Wrap-Up: Winter Storm of February 13

Wednesday, February 14, 8:20AM--

Winter Storm Number 4 of the 2006-2007 season was worse than I thought it would be. I really felt that the NWS had over-estimated the cold air intrusion that would wrap around the backside of the storm, that we were just a shade too far south to see any snow out of it, etc.

Yesterday morning at around 6:30AM, as I drove to work in a steady rain with the temperature about 37F, I was gloating about how I had been right to not predict snow...well, you know what they say about not counting your chickens before they have hatched. In downtown STL around noon-time yesterday, we experienced near-blizzard conditions for roughly 30 minutes (blizzard criteria are winds of at least 35 MPH, and visibility reduced to 1/4 mile or less by falling or blowing snow, and all of this persisting for at least 3 hours). I have not seen it snow that hard in STL in years...luckily (or unluckily, depending on one's perspective), those conditions did not last for too long. Further to our northeast, from a swath from roughly Peoria to north of Indianapolis, Blizzard Warnings persisted through the day, with 1 foot or greater snowfall amounts common.

What was I right about?

Well, not much. Yesterday morning, it sure looked like I was going to be right, and the NWS was going to owe everyone a big apology for enticing school closings, causing panic, etc. I was almost right, but being "almost right" doesn't count for JACK. That's like saying "the Rams ALMOST won the Superbowl in 2001." No one cares about "almost;" they only care about who was right. Chalk one up for the NWS. They are the true experts, afterall. To be honest, I am glad they were right. If they had mis-predicted yet another storm, it would have further eroded the public's confidence in them. As it turned out, the school closings were certainly justified.

So, until the next storm......

Caw! Caw! (Munch! Munch!)....that's me eating some crow.

-WD