Snow in the metro-east surprised the forecasters, too. Here’s how they missed it.
An unexpected band of snow hit much of the metro-east with about a half a foot of snow on Saturday, prompting the National Weather Service to explain why this storm wasn’t in the forecast.
“Snow is rarely easy to forecast and this was especially difficult to accept,” the agency said in a Facebook post.
The agency gave three reasons for the forecast mixup:
▪ “Snow pushed further north than expected.”
▪ “The snow band was much more intense than expected. Forecast models often struggle with these events. In this instance, we saw 5-6 times more snow than what was forecast.”
▪ “The intense snow rates overcame ground temperatures more than 15 (degrees) above freezing. If the snow was as light as we were expecting, these warm ground temps would have melted much of the snow.”
Belleville, Freeburg Township and other parts of the metro-east, had about 6 inches of snow.
Just over 6 inches of snow fell in Red Bud and Scott Air Force Base, according to a report by KSDK-Channel 5.
It was quite a turnaround from the warmer temperatures earlier in the week, including the near-record 81 degrees on Wednesday.
The latest forecast calls for more snow, with up to inch falling Monday night, according to the National Weather Service. There also is a chance for snow on Tuesday.
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 8:35 AM.
