Well Iv'e had my first snow drive in my 2014 Prius three and the car sucks in snow

Nah, it was another epic fail! Philly was supposed to be pretty much at the heart of this mess, obviously it shifted and New England got the brunt of it but If you know anything about the history around these parts having to do with what we are mentioning, I think you would agree. I do believe there was a meteorologist that was fired a few yrs back for the same thing! Crying wolf, casing fear and mass hysteria...storm of the appocalyps... It never snowed.

Here is why it's a failure, schools shut down due to these predictions, governments, courts, trains, planes, buses,many business, heck in NJ, they banned all travel.

Think about the economic loss from above not to mention the aggravation. Plus, heck I really wanted to take my daughter sledding, can't now as we got about an inch. Haha!!


Most around here echo my sentiments, just take a look at some of the comments on the local news articles online about the "storm"!

We should petition to transfer some of these weather folks out to San Diego, less of a chance to
Screw it up.....lol.

 

Oh and Boston is a little different than Philly. They obviously deal with more of the white stuff and for a longer period in the winter, which means MOST up there are better equipped for the snow and can drive / deal with it better.

My totally unscientific guess is a couple days up to a week tops is when folks around Philly actually will be driving on snow packed roads this winter, as they get cleared off and then commences the million pounds of salt per mile theory!!

I remember growing up in Quebec, up on a mt., they never used salt, sand works wonders for traction.

 

Growing up in Massachusetts they used a lot of sand and sand mixed with salt.

The problem with sand was it filled the catch basins and they spent each spring scooping it out with a backhoe.

 

I try to avoid imagining Boston, or any city for that matter.

I would think that in a storm the streets would be nearly empty.

 

I was there in Boston in 1978, not fun getting home. I had a 20 minute window before I would have been stranded on the main highway.

Accuweather does a commendable job of not only forecasting, but expelling what happened afterwards. Many websites and television want hits and eyeballs, and some promotion. I'd say they got this one mostly right. I've followed weather reports for many years, and in this one, the variables were dealt with and fully explained. Very simply stated, the storm headed East a little, and shrunk in length.

How Did East Coast Blizzard of 2015 Play Out?

 

NOAA, the National Weather Service, and other weather forecasters don't issue travel bans. Elected politicians do that, and they remember many previous officeholders who lost re-elections due to inept storm responses.

I'm remembering the economic loss and aggravation of several past wind and snow storms here that were un-predicted, under-predicted, or for which the impending severity was recognized on such short notice that huge numbers of commuters could not be sent home in time to prevent the afternoon commute from turning into a massively snarled all-nighter.

In recent years, with improved forecasting models and computer power and a new weather radar to plug what had been a massive coverage hole on the Washington coast, our storm warnings have improved sharply. While many fine details are still missed (exact timing, specific location of greatest impact, event boundaries, accurate snow depths and ice thicknesses), the broad details have become good enough the we have considerably fewer surprises. Now, far more commuters stay home than 20/20 hindsight ultimately reveals to have been necessary. However, the storm-induced highway snarls have become much less common, fewer people get stranded away from home or shelter, and additional utility repair crews brought in from outside usually arrive before they are needed, with time to rest up from traveling before the power even starts going out.

There is plenty room for improvement. Computer models need refinement, computer power needs to increase to compute on finer grid meshes, and the gaping weather radar gap over virtually the entire Oregon coast still needs to be filled. But I have seen enormous improvement in my lifetime.

I've also learned to look for forecast outlets that discuss their level of uncertainty, and disclose how well the various available models are converging, or diverging.

 

It's the tires. I live in Newburgh,NY. I bought a set of 4 OEM wheels with snow tires on them with plenty of tread to go off craigslist from a guy in NJ. They work great. Today I was driving home during the blizzard that never showed up and the roads were slippery as this guy in front of me with his 4 wheel drive Nissan pickup was fishtailing slightly, my 2010 prius 3 was steady as a rock. I passed the guy eventually. Just be prepared for a drop in gas mileage as with traction comes less mileage. Unavoidable.

 

This is a crazy country. The residents go into self-induced hysteria over Y2K, but whine incessantly when a blizzard misses them by an hour.

 

They get paid damn good to do a job, even have advanced degrees in the subject...

In Any other normal profession if you failed to perform at such an immense level, or made decisions with such reckless abandon you would lose that job...

As for the politicians telling us what's safe for us to do.... Well.....

Predicted 18", we got 3/4" near me!

NYC, predicted 24-28+, got 3-8"!!!

I'm no mathematician but isn't that like 1000% wrong. Lol.

If I was a betting man I wouldn't bet on these guys and gals getting it right...

 

To paraphrase my GrandMama, if you can do the job better, have at it.

 

And just who can do a better job today?

New England digs out after getting exactly what it expected

 

There's no pleasing some folks....

 

Honestly I just find it funny the reaction some snow generates around here, that bread and milk vid sums it up pretty well.


Like I've said before I grew up on a mt in Quebec kinda off the beaten path, snow and harsh weather was just a reality of life up there. You dealt with it and that was that. I fondly recall the "Great Ice Storm of '98".... No electricity for over 2 weeks, you couldn't walk a step w/o metal golf spikes. Not that was a storm. But we dealt with it.

During the long winters we would routinely wake up after a storm to both ends of our driveway plowed in with 3-5' of snow. Talk about good times... But we dealt with it, big ol snowblower with chains....


And to above poster stating that if I thought I could do better at forecasting the weather I should do it. Yeah well that's not gonna happen, not what I went to school for and not what I devoted my life to, but if you paid me one or two hundred grand a year I'm pretty sure I could play the odds and wing it and throw out some crazy predictions and hey if it happens were all good right??? And if I were 1000% wrong oh well, it's not an exact science. Lol.

Did anyone listen to the Opie and Jim Norton show on Sirius yesterday? It was devoted to the bs storm, was a great show too. It can prob be listened to on podcast if not.

But for New England, stay safe out there...

 

I'm sure you could, but here is the problem: No one is going to pay you at all, let alone $200k, for your predictions.

To win the job, you have to be *better* than the people they have now. What was your forecast, by the way ? Please detail

• All of the NorthEast region
• Snowfall
• Winds
• Start and End of the storm

I'm sure you have this detailed forecast, because otherwise you would just STFU, ... right ?

 

Negative. I will not provide my "forecast". Lol




Ok fine. It was to the effect of a causal conversation among friends that "this storm is prob gonna be bs and a dud like the last few that they predicted"!!

And lo and behold total accumulation on my lawn..... 1/2-3/4", maybe some spots that had drift buildup were pushing 1"..... And remember this was on a 18+" prediction for my area. NYC was calling for up to 28+" and got 4-8".

And these predictions are coming from people with masters degrees and possibly phd's and a life's worth of experience in on the topic..

Now I will gladly STFU as you so kindly put it.

The horse has been beaten.

 

In this part of New England [Southern Maine] it has been just an average January so far. Another storm is expected to blow through Friday.

 

I drive cars hard and I too believe the Prius handles like crap in the snow which still shocks me because of it being front wheel drive. It really doesn't handle that well in hard rain either. This is coming from a guy who has owned numerous rear wheel drive and front wheel drive cars. I honestly feel safer driving in snow in some heavier rear wheel drive cars vs. my Prius.

 

I think some reactions come from inexperience with the old days, my first car was a 1960 Plymouth Valiant. Some come from a near religious belief that more and newer technology is always better. Some problems come from lack of ability to deal with conditions, and some of the nastier remarks are simply due to model loyalty.

But winter conditions are different everywhere. You can have ice, hard-packed snow, drifts, and the inevitable slush. My friend's Impreza hatchback with no snow tires is better all-around than my Prius with fairly new snows. While he gets out of the snow/ice covered parking lot incline with relative ease, I limp my way along watching the TC light flicker like a star in cloud cover. But for me, my v's advantages outweighed buying an Impreza. I needed the room, and vastly preferred my Toyota dealer. My 2004 Corolla S with snows was better in almost every way to my Prius in the winter. The overall gas mileage difference was marginal too.

No car is good at everything. With good snow tires and sane driving, it gets by. Cars are just way too expensive now to have multiples for most folks, so you pick one that does the most of what you want or need. If Toyota could build a system that was better in the slick, without causing harm to components, that would be great. But it is what it is.

 

Barring the full sized 4x4 trucks I've owned in the past, I have to say by far the 2008 Outback was the best snow car I've ever owned, it was a beast that did many trips to our rental cabin in the central mountains of VT in the dead of winter, and also during mud season. It quite frankly amazed me the depth of crap that car could push through. I've never drove the newer /bulkier style so no comment on that.

#2 would have to be the 2011 Forrester XT that I had for a while. That turbo would punch you through a lot of the nastier stuff with ease, including mud and sand.

 

Do the forecast outlets that you pay attention to, readily disclose how well or how poorly the many available computer weather models are agreeing or converging? And do they speak up again when the model results change significantly, or when disagreeing models start to converge towards a consistent answer?

If not, then I suggest you dump the weather folks you have been listening to, and seek out better forecast outlets.

Here is a post-NE-storm summary from a Pacific Northwest atmospheric science professor / weather forecaster / semi-climatologist. While he can get full of himself at times, especially in forums other than his blog, the sort of detail here is what I find very helpful:
Cliff Mass Weather Blog -- Forecast Lessons from the Northeast Snowstorm

If you still believe that it is even possible for an individual human forecaster to have enough experience to 'wing it' and reliably produce the accuracy you have been demanding, please read this episode of his blog (but feel free to ignore the promotion of a home-town computer maker):
A Major Advance for Numerical Weather Prediction in the U.S.