A Bit of Wintry Weather

Posted December 5, 2007 11:51 a.m. EST
Updated December 5, 2007 2:17 p.m. EST

By Nate Johnson

The forecasts for the winter season all say "warmer than average," but don't tell that to Mother Nature today.

Some parts of the Triangle saw a bit of wintry weather this morning, thanks to a fast-moving storm system moving in from the northwest. Weather spotters in Cary, Chapel Hill, Rolesville, Roxboro, Tarboro, and Wake Forest all reported seeing at least a few flurries with the system this morning. The ground was much too warm for anything to "stick", but it's nice to know the atmosphere hasn't forgotten how to snow on us from time to time.

This was also the first chance we've had to use DUALDoppler5000 to look at any kind of wintry weather. DUALDuppler5000 is one of only about half a dozen radars in the entire country -- and the only one in the Carolinas -- that can differentiate between different kinds of precipitation, and we were able to see that in action for only the second time since we debuted it back in September. As you can see in the screen grabs from this morning, it did a pretty good job of picking up on the light snow flurries that fell across the northern parts of the Triangle, as well as the somewhat heavier snow across parts of Virginia.

This is exciting, because now we can peer inside the storm to see what's actually there. Before, we've been able to marry radar data with computer model data in order to come up with an estimate of what's out there. While that's done a pretty good job, it can't compare to using this new technology to actually measure and detect what's going on inside the storm. We're excited to be able to bring you this new innovation, especially as we head into the winter season.

Just because it's forecast to be a "warmer than average" winter doesn't mean we won't see any kind of wintry weather, as today proves!

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