Winter WX Forecast Interpretation

[Lance F]

It's been a long time since I've lived in northern climes . I guess I have forgotten the lingo.

I may be flying up North on Saturday (Minneapolis KANE with stop in Chicago KPWK) and took a look on weather.com to see what to expect.

The forecast is for snow "flurries" in MN and snow "showers" in IL. Can someone interpret what a flurry and a shower might be as each relates to snow? Are these terms % probability or rate of accumulation or what?

Thanks.

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

It's been a long time since I've lived in northern climes . I guess I have forgotten the lingo.

I may be flying up North on Saturday (Minneapolis KANE with stop in Chicago KPWK) and took a look on weather.com to see what to expect.

The forecast is for snow "flurries" in MN and snow "showers" in IL. Can someone interpret what a flurry and a shower might be as each relates to snow? Are these terms % probability or rate of accumulation or what?

Thanks.

Flurries shouldn't result in any significant accumulation. Showers will leave something on the ground.

In either case, visibility is not likely to be good if you fly into one.

 

[gismo]

It's been a long time since I've lived in northern climes . I guess I have forgotten the lingo.

I may be flying up North on Saturday (Minneapolis KANE with stop in Chicago KPWK) and took a look on weather.com to see what to expect.

The forecast is for snow "flurries" in MN and snow "showers" in IL. Can someone interpret what a flurry and a shower might be as each relates to snow? Are these terms % probability or rate of accumulation or what?

Thanks.

"Flurries" is supposed to mean that there's snow in the air but it's not coming down fast enough to accumulate. It can be VMC in flurries but that's not guaranteed. Snow showers are more intense but localized so it might be possible to dodge around them. Neither should present a problem getting into ANE although forecasts of snow (even short term, let alone several days out) tend to be so inaccurate that I pretty much just ignore anything less than a winter storm warning around here.

BTW you can have snow problems even when it's not snowing. Blowing snow can make a runway disappear in an instant especially at night and with a significant wind it's almost impossible to keep runways completely clear so you are likely to have contamination even if it hasn't snowed recently.

Too bad you're talking this coming Saturday, I'm headed for Chicago that day otherwise I'd try to meet with you.

 

[gismo]

In either case, visibility is not likely to be good if you fly into one.

It is amazing how little snow it takes to reduce the forward visibility to a mile or less. It's not uncommon to be able to see the ground clearly from several thousand feet up (below the clouds) yet be unable to see a mile ahead. That said, IME most of the time that the snowfall is classified as "flurries", the visibility remains around 3-5 miles.

 

[Lance F]

Yes, that is too bad. Maybe we'll pass in the sky. I'll be listening for Baron's on the radio. We'll be in N 6 2 2 R B.

 

[RMCN172RG]

Depends were you are. I've shovelled a foot of partly cloudy before.