Winter Weather Forecasting throughout the Eastern United States. Part I: An Overview

An overview of the challenge of forecasting winter weather in the eastern United States is presented, including a historical review of several legendary winter storms, from the Blizzard of 1888 to the Halloween Nor'ester of 1991. The synoptic-scale features associated with East Coast winter storms are described. The mesoscale nature of many eastern winter weather events is illustrated through an examination of the Veterans' Day Snowstorm of 11 November 1987, and the Long Island Snowstorm of 13 December 1988. The development of applied forecast techniques and the potential for new remote sensing technologies (e.g., Doppler weather radar and wind profilers) and mesoscale models to improve operational forecasts of winter weather hazards are also discussed. Companion papers focuses on cyclogenesis, terrain-related winter weather forecast considerations in the Southeast, and lake effect snow forecasting. -Authors