Could it snow?

Question

Is it possible, in the near future for it to snow on the eastern seaboard in the amount of 30+ feet?
This is a serious question.

Ya I do think it could. I not only think it could, it is my opinion that it will in the not too distant future. Death and destruction from a devistating Nor'easter with snowfall ranging from 30-40 feet would be on a scale that is nearly unimaginable.

FaZizzle, you can go back to school. 30 inches of rain turns into 60 feet of snow. Rain which is liquid water has the properties of liquid water and are thereby more dense. Snow, which is crystalline water is nowhere near as dense as liquid thereby more voluminous. A 15 inch rain storm could produce up to 30 feet of snow. Here in Central New York state, we just had a 9 inch rain storm a little over a month ago which caused widespread devastation to many small towns and their infrastructure. If that rain storm would have happened under the right conditions, we would have had 15-18 feet of snow. The highest recorded single snow storm is over 60 feet in Washington State. Yes it happened over three days but it was still 60 feet. Someone needs to catch up on their reading.

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=47525

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=47528

I think these people are ignoring the fact that over the past 500 years, we have not witnessed the kind of snow I'm talking about. If they would get their heads out of their a$$es then maybe they could forget what conventional wisdom would say and look to the reasonableness of this potentially devastating event.

Answer 1

In feet?

That would take a climate change far beyond our realm as of right now. Global warming is bad, but not that bad yet. It's warming up, remember?

That would be over 60 feet of rain.

You will NEVER see 30+FEET if snow. The closest ever come is in Anchorage, Alaska. In one snow storm they saw 28.6 inches of snow in a few hours.

That's a lot. That's no where near 30 FEET though. I would suggest not to plan for a school cancellation of that magnitude for a couple thousand years.

Answer 2

Could it snow? I think history has already answered this question.

For 30+feet of snow to happen, we'd need to have giant mountains suddenly appear on the eastern seaboard. You need high elevations in the path of winter storms to get that kind of snow. Go to Mt. Washington in NH next winter if you have that bad of a kink for snow, or check out the mountains anywhere along the west coast in the winter as well.

You also mentioned your recent 9" rainfall event. This event could not happen in the winter because the air is much drier & colder in the winter. For a comparison, the average February airmass over NY would have about 7 kg of moisture in the entire column of air over one square meter. For the average August airmass, this square meter would have 27kg of water mass over it.

For that average February airmass to suddenly turn into the average August airmass over your area, you'd also have to advect in the warm August temperatures, which don't exist down in the Gulf of Mexico at that time. The moisture would also have to come all the way north from the Gulf of Mexico, and I'm afraid you can't get moisture w/o the temperatures. This would preclude snow.

In addition, heavy snow generally falls on the north and northwest sides of the surface low path. This is going to be in the cold (drier) air. Also, for significant accumulations to occur, you would be interested in having the storm remain rather stationary. In the wintertime, generally a storm will have a 100-150kt jet maximum above it. That won't be allowing it to remain stationary.

You need an elevation and a location change to make your snow dreams come true.

Answer 3

Snowstorms usually don't have anywhere near as much moisture to work with as rainstorms because cold air holds much less moisture. That's why the biggest rain events are either in tropical areas (one part of Hawaii is the wettest place in the US) or from tropical cyclones (hurricanes, etc.) So, no, I don't think that kind of snowfall is possible- even if an incredibly warm moist air mass (the only kind that would have that much moisture) hit an extremely cold one, the result would be more of a tornadic thunderstorm than massive snowfall.

Answer 4

Are you going to spend your whole life worrying about apocalyptic events? What else are you convinced is imminent? 200 foot tsunamis in Chicago? Earthquakes of magnitude 26 in Atlanta? The sun burning out? Invasion from extra-terrestrials? If you're going to worry about 30 foot snowfalls, you might as well worry about all those, too because they are just about as likely!

And, Mr I'm-much-smarter-than-you, one inch of liquid precip=8-12" of snow, depending on the snow's moisture content. 15" of liquid content falling as snow would result in a snow depth of about 12 to 15 feet, not 30.

This is a serious answer.

Answer 5

you think