The Best Ways to Track the Big Blizzard
The big <strike>snowpocalypse</strike> <strike>snowmageddon</strike> <strike>snowbigdeal</strike> blizzard of 2013 is arriving as we speak and some cities on the East Coast are already getting their first dusting and/or pounding of snow. The heaviest weather is expected to coming around 7 p.m. tonight, but conditions will steadily deterioriate throughout the day, and most schools and airports in the storm's path are already in the process of shutting down.
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You probably would've known all about that already if you already had been following the country's best weather blogs and social-media savvy meteorologists. It's not too late! Here for your consumption until the white-out begins — and as it continues to hammer the Northeast all weekend — are the weather experts you should be reading and/or following on Twitter and beyond, plus what they can already teach you about this "Nemo" blizzard, whether you're already freaking out or not.
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Dr. Jeff Masters's Wunderblog
Credentials: Co-founder of Weather Underground.
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The Takeaway: Coastal flooding. We're hearing a lot about snowfall but as Masters points out, you can't forget coastal flooding and the dangerous amount of coastal flooding that may happen in Massachusetts. Masters writes:
The high winds from the storm will drive a damaging storm surge of 2 - 4' along the coast of Eastern Massachusetts Friday night and Saturday morning. Of particular concern is the flooding that will occur during the Saturday morning high tide cycle, as that is the time of the new moon, which will bring the highest tide of the month
Eric Holthaus
Credentials: The Wall Street Journal's weather guy and meteorologist since 2003, and an expert in weather and climate risk management since 2005.
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The Takeaway: We may have been overestimating the warm air surrounding this storm. And that's bad news. (Though Holthaus does tend to scare some people with his worst-case scenarios.)
Weather nerd nightmares may be coming true: HPC says models may be overdoing warm air. Here's proof, in nerd-speak: 1.usa.gov/W1PxSc
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) February 8, 2013
Here's why exactly:
If warm air doesn't materialize -- NYC could see upwards of 18". Two feet not out of question. Odds just shifted slightly in that direction.
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) February 8, 2013
Henry Margusity's Meteorological Madness
Credentials: Senior meteorologist at Accuweather. Extreme weather specialist.
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The Takeaway: Margusity is your go-to guy for the play-by-play of the storm (he's already at work):
Angela Fritz
Credentials: Atmospheric scientist at Wunderground.com.
The Takeaway: Fritz gives big-picture updates like the 1,400 snow plows Chris Christie is mobilizing and the 650 salt spreaders or the 54 million people under weather advisories on the East Coast. But she also has a way of translating wonky, weather information into something digestible for all of us and she also isn't afraid of lending some insider knowledge:
The NOAA App
Credentials: It's a brand-new smartphone app from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The Takeaway: If you don't like Twitter or people, then the NOAA's mPing smartphone app will give you idea of where and how much precipitation is falling across the country.
