J.R. Johnson

Winter has finally arrived in the Northeast, and it is making a serious splash.

We wanted a white Christmas, but that didn’t happen around here; Nature is making up for it now. We’ve had multiple storms this week complete with snow, sleet, ice and rain (sometimes all at once) and expect a significant snowstorm to hit this weekend.

That has me investigating weather reports, flexing my shoveling muscles, and generally catching up on all things snow. Here are a few of the interesting articles I found:

Science of Snow | National Snow and Ice Data Center

Snow forecasts are better than they used to be, and they continue to improve, but snow forecasting remains a difficult challenge for meteorologists. One reason is that during intense snows, the heaviest snowfall can occur in surprisingly narrow bands, and on a smaller scale than observing networks and forecast zones can see. Also, the extremely small temperature differences that define the boundary line between rain and snow make large differences in snow forecasts. This is part of the fun and frustration that makes snow forecasting so interesting.

Winter storm hits East Coast. What’s in a snowflake? (transcript)

“So a snowflake that was more than a foot across. Is that, like, even possible?”

How to Shovel Snow Safely – This Old House

Freezing temperatures often bring snow, sleet, and ice. And removing that messy wintry mix from your walkways and driveways is no easy feat. Here is the best way to shovel snow to prevent injury and lessen your workload.

What’s Wrong With This Snowflake? (transcript)

Koop thinks ice crystals are masterpieces of natural beauty. Unfortunately, he says, “This beauty is sometimes corrupted.”

Seeing Snowflakes As ‘Hieroglyphs from the Sky’ (transcript)

“It’s been said that snowflakes are like hieroglyphs from the sky…,” says Libbrecht, an astrophysicist and chairman of the physics department at the California Institute of Technology. “In the shape of the crystal is encoded the conditions under which it grew.”

And for when snow stops being fun and starts getting real: United States Power Outage Map.

Time to charge up our phones, laptops, power banks and car. Stay safe and warm!

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