January 7, 2017 “Wave #3”

I just saw these memories pop up on my phone, so I got inspired to tell the tale of Wave #3!

By the time the blizzard of Jan 2016 hit, I was already following Bernie and fb groups for winter storms updates. In early Jan 2017, someone posted a link to this forum about the potential for the upcoming pattern. And so I hit the link and started to learn that the approaching system didnt look so hot and neither did the one behind it. But there was a 3rd wave behind that, and it just might produce some decent snow...especially for S and E portions of the board!! 🤪

And of course, I learned the two happy words that means it just might snow soon: We track!

Well, track we did and it turns out that wave #3 ‘popped’ a low off the southern Delmarva coast and it wasn’t strong and it didn’t produce massive snowfall rates, but it did intensify and track to just about the benchmark.

Down here in Bayville, GSP Exit 80, we cashed in 7-8 inches. But I remember it was a relatively ‘epic’ storm because it started snowing at 7 am just as we woke up and stuck immediately. By the time we had waffles and got geared up, there was 2” down and it was ripping!

If I recall correctly, 2 other features that helped some more of the northern portions and certainly LI hit Mothra levels were the fact the low stalled a bit as it turned NE and also this storm seemed to have endless back-building in the precip. I remember checking the radar around 1 pm thinking “Alright, another hour or so, maybe we get another inch”. And I said the same thing at 2 and 3 pm as well! By about 4 pm the steady snow started to slow and I slowly made my up the street for a Sicilian pie. (Schiano’s if you’re ever down this way).

The Shore dynamics are soooo hit or miss. But when they hit...we do well. We really threaded the needle on this one. Had a blast too!!