Did the blizzard of 2006 have hurricane-like characteristics?

[phantom power]

Why yes! Yes, it did!

Did the blizzard of 2006 have hurricane-like characteristics? Yes, it did. To explore this more fully, let's look at the two basic types of large scale (synoptic-scale) storms that meteorologists define:

1) Tropical cyclones (hurricanes), which have a warm core, and derive their energy from the latent heat of condensation. When water vapor condenses into rain, the phase change from gas to liquid liberates some extra heat energy--the latent heat--that was used to evaporate the water in the first place. Since maximum evaporation in the atmosphere occurs over the warmest ocean waters, tropical cyclones thrive in the late summer when ocean temperatures are at their peak.

2) Extratropical cyclones (mid-latitude cyclones), which have a cold core, and derive their energy from the potential energy released when cold air aloft sinks and is replaced by warmer, less dense air. Extratropical cyclones develop where two air masses of sharply different densities (and thus, temperatures) intersect. Extratropical cyclones exist only outside of the tropics (thus are "extra"-tropical), where there is some cold air to be found. The ordinary low pressure systems that bring rain and snow to residents of the mid-latitudes are examples of extratropical cyclones.

In recent years, meteorologists have begun to discover that many extratropical cyclones--including Nor'easters, which are strong wintertime extratropical cyclones that affect the Northeast U.S.--can make a partial transition to a warm-core system once they move out over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. Like a hurricane, deep convection will appear near the center of the storm, and the hybrid system will begin to draw energy from the latent heat of condensation. These storms can "bomb" and deepen at rates of 10 mb/hour, and reach central pressures normally associated only with major hurricanes.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=303&tstamp=200602

[mcscajun]

1. "Blizzard" of '06

"This storm will go down as the Blizzard of '06, although there is a serious question whether it was, technically, a true blizzard, having, except in a few outposts, failed to achieve the requisite level of winds of 35 mph or greater blowing for three hours or longer."

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=EDSNOW-02-13-06

[spindrifter]

2. I saw on some TV weather

report that this blizzard had an eye-like formation.

[phantom power]

3. Yes, it did:

According to Louis Uccellini and Mel Shapiro, extratropical cyclone experts with NOAA, these storms may be undergoing a "seclusion" process that creates an semi-isolated tropical system in the midst of an extratropical cyclone. In the seclusion process, a strong extratropical cyclone draws in warm air from the south, and latent heat of condensation from the cyclone's intense precipitation makes this air even warmer. This extra-warm air spirals into the center of the low and wraps around to the west side, where it is pinched off. As result, one has an isolated "warm core" center where deep convection builds and spiral banding can occur. However, unlike a hurricane, there is no eyewall, and no cloud-free eye created by sinking air (subsidence) in the center. The eye-like feature in an extratropical cyclone has upward moving air, and is merely the center where the surface winds spiral into. Spiral bands of convection can develop in the warm air near the center, mimicking the spiral bands of a hurricane. If these convective bands become intense, subsiding air on the flanks of the bands may create subsidence that warms and dries out the surrounding air, creating cloud-free regions near the center that may give it a more eye-like appearance. Another difference with hurricanes is that the upper-level high pressure system (anticyclone) over the extratropical cyclone is displaced to the northeast (downwind) of the center. In a hurricane, the anticyclone is directly over the eye.

The Blizzard of 2006 developed a distinct eye-like feature when it moved offshore over the warm Gulf Stream waters. The storm was undoubtedly tapping the hurricane's source of energy--latent heat of condensation--at the time the photo in Figure 1 was taken, since we can see evidence of spiral banding occurring neat the center of the storm. As seen in Figure 2, the Sea Surface Temperatures increased sharply from 6 to 12 degrees C (43 to 54 degrees F) near where this eye-like feature developed, right along the edge of the Gulf Stream current. There was plenty of water warm water for the storm to tap into for an extra energy source.

[Odin2005]

4. Wasn't "the perfect storm" back in the early 90's...

...something like this storm?

[Boomer]

5. The next few decades are going to be fascinating

Not very comfortable, mind you, but quite fascinating from a scientific perspective.

I'll try to remember that if my house gets blown over...