24 DECEMBER 2020
Found mostly in the open prairies of North America and some remote regions of Northern Europe, snow doughnuts or snow rollers might look like icy man-made structures, but these tire-shaped curiosities are entirely natural.
They re very rarely seen because the number of weather conditions that need to be just right for them to form – including wind, temperature, snow, ice, and moisture – is pretty astonishing.
So how do they form? It turns out you need:
A relatively thin surface layer of wet snow on the ground
Under that layer, there needs to be a substrate the wet snow won t stick to – for example, ice or powder snow
KINGSTON, N.Y. â Heavy rains and high winds could cause flooding and power outages in the region beginning Thursday and continuing into Christmas Day, forecasters say.
The National Weather Service in Albany has issued a flood watch and a wind advisory for much of the Mid-Hudson Valley and Catskills. The agency said heavy rain falling on a deep snowpack will lead to significant melting, which could result in flooding. The snowmelt combined with one to three inches of rain, with locally higher amounts of up to six inches in the eastern Catskills, could cause urban flash flooding, the watch states. Flows in rivers may increase quickly with some rising above flood stage on Friday. Â
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After checking accuweather.com, weather.gov, and my favorite weather forecaster, The Weather of Steve Turk, the weather prognosis for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will be a challenge for Santa. AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist, Bernie Rayno, states that this storm will unleash, extreme weather on Christmas Eve.
The National Weather Service forecast calls for rain beginning after 4 pm on Thursday, Christmas Eve. Rain will be heavy at times with up to 1 to 2 inches with temps rising to around 57 by 3 am. Wind gusts could reach as high as 46 mph.
On Friday, Christmas Day, rain could be heavy at times in the morning as temps begin to drop back to around 40 by nightfall with wind gusts of up to 43 mph. Another 1 to 2 inches of rain is possible. The overnight lows will reach a very cold, 22 degrees.