Easter Monday Snow

We thought we'd been spared.  After a bitter, stormy and snowy March that left many people at the end of their tethers - that would include me - we thought April showers would come our way, but instead we got April snow for today, Easter Monday.  And a couple of amateur forecasters on social media - not all of whom are sloppy novices - keep warning us about a major snowstorm of emergency proportions approaching for this coming weekend.  That is less likely to happen at this point - computer projections have been retreating from that prediction somewhat - but the prospect of any April snow shouldn't be taken lightly.  April snow usually melts quickly, but it can stick around long enough if it comes down hard and fast enough . . . and stay cold long enough thereafter.  If that sounds ludicrous, check the weather records for the American Northeast for April 1982 and see how much snow fell on April 6 . . . and how long it stayed cold thereafter.

But then who needs a big snowstorm this coming weekend when today's snow turned out to be worse than expected?  Originally forecast tow be two or three inches, it's almost six inches deep.  The good news is it will be gone in couple of days.  The bad news is that we're going to get a heavy rain, which means a lot of flooding due to rainfall on top of the melting snow.  Meanwhile, I can also assume that the scheduled pickup of yard debris from the March 7 storm in my town has been canceled.  Until further notice.

We're being told five or six days out from the next system not to worry about a repeat of 1982, except for this one guy who gives weather forecasts for my area on social media.  Of course, we were also told not to worry about Hurricane Sandy five or six days out.  As for this weekend's snow maker, well, I'm crossing my fingers.

False Weather Alarm

So it didn't snow yesterday where I live after all. No, I'll qualify that. It did snow a bit around eleven o'clock in the morning or so, but nothing stuck. It was mostly a cold rain.

So what happened? Well, the forecast was no April Fool's joke. As the nor'easter got closer it looked like it would dump snow in northern New Jersey, but as the track of the storm became clearer and as the forecasts were revised, it became obvious that it wouldn't amount to much if anything for most of us. The winter storm warning for Morris County was downgraded to a winter weather advisory, and the winter weather advisory for Essex County was canceled Thursday night.

So much of New Jersey dodged a bullet. The heaviest snow from this April storm fell in Massachusetts and Maine. The center of Massachusetts was hit fairly hard. But here the storm wimped out. Today has been very pleasant.

New Jersey isn't out of the woods yet. Some thundershowers and wind storms are moving across the country and are expected to hit New Jersey Tuesday morning. Welcome to April, the cruelest month.