By Tony Martin on September 30th, 2011 at 10:29 PM
As we turn the page to October tomorrow, we’re going to see some big changes in our weather. One thing that won’t change, however, is more rain.
Another upper level low is expected to move overhead this weekend, and strength as time goes on. A surface low will also form along the Atlantic coast, [...]
By Tony Martin on April 11th, 2011 at 10:07 PM
Temperatures will be very erratic this week, and next week doesn’t look much better. But first, let’s focus on the last two days. Wasn’t it nice? Highs were in the 70s and 80s with plenty of sunshine, and even though we had some rain, it was still a nice afternoon.
OK… onward. Low pressure [...]
By Tony Martin on March 30th, 2011 at 10:49 PM
Most of the area picked up a general 1-to-3 inch snowfall today, with some of the highest elevations seeing 4. Now our sights are set on tomorrow night and Friday morning.
There’s still a good bit of uncertainty with regard to the track of the low, with a farther west storm bringing heavy snow [...]
By Tony Martin on March 29th, 2011 at 9:42 PM
Old Man Winter just refuses to let up this year, and we have more snow headed our way. It’s been very cold this week, unofficial records have been broken or tied in Johnstown, Altoona and DuBois. And now the precipitation is on the way.
There’s going to be three storms from tomorrow through Saturday, [...]
By Tony Martin on March 10th, 2011 at 7:57 PM
Unfortunately there’s not much good news tonight. Rain will continue over the next few hours, heavy at times, continuing to exacerbate the flooding that occurring in parts of the area. The hardest hit region will be the Eastern Alleghenies where 36 rainfall totals will be in excess of 2″ in many spots.
Further west, [...]
By Tim Tender on March 7th, 2011 at 11:57 AM
Thundersnow is real… what about a snownado? (PS. This picture is just for fun.)
It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while there’s a phenomenon where you have snow but you hear thunder and see lightning. This is called thundersnow. The question is… since there’s thundersnow, can there be a snownado?
[...]
By Tony Martin on March 4th, 2011 at 8:06 PM
Rain will be a big story this weekend, especially in the Northern Alleghenies where some rivers and streams are still high. Take a look at the current rainfall forecast:
The trickiest part of the forecast comes Sunday afternoon through Monday morning. There’s the potential of enough cold air be drawn into the [...]
By Tim Tender on March 1st, 2011 at 3:52 PM
 Are you the winner?
It’s now time for the moment you have all been waiting for… THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS OF THE SNOW PREDICTION CONTEST!
The contest is now over and we’ve checked and double-checked the totals. Here are the winners of the snow prediction contest.
If your name is listed below, expect a call from us sometime in the near future… (Read More)
By Tim Tender on February 15th, 2011 at 11:06 AM
 How Many Of These?
I was working on my last blog post about no two snowflakes being alike when I found myself thinking… “How many snowflakes are there?”
It’s one of those questions that you really cannot answer on your own, unless you are a cloud physicist. That’s why Cindy Stauffer of the lancasteronline.com went to find one. She didn’t have to go far to get her answer. After starting at Millersville University and talking to a meteorologist, she was referred to the cloud physicist at Penn State University.
After doing lots of mathematical formulas, they determined that there are 5.2 quintillion snowflakes in a 5-inch snow over 2,000 square miles.
Break that down to 1.04 quintillion snowflakes in one inch of snow over 2,000 square miles.
Break it down further to 5.2 x 10^14 snowflakes in one inch of snow over one square mile.
That’s all well and good but think about our snow in Johnstown so far this winter… 83.0 inches. Let’s assume that’s the average for Cambria County, which is about 20 miles wide by 35 miles north and south (700 square miles).
With those assumptions, Cambria County has seen… (Read More)
By Tim Tender on February 15th, 2011 at 9:41 AM
You’ve heard that before, right… the statement “no two snowflakes are alike?” Well, I have a hard time believing that with how many snowflakes we’ve seen this year.
According to Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, that’s the truth.
Bentley was a farmer who grew up in a town called Jericho. It’s a small town in Vermont.
Bentley became the first person to photograph a single snowflake. From there, he photographed more and after taking pictures of over 5,000 flakes, he determined that no two snowflakes are alike. In 1925, here’s what he said about snowflakes…
Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.
Continue reading for pictures… (Read More)
By Tim Tender on February 7th, 2011 at 10:30 AM
 Snow Through Tuesday Afternoon
Hey everyone! Happy Super Sunday to you!
Our next weather event looks to come in sometime on Monday morning and get out of here by Tuesday afternoon. In its wake, we’ll see some light snow accumulations AFTER seeing a mix of rain and snow on Monday.
Here’s the fairly simple timeline:
Monday
AM: Light snow arrives. With temperatures still on the chilly side, it’ll likely start as snow.
Noon: Temperatures start to warm up and with temps in the mid 30s, we’ll start to see some rain mixing in with the light snow. This will continue through the afternoon. Don’t expect much in the way of accumulations with temperatures close to the freezing mark and rain mixing in.
Evening: The changeover back to snow will happen sometime later in the afternoon or into the evening. This is when the accumulations will start.
Tuesday
Overnight: The snow will continue with accumulations building into the morning. The snow will be relatively light and so will the accumulations.
Morning: Scattered snow showers will continue. We’ll also see a rapid drop in temperature and winds picking up. Wind chills will be rather cold.
Noon: The snow should taper off pretty quickly with just lingering flurries into the afternoon. It stays windy and cold for the afternoon.
Click in for a look at the Futurecast snowfall totals map… (Read More)
By Tony Martin on January 25th, 2011 at 8:42 PM
We’re building a consensus tonight with the track of the surface low, and it’s trending northwestward. This means a little more snow than what was forecast at 5 and 6 this evening.
It appears that 3 to 6 inches will be likely along and south of Route 22, with 1 to 3 inches from [...]
By Tim Tender on December 12th, 2010 at 1:17 PM
I know we should be focused on the winter storm here right now, but I’m off and wanted to share this with you. It’s incredible video of the roof of the Metrodome collapsing due to heavy snow. Check out the video:
I want to throw out props to @FSMikey on Twitter. That’s where [...]
By Tony Martin on November 4th, 2010 at 10:47 PM
It had to come at some point, and for some of us it will happen Friday and Saturday.
Cold northwest winds and an unstable airmass will invade the Alleghenies for the end of the week and the start of the weekend, giving us the likelihood of some light accumulations. It appears that the best [...]
By Tony Martin on May 11th, 2010 at 10:10 PM
Yes, it did snow today. Was it expected? No! Last night our forecast called for only a few flakes to mix with the rain. But take a look at this:
From: Carrie – Cresson Snow
From: Patty – Brockway Snow
From: Veronica – Osceola Mills Snow
We’re going to warm back up [...]
By Tim Tender on May 9th, 2010 at 6:09 PM
 Storm Damage in Indiana County (via Doug Clayton)
Welp… whoever said winter was over wasn’t right. With the cold front that passed through on Saturday, we got another taste of winter and some of us even saw a little snow. As a matter of fact, Laurel Summit picked up 1.3 inches of snow Saturday night into Sunday morning.
I got reports of snow at the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport, on Laurel Summit, in Clearfield, and on the Clearfield-Centre County line in Osceola Mills. I’m sure there were more reports, too.
For the most part, it was short-lived and non-accumulating, but it was there nonetheless. I wasn’t too happy about it and I’m sure most people weren’t happy about it either.  As you can see by the posts from Twitter, people are ready to get back to the warmer weather.
@jenpsu202grrr Mother nature #fail
@Jordan__Morley It sucks….PERIOD LOL
@shanafme Don’t like it one bit. Kids need to get out of the house.
@chanfram It seems normal to me. I remember it being like this two years ago. (@chanfram is right. After checking the stats from 2008, we had a high of 43 and 0.5″ of snow on May 12th. Good memory!)
 May 12, 2008 - Snow Covered Hanging Basket
After seeing @chanfram’s response, @vpreece remembered that she had a picture from two years ago showing the snow. Take a look at the picture to see the visual proof!
We are now dealing with very cold temperatures overnight with skies clearing out. That will set the stage for something called radiational cooling. Basically, any heat that we had left near the surface will escape leaving for a very cold night. Temperatures will drop down into the 20s for most of us overnight. That’s prompted a freeze warning for everybody in the viewing area with the exception of the counties in Maryland and Fulton county.
(Read More)
By Tim Tender on April 13th, 2010 at 11:16 AM
Well, the season is behind us now (at least I hope it is). The National Weather Service has put out their snowfall map for the 2009-10 season and there really aren’t any surprises. Take a look at the map below and see how your location did. Notice the high hilltops near the ski resorts [...]
By Tony Martin on March 25th, 2010 at 3:08 PM
Could it be true? Well, for some, yes.
(Read More)
By Tony Martin on March 8th, 2010 at 9:57 PM
There’s still quite a bit of snow on the ground in the Laurel Highlands, and that has the potential to pose some problems later this week.
(Read More)
By Tony Martin on March 1st, 2010 at 9:33 PM
For the southern half of Pennsylvania, February was an exceptional month as far as snowfall was concerned. Not just here in the Alleghenies, but also eastward to Harrisburg and Philly.
(Read More)
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