"First Snowfall Brings a FOOT (POST-EVENT BRIEF)"

Issued: 11/25/24 8:00 PM

Event: 11/21/24 4:00 PM - 11/24/24 11:00 PM

First Brief Issued: 11/19/24 8:20 AM

Rundown of Event

(A basic summary of the impacts (power outages? schedule impacts? snow/rain totals? winds? Tree/building damages?) of the event that triggered a brief. Should be about 1 paragraph long.)

A winter storm knocked out power for tens of thousands and dumped up to 20 inches of snow across the North Pocono area. Power outages for many lasted longer than 24 hours. Some, at the time of writing, are still without power. I myself was unable to update the brief on this site because I woke up Friday morning without power. I only measured 11 inches at my house, but the snow was heavy and extremely wet. It was nearly impossible to shovel, and it weighed down trees. The sites were beautiful, but the damage was costly. I had to drag two trees out of my driveway while shoveling on Friday. Road conditions ranged from slushy to in some cases impassable into the night on Friday. Higher temperatures on Saturday improved road conditions and further melted much of the snow. 

Forecast Accuracy & Explanation

(Forecast vs. reality. First brief vs. last brief vs. reality. Why was the forecast off? What made forecasting difficult? etc.)

I am extremely proud of the forecast that I published to the T-Cork site, the final version of which can be viewed here. The T-Cork site, thanks to NWS data and maps, correctly projected the Cancellation of After School Activities on Thursday and the Snow Day on Friday. The numbers on maps I put out were also extremely accurate, even for the elevations, which have a history of being difficult to predict. Many other forecasters are smacking their foreheads at the amount of snow we got, like WNEP's Kurt Aaron. We also correctly predicted the wetness of the snow and the possibility for power outages, although I was surprised by how widespread the outages were and how long the outages lasted. 

Images & Stats

YOUR PHOTOS...