This storm was originally at sea and due to a descending cold air mass from the northwest the Juno storm system was forced into a smaller space and a faction of the storm was forced onshore. The eye of this storm did not reach landfall.
...The average difference (click here) between surface temperatures in a developed
versus a rural area is 18 to 27 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the EPA.
On a hot summer day in the city, dry surfaces like pavements and roofs
can be up to 90 degrees hotter than the air temperature! And when the
heat gets trapped in the atmosphere, the city doesn't cool off at
night--heat from the urban infrastructure continues to be released in
the air, making it even hotter after sunset. Yay, humans, making the
world more miserable....
The New York City area is more or less a metropolis. The entire area is warmer than areas outside this industrialized land. Understanding what occurred with diminished snow fall than expected is mostly caused from the inherent heat because of the intense region. As the wind blew and the snow fell it was tempered by the inherent heat already in the air. If these region was that warm, the snowfall would have been the same as Long Island and Massachusetts.
Should this area adjust to the idea of being a heat island and change the prediction? That is the call of meteorologists. As a rule there is no such thing as "Heat Island Effects" in meteorology as far as I know. There may be some research going on to better define it.
As the wind cooled the air and there was still precipitation there was growing snow fall. I remember yesterday when the storm was entering landfall with it's peripheral bands the snow fall was scant. As time went by the snow fall increased and the wind picked up. The more wind the colder the air. The colder the air the more snow reaches the ground. The early snowfall manifested as large, wet snowflakes which dictates a warmer air mass allowing for that type of snowflake and slush. It wasn't a frozen snowflake. Frozen snow flakes started later and produced increasing measure of snow on the ground.
The authorities were correct in acting on what they knew to protect the public. Until more is known about global warming and it's storms this will remain a soft prediction area.
Just because the seasons change doesn't mean the sun has stopped heating the city buildings.
The top 10 cities (click here) with the most intense summer urban heat islands (average daily urban-rural temperature difference) over the past 10 years are:
The New York City area is more or less a metropolis. The entire area is warmer than areas outside this industrialized land. Understanding what occurred with diminished snow fall than expected is mostly caused from the inherent heat because of the intense region. As the wind blew and the snow fell it was tempered by the inherent heat already in the air. If these region was that warm, the snowfall would have been the same as Long Island and Massachusetts.
Should this area adjust to the idea of being a heat island and change the prediction? That is the call of meteorologists. As a rule there is no such thing as "Heat Island Effects" in meteorology as far as I know. There may be some research going on to better define it.
As the wind cooled the air and there was still precipitation there was growing snow fall. I remember yesterday when the storm was entering landfall with it's peripheral bands the snow fall was scant. As time went by the snow fall increased and the wind picked up. The more wind the colder the air. The colder the air the more snow reaches the ground. The early snowfall manifested as large, wet snowflakes which dictates a warmer air mass allowing for that type of snowflake and slush. It wasn't a frozen snowflake. Frozen snow flakes started later and produced increasing measure of snow on the ground.
The authorities were correct in acting on what they knew to protect the public. Until more is known about global warming and it's storms this will remain a soft prediction area.
Just because the seasons change doesn't mean the sun has stopped heating the city buildings.
The top 10 cities (click here) with the most intense summer urban heat islands (average daily urban-rural temperature difference) over the past 10 years are:
- Las Vegas (7.3°F)
- Albuquerque (5.9°F
- Denver (4.9°F)
- Portland (4.8°F)
- Louisville (4.8°F)
- Washington, D.C. (4.7°F)
- Kansas City (4.6°F)
- Columbus (4.4°F)
- Minneapolis (4.3°F)
- Seattle (4.1°F)
- On average across all 60 cities, urban summer temperatures were 2.4°F hotter than rural temperatures.
- The Weather Channel 24 hour temperature change map.
- Kindly note the temperature change in the New York - New Jersey Area the change was positive and not negative. There is a heat island effect in this region. The universities in New Jersey and New York need to be tasked to answer this phenomena. Some of can be attributed to water temperature near the ocean, however, there are many other states that have ocean shorelines as well and still has a net loss of temperature over 24 hours. "Heat Island Effect," I guarantee it.
