Snow Squalls
Welcome! I'm Karl Schneider, an M.S. graduate student at Penn State. This page showcases some of my research about snow squalls. Here, you will find links to the snow squall case database used for my research, presentation slides and figures, and operational snow squall forecasting products.
What is a snow squall?
A snow squall is a mesoscale convective system producing a short burst of heavy snow, often accompanied by gusty winds and reduced visibiity. They often take the form of cells or bands, and propagate with substantial forward speed. Snow squalls are characterized by a rapid onset, and generally produce modest amounts of snow (less than 2 inches) in a short period of time. This can create major travel issues on roadways, as snow squalls have been known to cause flash-freze scenarios and driver panic, resulting in multi-vehicle pileups. Snow squalls are one of the leading causes of weather-related fatalities on Pennsylvania roadways.
Snow Squall Cases
View a full list of the snow squall cases used for this research, with links to the snow squall case viewer webpage.
Contact
Email: kps5442@psu.edu