Weather synopsis: Thursday January 27

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6:02pm the northeastern seaboard recovers from yet another major snow storm. This has been the 7th storm system to affect the region since Christmas just over one month ago. January 2011 now officially holds the new record for the snowiest month of all time at Central Park in New York City at just over 36". The snow storm delivered a one two punch on Wednesday, the first round of precipitation came in almost unexpectedly; the surface low pressure feature of the storm produced a mass of heavy precipitation that traversed from south west to the north east ranging between 3-6 inches of snow along the coast in a short period of time, this created a messy morning commute for the big cities from Washington to New York. As the precipitation intensity began to subside around the mid-afternoon the storms counter clockwise circulation drew in warmer air off the Atlantic mixing snow with sleet and rain, then all rain for a brief period. Then towards the evening, the upper level low pressure feature of this storm reintroduced cold air aloft - this, in combination with the intensity of the precipitation nearly 2-4" of snow per hour! during the height of the storm late Wednesday and early Thursday produced over 1 foot of additional snow accumulation in a short period. Snowfall totals for the duration of the storm ranged between 1 foot over central Long Island to 19 inches in New York City. Along with the intense precipitation, the convective activity associated with this storm also produced numerous lightning and thunder reports as well as strong and gusty winds in excess of 40 miles per hour in most cases. The storm has now moved into the Canadian maritime as is no longer a concern for the region, however, there is still more snow on the horizon. A series of clipper systems will begin to affect the region on Friday then again on Saturday. These clipper systems will move quickly and produce about 2 inches of additional snow on Friday then another 2 inches on Saturday. These storm systems will also enhance Lake Effect Snow producing 4-8 inches of snow accumulation along the Great Lakes. Temperatures will be on the down swing,getting progressively colder over the weekend and early next week as more arctic air spews into the Northeast. The long range projections indicate a continuation of this cold and snowy weather pattern for the next few weeks with another possible big snow storm around groundhogs day.