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Who's dreaming of a white Thanksgiving?
By adamg on Sun, 11/24/2024 - 11:48am
It's still too early to say for sure, but NWS is at least raising the possibility of snow on Thanksgiving, and so the French Toast Alert gnomes are frantically looking up French Toast recipes again (it's been awhile since they've needed them).
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Comments
More doom and gloom...
More doom and gloom...
hooray!
I think snow on Thanksgiving would be delightful!
Not what Boston NWS says but
Not what Boston NWS says but let's go to some alt-weather sites instead
I want what she had...
I miss a snowy Thanksgiving. The last one I remember was the only snow we got that winter.
1989!
I remember it vividly. Thanksgiving football games were postponed until Saturday. A real dumping of snow on bird day!
The Eyewall has a discussion
The Eyewall (a useful resource) has a good discussion of the expected storm.
Dressing is a form of French Toast
If you ain't sticking it in the bird (or your family demand for it is beyond bird capacity), adding eggs to the mix will keep it moist:
NYT Recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024770-easy-herb-stuffing
½cup/1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 (1-pound) day-old loaf white bread, cut into ½-inch cubes (about 12 cups); see Tip
2 cups finely chopped celery (5 to 7 ribs)
2 cups finely chopped yellow onion (1 large)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, rosemary, sage or a combination
1 teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
½ teaspoon black pepper
⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
1½ cups homemade or store-bought chicken (or vegetable) broth
2 large eggs
Early season needle threading
This storm is unlikely to give us much in the way of snow as it would have to thread quite a needle: too far inland and it's rain, too off the coast and it's nothing, and too weak it won't bring in much cold air and it will rain (plus the antecedent air mass isn't that cold). While there have been some model runs a few days ago which threaded this needle, most have either stayed off the coast or plowed inland and that's continued, the European model has the low pressure center tracking from MDT to EWB (Harrisburg to New Bedford) which would put the rain snow line just north of New England's Mason-Dixon Line (the Northern Mass border) while the American and Canadian models have the storm far offshore with just light, cold rain. (In the case of the Canadian, there would be some snow up north; the Euro would be a god-send for ski resorts who would probably have a good weekend in November.) Time will tell, but I doubt the French Toast gnomes will have to use too many colors this week.
Plus climatology for a big storm in Boston in November just isn't in the cards. There have only been two 6"+ storms in Boston since records have been kept, the 9" in the1987 Veterans Day storm (which apparently was a surprise, and dumped a foot of snow on DC) and the only other time was 12" on the 28th in (shuffles papers) 1898.
That said, the real story may be an early-December cold snap not seen in quite some time, with temperatures barely cracking freezing for the first week of the month. There hasn't been an early-December cold snap since 2007; it's one of the faster-warming times of the year. (Late October and November, on the other hand, is one of the slowest-warming.) Having cold air in place and a warm ocean nearby is a good set-up for a snowstorm, although right now the models are showing it cold and dry (the models are in pretty good agreement about this, but it's out in the future).
Concrete Nor'Easter 2003
In 2003 we had a late November/early December cold snap that started with an abrupt drop in temps right at dawn, causing a flash freeze that glazed the roads and paralyzed the area at morning rush hour. I ended up emceeing my son's kindergarten for 90 minutes until the teachers arrived. (They were very proud and excited to show their mastery of their routine - I just had to play dumb).
Then it went into the single digits.
Then the backside thaw dumped 2-2.5 feet of concrete snow that was perfect for tunneling. The kids, their friends, and the neighbor's black lab turned the yard into swiss cheese.
Also: Never say Never. We are in a time of Global Weirding. Past performance does not predict future conditions anymore.
I remember this storm
I remember this storm. I was living in Meffa at the time. I distinctly remember because I was living on the third floor with a friend/roommate who was moving out on bad terms..(we've made up since then) He couldn't be at his new place yet, but had moved some stuff out. I couldnt afford to go visit my folks, so we were just stuck there together. The tension was thicker than gravy. (I think at some point he left to go to dinner at his folks tho)
That storm dumped 2-3 feet of snow in some spots. My neighbor and landlord who did snow removal was out of town. He had just brought a new snow blower and it hadn't even been used yet. (he did fill it with gas and had a gas can tho!). Told us to go for it, if we wanted to snowblow the driveway (roommate and neighbor(s) parked in the back). I never had so much fun removing snow b/c there was no place to put it.
Super heavy stuff
Incredibly structural - heaviest solid (not slushy) snow that I can remember in all my years here.
I took on a couple of additional kids whose parents had to work since I was in grad school and my office overlooked the excavation activities - and I could work at night or whenever.
They tunneled for a couple of hours, then I fed them lunch, dried their snowsuits, and they headed back out for another shift. I called them in around 3:00 for cocoa and snacks and they played Putt Putt Saves the Zoo until pickup time.
7:30 I get this call ... "What did you do to my son?". One of the kids ate twice as much dinner as he usually did, and was found sound asleep on his bed, still fully clothed.
I can remember one
I was a brand new sysadmin, taking my responsibilities very seriously. I had plans to drive to my family in upstate New York after I got out of work on Wednesday. Of course we had a meltdown Wednesday morning. I watched coworkers leave early starting at about 10 am on Wednesday, one by one going out the door on their way to start the holidays early.
And then it started to snow.
This was not a light snowfall. This was a "I am here to stay and mess up your travel plans" snow. People began to get alarmed. Everyone who could was bailing. This did not include a very junior sysadmin who took her responsibilities way too seriously.
I finally called my mom around six pm and cried on her shoulder. Like a good mom, she talked me off the ledge. Do what you need to do and then go home, she said. Get up in the morning, once it's light out and the storm has passed, and take your time getting here. When you get here, that's when dinner will be served. I love you, be safe.
Everything happened exactly as mom had said. On Thanksgiving morning, the roads were clear and traffic was light. I made the drive in record time, and it was the best Thanksgiving ever.
I miss my mom.
1990?
I think it was 1990 when the "unbaked pie" tradition started.
We were newlyweds and I made an apple pie on Thanksgiving morning to bring to my MIL's place. But we knew we needed the extra hour to navigate through the snow, so I didn't bake it.
She was upset at this for no real reason, and was told as much by the rest of the family. We popped it in the oven during dinner. It was out and cooled enough at the appropriate time, and was served warm.
Since that day, apple and pumpkin pies arrive unbaked and go in the oven once everything else comes out.
Yes please. Let’s go!
Need some snow here!