If you live in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast, you’re likely very familiar with the impacts that nor’easters bring to the region. However, many in the Midwest and Plains have never experienced such an event. What is a “nor’easter” and how does it form?

© NOAA

The first step in the development of a Nor’easter is a buckling Polar Jet Stream. When the jet stream “buckles”, it pulls cold air equatorward into the United States and out over the Atlantic Ocean. Cold air then becomes situated over the warm Gulf Stream waters along the East Coast. The colliding air masses (cold, dry air from Canada and warm, moist air from the Atlantic) cause air to rise, and eventually aid in the development of a low pressure system. This low pressure system typically needs to form within 100 miles east or west of the East Coast for a nor’easter to develop.

Next, if upper level conditions are supportive, the low pressure system will continue to strengthen as it travels up the East Coast. As it does, the storm system will develop strong gale-force winds and pull moisture from the Atlantic into the northeastern United States. Because low pressure systems rotate in a counter-clockwise manner, the winds that impact the northeastern United States in these events come from the northeast- thus the name “Nor’easter”.

The constant flow of moisture from the ocean, combined with strong winds and ripe upper level conditions, bring the threat for flooding rains and/or heavy snowfall to the region. Heavily populated areas from Washington D.C. to New York City to Boston are typically impacted by these events- basically along the I-95 corridor. The impacts range from heavy precipitation, to high winds, rough seas, and coastal flooding. The proximity of the low pressure system to the coastline determines who gets these impacts and how intense they’ll be.

Nor’easters are most powerful from September through April due to the greater difference in air masses, but can happen anytime throughout the year. Significant Nor’easters that come to mind include the Blizzard of ’78 and more recently the January 2015 New England blizzard. In these events, 2-3 feet of snowfall was observed.

Nor’easters pose a significant challenge to meteorologists, even at less than 24 hours before the storm. The exact track of the low pressure system and proximity to the coastline have significant impacts on precipitation types, amounts, and locations. There’s typically also a very sharp rain/snow cutoff on the south side of the storm, and this area could also see icing. Temperature fluctuations of 1-2 degrees can cause the entire forecast to “bust” or “boom”. Narrow, heavy banding of precipitation can also develop with the support of mid-level frontogenesis and strong upper level energy, which can really add to snowfall totals. Weather models have a hard time picking up when and where this will occur.

The historic nor’easter that impacted the Mid-Atlantic and New England over the past 48 hours had all of these ingredients and more. The low pressure system at the surface was relatively weak for a nor’easter, but the supply of old air and upper level dynamics were very ripe for big snowfall- and that certainly verified! Widespread snowfall amounts of 10-18” occurred across the region, with higher amounts of 24-36” in a swath from north-central Pennsylvania to southern New York and into southern Vermont and New Hampshire. The “winner” for highest snowfall from the storm was Binghamton, New York, where several measurements of 40-44” were observed! At times, NWS employees measured snowfall rates of 6” per hour- an incredibly rare event. Note that the snowfall total image below only includes snowfall through 7am Thursday, and does not include the full event for some areas. Many daily and monthly snowfall records were broken.

CLICK HERE for a summary of the event by NWS Binghamton.

Beth Carpenter is Co-Owner and Meteorologist at Thermodynamic Solutions, and a frequent Snow Magazine contributor.

 

As this stressful year begins to wind down, snow and ice professionals are just now entering their busy season. Combine the eagerness to close out a harsh year with the excitement of a new snow season, it’s easy to overlook details that could have a major impact on your overall business operations.

I reached out Josh Ferguson, Partner and Co-chair of the Philadelphia office at Freeman, Mathis & Gary LLP and the ASCA’s general counsel, to offer his best tips on what business owners should be doing/checking on/confirming at year’s end to both close out the year and to get the new year off on solid footing.

Pay Attention To The Details

“I am recommending business leadership take time to mind their P's and Q's on documentation,” Ferguson says. “While it may not have the same immediate impact as servicing properties, the long-term ramifications of incomplete or missing documentation could have catastrophic consequences.”

Confirm Insurance Coverage
Snow professionals need to affirm that they and every one of their service providers/subcontractors have adequate insurance coverage, Ferguson says.  

“The most significant insurance issues which impact coverage for commercial general liability coverage including snow operations and CG 2037 endorsement for completed operations,” he says. “Further, a contractor should make sure policies do not have contractual liability exclusions. Remember, you or your subs often get what you pay for. So, if the price of the policy is too good to be true, a deeper dive is necessary. Gaps in coverage could result in significant financial consequences down the road.”

Sign Off On Preseason Site Work
Confirm all preseason site inspections have been completed on all properties and those inspections are properly documented, Ferguson warns.

“Most claims involve some component on site conditions, and it is paramount that those conditions have been documented before the season starts,” he says. “This can give the contractor, its insurance carrier and ultimate defense counsel much of what is needed to contest liability and/or contractual defense and indemnity claims.”

Review Finances
If a snow professional has availed themselves of a PPP loan, state, or federal grant, then they should review the status of those monies and the documentation they have for how the funds were used, Ferguson advises.

“Accountants will need this information to assess compliance and tax consequences, and also make recommendations on whether any of the remaining monies should be dispersed within the fiscal year,” he says.

Mike Zawacki is editor of Snow Magazine. You can reach him at mzawacki@gie.net.

We’re only a few weeks out and I, for one, am glad to be closing the book on 2020.

I don’ need to waste your time outlining why this last year amounted to a crap-ton of anxiety, misery, fear and dismay for nearly all of us. Simply take your pick of any number of sobering, mind-numbing events.

It’s safe to say that nearly everyone is looking forward to 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1 as a push of the big red RESET button. A metaphysical whipping the slate clean. A universal mulligan. Let’s all cash in our chips and move forward like the last year never happened.

Not so fast. I was a talking to a member of the snow and ice community who had a different take on how to close out 2020. He proposes for us to go out on a positive note, to end 2020 on our terms.

Ok, bear with me for a moment because I didn’t buy into it at first either.

His hypothesis was that we start every year with the best of intentions. We often formulate lists of action items we want to accomplish both personally and professionally (for example, increase our business while reducing our waistlines) over the course of the next 365 days. Now, granted, the events of 2020 threw a colossal monkeywrench into the works that caused the gears of life to grind to a screeching halt. And many of us are just happy to have reached this point with our companies/jobs intact, healthy and still kicking.
So, with less than three weeks to go, why not dust off 2020’s To-Do List and see what still can be accomplished?

Salvage this year by bearing down and completing a few of those tasks because any progress toward a goal is something. So many times, our confidence and self-worth takes a hit because we fail to achieve 100% of the goals we set for ourselves. But my snow contractor friend chooses to see it a different way. Instead, making strides to reach or meet a goal is still something worthy of note.

And continuing this thought, challenge everyone on your team to tackle just one of their personal or professional goals before year’s end. Can you imagine the impact on your business from all this positive momentum? Just think of the positive mojo you can bring into 2021 with everyone marking a tally in their own win columns.  

So, get to it. There’s still time to draw a thick, black line through one, two or three of those items on that 2020 list. And by doing this you’re flipping the bird to the last year and proclaiming: “Yeah, well, get a load of me!”

Kevin Gilbride is the Executive Director of the Accredited Snow Contractors Association. You can reach him akgilbride@ascaonline.com

How many of the following scenarios sound familiar to you?

Property Manager: “My snow and ice service had to go. I’ve used them for more than five winter and suddenly their service is unsatisfactory. My parking lot isn’t cleared in a timely fashion. I couldn’t get a satisfactory reason for why I was billed for some deicing services. They did a poor job fixing some curb damage and replanting grass burned out by rock salt. And they said to be prepared for a price hike when the current three-year contract expires.

Snow Contractor: “After nearly a decade of dedicated service my client walked because they said they found a lower-priced service provider. I’m stunned.”

Property Owner: “The only time I hear from my snow professional is at contract renewal time. While their service is satisfactory, I can never get anyone on the phone when I have a question, and it takes forever to return my calls.”

People within your snow and ice operation responsible for providing customer service know great customers are not a dime a dozen. Yet, every single day, businesses lose people they’d like to keep.

So, what’s going on with these clients? While the root cause could be anything, usually, these defections stem from a few key mistakes.

 

Mistake: A business assumes longevity equals happy in the relationship.
The truth is more complicated, however. There are a lot of “blah” service marriages out there. Just because someone has stuck around a long time, that does not mean he or she is committed to the service or the service provider. If another business says it can do better, a breakup may be imminent.

Mitigation: There’s a reason people celebrate anniversaries.
Do you have an annual check-in meeting with your customers? If not, consider piloting this process with a select group. The purpose of the meeting isn’t to sell. Rather, it’s to say thank you, ask questions, and, more importantly, to listen. Smart businesses find creative ways to make check-in meetings work: an energy company offers an annual energy audit to homeowners at no cost, a bank branch schedules time to go over a customer’s accounts, listen to his financial goals, and review new products, or a power-washing company proactively performs an annual spring-cleaning assessment and estimate for cleaning. No matter what business you’re in, you can probably find a meaningful way to connect. For example, are you in the pizza-selling business? Great. How about a thank-you card at the end of the year. John, 32 pies in 52 weeks! We thank you and look forward to serving you in the coming year. Enclosed, please find a dough-for-dough gift card. It’s our way of saying thanks for choosing us as your pizza partner.

Mistake: A business doesn’t think like its customers or have their best interest at heart.
Anyone who has ever left a business and then received email invitations to come back at a better rate understands this error. If you could have given me phone service fat $14.99 a month, why didn’t you say so when I was $34.99? Get away and goodbye.

Mitigation: Give your existing customers your best service, best advice, and best deals.
Doing so may hurt your wallet in the short term, but in the long run, it’s the right thing to do and a strategy that will build trust and loyalty.

Mistake: A business hires people who focus on themselves.
For example, your regular food server tells you too much about her life and her problems. At first, you were glad she made conversation. Now you dread hearing about the train wreck that is her situation – especially when you don’t ask. Lately, you’d like to talk about you or just eat in peace.

Mitigation: Live by a customer-first philosophy.
The customer is the most important person in the room, not you. No matter how friendly customers are, avoid mistaking conviviality for someone’s desire to focus on you. To put it in math terms, try to do no more than 30% of the talking. Instead, spend your time asking good questions and listening to the answers.

Mistake: A business follows a feast-or-famine contact model.
For instance, a real estate agent who sold a customer a house five years ago gets in touch for the first time in a long time now that he’s learned the customer might be moving. He calls, he texts, he emails, and it’s too late. The customer has signed on with an agent she met at her book club.

Mitigation: Create a contact schedule that makes sense for the kind of business you’re in.
Also, look at many industries as you create your plan. For example, your hairdresser may have a technique or two you borrow to use in your sales role in a completely different industry. You don’t want to be a pest, and, at the same time, you don’t want to be passed over the next time someone needs the services you provide.

With a little effort, you can avoid new mistakes. And over time, you can mitigate any bad choices you’ve made previously. Great customers are great customers, and they’re going to be somebody’s customer. Why not make decisions that will make you the provider of choice?

Kate Zabriskie is the president of Business Training Works, Inc., a Maryland-based talent development firm. She and her team help businesses establish customer service strategies and train their people to live up to what’s promised. For more information, visit www.businesstrainingworks.com.