January ’16 – Trail Condition: That time they predicted mind-boggling amounts of snow

[PotomacCyclist]

But some cherry blossoms tried to make an early arrival last month.

No snow in the forecast for the next 10 days either.

EDIT (1/11/2016) – What about following a format on the monthly Road and Trail Conditions thread to make these easier to read? These threads sometimes contain off-topic or marginally-related messages. What about if hazard warning posts always start off with the name of the location in bold type and all caps? Then a more detailed description of the problem could follow. For example, something like this:

MVT/GRAVELLY POINT – 1/23/2018, 8 am

Downed tree, 100 ft. north of the airplane viewing area. Blocking the entire trail. NPS has been notified.

This would make the thread easier to read for people who want to see hazard/obstacle warnings quickly before they head off to work/school/other. There wouldn’t have to be a precise format, as long as people use similar formats that highlight the location of the problem and make the notice easy to spot by those scanning through the thread quickly.

Just a suggestion. Obviously no one has to follow this suggested format. I just thought that it would make these threads easier to use by those who are in a rush in the mornings, evenings or any other time of the day.

EDIT (1/20-1/21/2016) – Now there’s snow. And plenty more on the way tomorrow.

[dasgeh]

Hooray!

[PotomacCyclist]

Another mild weekend (for winter). But cooler on Monday and Tuesday. 20F on Tue. morning. I don’t think it has been that cold around here since last winter. But still no snow. I’m not complaining about that, by the way. I’m not a big fan of ice and snow.

[Sunyata]

@PotomacCyclist 130712 wrote:

No snow in the forecast for the next 10 days either.

It snowed this morning…

[huskerdont]

Apologies if I’ve missed this (I did look around), but does anyone know if Arlington will be plowing the Custis trail again this year? I appreciated that last year very much. (I love riding on fresh snow, but the icy footprints and tire tracks after a day or so are the worst.)

[dasgeh]

@huskerdont 130830 wrote:

Apologies if I’ve missed this (I did look around), but does anyone know if Arlington will be plowing the Custis trail again this year? I appreciated that last year very much. (I love riding on fresh snow, but the icy footprints and tire tracks after a day or so are the worst.)

Yep. They said at the last Arlington BAC meeting that the snow removal plan is ready to go, same as last year. In fact, at tonight’s BAC meeting (7pm 2100 Clarendon Blvd), NPS will be there to discuss snow removal on their trails. We also have an item on the agenda to talk with ArlCo staff about the need to remove snow from trails that weren’t maintained last year, which was created by the effective closure of Fort Myer.

[MFC]

@dasgeh 130834 wrote:

Yep. They said at the last Arlington BAC meeting that the snow removal plan is ready to go, same as last year. In fact, at tonight’s BAC meeting (7pm 2100 Clarendon Blvd), NPS will be there to discuss snow removal on their trails. We also have an item on the agenda to talk with ArlCo staff about the need to remove snow from trails that weren’t maintained last year, which was created by the effective closure of Fort Myer.

If you provide an update on what NPS says, that would be appreciated by the MVT warriors. I presume they will still plow the Mall area.

[PotomacCyclist]

@Sunyata 130805 wrote:

It snowed this morning…

Where did it snow? Not in Arlington? I didn’t travel around much today.

[consularrider]

There was a report of snow sticking in the Vienna-Reston area on one rider’s Strava morning ride.

[hozn]

Yeah, there was some light snow in Reston this AM. I heard there was a bit sticking to the ground briefly, but didn’t really experience that myself. No complaints; I am sure we will have plenty soon enough.

[PotomacCyclist]

According to WSI/The Weather Company:

“We expect a ‘tale of two months’, with a cold-West, warm-East first half of the month [January], followed by a reversal during the back half of the month towards potentially much colder eastern U.S. temperatures,” wrote Dr. Todd Crawford, WSI chief meteorologist, in their outlook released Friday.

But temperatures could be above average for Feb. and Mar.

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The Mid-Atlantic might see more precipitation than average for the winter, according to NOAA.

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But then they say this:

“However, three variables, in addition to El Niño, could play an important role in early 2016, including the North Atlantic Oscillation, the Arctic Oscillation and the Madden-Julian Oscillation. These features can be difficult to forecast more than a few weeks in advance.”

http://www.wunderground.com/news/january-march-outlook-2016-noaa-wsi

[PotomacCyclist]

I think my Arlington-centric perspective is showing. About every 2nd or 3rd winter (I think), there is almost no snow at all in Arlington and downtown DC, while there will still be some snow in the outer suburbs. Or there might be a total of just an inch or two for the entire winter, and never more than a dusting at any one time. Likely the result of the heat island effect of DC and urban sections of Arlington.

I rarely ride out to Reston in the winter. Actually, I haven’t ridden over there the past couple summers either.

[oldbikechick]

@PotomacCyclist 130864 wrote:

Where did it snow? Not in Arlington? I didn’t travel around much today.

It did snow in Arlington. A few tiny flakes swirled around in the air on my way in around 7:30 in North Arlington.

[Sunyata]

@oldbikechick 130884 wrote:

It did snow in Arlington. A few tiny flakes swirled around in the air on my way in around 7:30 in North Arlington.

Yep, it started to flurry about halfway through my commute through Arlington (so 6:30-ish) and stopped snowing by 7:45. Nothing stuck, it was just pretty. It actually flurried heavily for a minute or two in the Clarendon area around 7:30.

[Miked63]

What’s the deal with the spiny burrs on the MVT south of Old Town? Are those chestnut burrs? Regardless, they are abundant and annoying. I pulled a spine out of my sidewall the other day after flatting. They are getting trampled down over the past week, but I’m still ducking and dodging them on the trail. Don’t remember them being this much of an annoyance in previous years…

[Author]

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