Another February Blizzard

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH

WEDNESDAY EVENING...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING. LOW PRESSURE MOVING FROM THE TEXAS GULF COAST TONIGHT WILL HEAD INTO THE OHIO VALLEY TUESDAY. THAT LOW WILL GIVE UP ITS ENERGY TO A COASTAL STORM...WHICH WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE NORTHERN NORTH CAROLINA COAST LATE TUESDAY AND TUESDAY EVENING. BY WEDNESDAY MORNING, THIS NOR/EASTER IS FORECAST TO BE INTENSIFYING STRONGLY JUST SOUTHEAST OF OUR AREA...AND LIKELY BRINGING HEAVY SNOW TO A GOOD PART OF OUR AREA THROUGH WEDNESDAY AND PERHAPS INTO WEDNESDAY EVENING.

FAR SOUTHERN DELAWARE AND EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN NEW JERSEY MAY

START OUT WITH MIXED PRECIPITATION LATE TUESDAY...AND EVEN CHANGE

TO RAIN AT TIMES TUESDAY EVENING...BUT AS COLDER AIR WRAPS AROUND

THE STORM EVEN THESE AREAS ARE EXPECTED TO CHANGE BACK TO SNOW.

THERE IS A LARGE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOW FOR MUCH OF OUR

AREA...BUT AT THIS TIME THE HEAVIEST SNOW MAY FALL OVER NEW

JERSEY AND EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA. THERE IS ALSO A POTENTIAL FOR

STRONG WINDS...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE COAST.

People should be prepared for slow or no travel as the storm intensifies upon nearing the Northeast coast Tuesday night into Wednesday. Schools will close, commerce will be impacted and accidents will occur.

Lower temperatures, strong winds and deep, powdery snow could make this the worst of the two storms even in areas that were hit hard with the last. From a meteorological standpoint the prospect of two blizzards in less than a week for the same area is absolutely amazing! Forecasters are predicting the major winter storm will roll into the mid-Atlantic Tuesday evening, socking the Philadelphia region with its third big snowfall since the start of December.

After more than 28 inches fell in Philadelphia over the weekend, the National Weather Service is predicting snowfall of 12 inches to 18 inches for the upcoming storm.

This is officially the snowiest winter season in the city's recorded history, according to the National Weather Service. More than 70.3-inches of snow fell in Philadelphia so far this season and it's not even over.

"This is almost beyond words," said Meteorologist Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz. "No matter how old you are, you probably will never experience a winter like this in your lifetime, again."

I can only hope so. What a mess.

The real snow started about 6:00PM Tuesday and lasted until about the same time Wednesday evening. Temperatures stayed constant at just below freezing and the winds averaged about 15 mph. Stringer winds arrived Thursday morning and my little weather station recorded a peak wind for the year at almost 34 mph.

Some fluctuating power caused the computers to have a headache. My wireless router lost it settings and a few other setup problems were found with other computers. My anemometer froze Wednesday night and my satellite dishes both accumulated enough snow to shut down reception. (Fortunately I can reach them with a broom.)

The REAL work was clearing the driveway. It took both of us about 2.5 hours in very strong winds to get a path cleared for the vehicles. We were about halfway done when the contractor responsible for clearing the neighborhood came by with a bobcat and cleared the 'dreaded mountain' at the end of the driveway. What took him minutes probably saved us over an hour of hard work. Nice to be working with the right tools. My little snow thrower performed well, but was not designed to move 30 inches of deep snow down the driveway. In many areas it was deeper than the discharge shoot on the machine. It would have been shovels to remove the stuff the snow plow had deposited, maybe 4 feet deep.