn't a leap year, that could have been the record. (The normal February total is about 12 inches.)

Necessary note: You should take this all with an enormous bag of rock salt. AOA has absolutely no weather forecasting expertise. At all. That said, the world will probably not end because of some snow. Most likely.

Earlier on AOA: Where's all the snow?

Comments

Of course, 1912 was also a leap year, so at least our imminent failure to beat the century-old record is still a fair comparison.

I'll believe it when I shovel it.

I just checked some news websites, a bunch of schools have already cancelled afternoon activities and not one flake has yet to fall.

I see snowflakes!

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