Winter '10 / '11 - Snow Storm #1 - OKX - 0z SkewT-logP

Potent sounding out of OKX tonight.

The rawinsonde's initial low-level flight drifted to the SW over open waters before veering toward Newark...NJ (EWR) and continuing to the north across western New England.  EWR reported TSSN around the time of OKX's 0z balloon flight.

There's a deep...saturated moist layer between the SFC and 600 mb with 50 mb of conditional instability sitting on top.

The specific humidity in the crystal factory @700 mb is 4g/kg or more which can easily support snowfall rates over 1" / hr.  Note the excellent WAA nose @ 700 mb forced strongly by a 40 kt SE wind.

Cloud-tops located near 600 mb (~14K' AGL) where the saturated air temperature is < -15°C ==> perfect conditions for stellar dendrites!

Sounding courtesy NOAA's Storm Prediction Center