Weather Surprises

2010-12-23 22:28:20.000 – Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist

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When it comes to the weather, some surprises are better than others. A bright, sunny day on the summit when it was supposed to be foggy is often a pleasant thing, especially if we have been stuck in the clouds for several days straight. On the other hand, a storm that was supposed to bring snow and unexpectedly turns to rain is not considered a pleasant surprise by those of us on the summit. Yesterday’s weather brought a surprise; in this case a good one. What was supposed to be just some snow showers turned into a steady snowfall that lasted into this morning, dropping more than half a foot on the summit. Now, that may not seem like all that much in the grand scheme of things, but when considerably less than that was expected, it is a lot! The only problem is that, unfortunately, these weather surprises often come at the expense of the psyche of the forecaster who ended up being wrong.

Right now, a coastal storm is being forecasted for early next week. As with any coastal storm, the track is key. If the center stays too far offshore, we get a few flurries, and unfortunately this is the direction the models are trending. So, here’s hoping to another (good) weather surprise early next week, in the form of a storm track closer to the coast!

Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist