tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33386160.post1415893949624050425..comments2024-02-25T19:29:38.176-06:00Comments on Rob's Blog: Blast from the past: 50th anniversary of the Blizzard of March 4 1966 - one of the worst blizzards on record for Winnipeg and Red River ValleyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33386160.post-91066525227165359992016-03-05T08:37:18.963-06:002016-03-05T08:37:18.963-06:00Tough to say.. it's possible we will lose our ...Tough to say.. it's possible we will lose our snowcover by the 21st if we get into a sustained period of above freezing temps as is currently expected. But we will need to stay above zero for the next week of two for that to happen. For comparison, last year we lost our snowcover by March 15th, but our snowdepth last year was 22 cm at this time compared to 35 cm this year, so we have a deeper snowpack to lose this year. However, there is very little snowcover over ND into SW MB and srn SK.. so that will help to allow warmer air to invade southern MB and reduce our snowpack in the RRV. With favourably warm weather, a 30 cm snowpack can disappear in a week at this time of year. robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01577519556216420480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33386160.post-65842031422481320952016-03-04T20:59:10.573-06:002016-03-04T20:59:10.573-06:00Rob, on a unrelated note do you think that our sno...Rob, on a unrelated note do you think that our snow will all disappear before the 21st of March? I really hope we can switch over to spring really quickly, I am kind of tired of waiting. Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17535184969918068444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33386160.post-83047618316873846662016-03-04T09:58:30.692-06:002016-03-04T09:58:30.692-06:00Don.. official snowfall measurements are taken eve...Don.. official snowfall measurements are taken every 6 hours by the amount that accumulates on the snow board. The snowboard is wiped off every 6 hours for a new measurement. Snowdepth readings are taken once per day in the morning by taking a few measurements in the general area and averaging the readings. So yes, snowdepth could be affected by strong winds and packing. <br /><br />The April 1997 blizzard was a 3 day event that dumped 48 cm on the city officially. The 1966 blizzard was shorter (1 day), but more snow fell in 24 hours than in the 1997 blizzard. <br /><br />Unfortunately, snowfall measurements are no longer taken at Winnipeg airport since Env Canada handed over weather observing duties to NavCanada in 2004. NavCanada takes melted snowfall measurements, but not snowfall accumulations. Snowfall obs for Winnipeg now only available from volunteer observers such as my site, and some COCORAHS observers. <br /><br /> robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01577519556216420480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33386160.post-29810506423132651642016-03-04T09:13:48.850-06:002016-03-04T09:13:48.850-06:00Don.. Yes, back then, I think a blizzard was defin...Don.. Yes, back then, I think a blizzard was defined as visibility of 1/2 mile or less, wind speeds of 25 mph or more and a temperature less than 10F (-12C) or thereabouts. From what I understand, on March 3rd, the weather office was predicting Winnipeg would get brushed by this storm and it would impact areas mainly south and east of the city, but it tracked further north and west and hammered Winnipeg as well. robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01577519556216420480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33386160.post-330202783392297782016-03-04T00:33:12.132-06:002016-03-04T00:33:12.132-06:00I have one other question inspired by the recent B...I have one other question inspired by the recent Blizzard in Washington DC and their near record snowfall. Apparently the conditions were not conducive to measuring the snow at regular intervals and emptying the vessel. In fact in some of environment canadas records for various near winnipeg airport sites the snowfall is annotated as 'accumulated" which I presume means the SOG measurement increased by that amount. Is this then comparable to 1997s April Snowfall or were we using more accurate measurements in1997.and the SOG didnt increase by that amount as it packed down? Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16528334558979288856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33386160.post-14235177817697339632016-03-04T00:12:54.615-06:002016-03-04T00:12:54.615-06:00Rob Excellent article I recall at the time there ...Rob Excellent article I recall at the time there was a lot of discussion about the fact we could not call it a blizzard as the tempersture was too high ?? And we could not call it a land based hurricane although wind gusts approached the 120 km threshold.<br /> Was this idle speculation by radio and TV forecasters at the. Time or was there a germ of truth in it??<br />What was the definition of a Blizzard in 1966.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16528334558979288856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33386160.post-44078048566813664882016-03-03T12:45:27.567-06:002016-03-03T12:45:27.567-06:00Thanks SB.. appreciate the comments. March 4th see...Thanks SB.. appreciate the comments. March 4th seems to be a good day for big snowstorms! robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01577519556216420480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33386160.post-75373265044472048192016-03-03T11:36:44.462-06:002016-03-03T11:36:44.462-06:00What an awesome entry. Thanks for sharing. Reminds...What an awesome entry. Thanks for sharing. Reminds me of the March 3-4, 1971 Montreal Blizzard. I will be writing about that tomorrow. Thanks again.SBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12210859159923744663noreply@blogger.com