Fall/Winter Weather Discussion Thread

[WeatherWitness]

Well, Old Man Winter returns this weekend.  I, for one, am not looking forward to this, especially if it's going to be icy.

[phw115wvwx]

Lost in all of the wintry weather we have been experiencing the past few months is the ongoing drought situation.  The latest Drought Monitor released on February 27, 2014 is quite startling.  Virtually everyone in the East is free from dry weather.  However, the West is still suffering with drought, and the situation in California is becoming really dire.

[WeatherWitness]

The East needs to stop hogging all of our rainfall!   This year for Oklahoma (and really all of the southern Plains) is starting off exceptionally dry, which is not a good thing at all.  We are going to need a more stable pattern change soon, otherwise I fear much of the region will be placed back in an exceptional drought by the summertime.

[toxictwister00]

Hmm, I've never seen a weather bulletin like this before...

Issued by The National Weather Service
Memphis, TN
Sun, Mar 2, 2014, 4:41 PM CST

CORRECTED... WINDS GUSTING TO 30 KNOTS TONIGHT
... AIRPORT WEATHER WARNING IN EFFECT FOR THE MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT UNTIL 600 AM CST MONDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED AN AIRPORT WEATHER WARNING EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY FOR THE MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CONTINUING UNTIL 600 AM CST MONDAY. A MAJOR WINTER STORM IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TONIGHT RESULTING IN SIGNIFICANT ICING. THE TEMPERATURE IS EXPECTED TO DROP TO FREEZING BY 5 PM... FALLING THROUGH THE 20S TONIGHT... WITH A LOW NEAR 17 DEGREES BY DAYBREAK MONDAY. WIDESPREAD FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR MIXING WITH SLEET THIS EVENING... CHANGING TO SNOW AND SLEET AFTER MIDNIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS MAY ALSO OCCUR WITH THE PRECIPITATION OCCASIONALLY HEAVY. NORTH-NORTHEAST WINDS WILL GUSTS TO ABOUT 30 KNOTS. BETWEEN 1/2 AND 3/4 INCH ICE ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED FROM FREEZING RAIN WITH AN ADDITIONAL ONE TO TWO INCHES OF SLEET AND SNOW. LIGHT SNOW MAY LINGER AFTER SUNRISE MONDAY AND IT IS POSSIBLE THE AIRPORT WEATHER WARNING WILL NEED TO BE EXTENDED.

[Trevor]

They're issued all the time. NWS Memphis tends to make theirs a little more predominant and out there for the sake of FedEx who is headquartered at Memphis International. Most NWS offices just send them directly to the airports.

[phw115wvwx]

They're issued all the time. NWS Memphis tends to make theirs a little more predominant and out there for the sake of FedEx who is headquartered at Memphis International. Most NWS offices just send them directly to the airports.

Actually, airports have to contact the NWS office serving them to request these Airport Weather Warnings.  The management at those airports must create their own list of warning criteria in a written agreement with the NWS office before it goes into effect.  I don't think the list of those doing it is that long though.  I have a feeling only the major airports take advantage of this service as you still have the regular forecast and headline products along with TAFs (text aviation forecasts).

[toxictwister00]

We got another named Winter storm? This one is named Zephyr.

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/winter-storm-zephyr-forecast-rockies-denver-colorado-snow-20140509

[WeatherWitness]

This is clearly one strong cold front.