Cold Snap On The Horizon

Today 1/3 – Partly Sunny & COLD – High 28˚ / Tonight – Clear & Quiet – Low 20˚

6am 14˚ ~ 9am 15˚ ~ 12pm 24˚ ~ 3pm 28˚ ~ 6pm 22˚ ~ 9pm 21˚

High pressure will work directly over the region today, giving us sunny skies, along with bitterly cold temperatures.  Light, northerly winds will coincide with our snowpack to create wind chills in the single digits – mid teens.  You know the drill…same as yesterday.  DRESS WARM.

Sat – Partly Sunny & Breezy – High 44˚ / Sat Night – Scat’d Rain & Snow Showers – Low 30˚

A lobe of polar energy will twist up a deepening low pressure system over the Midwest, which will cut a path north of the Great Lakes into Canada.  This will all take place while we are sitting pretty under sunny skies.  Southerly winds of 10-15mph will take afternoon highs into the lower 40s.

The NAM model loop below is valid from 9pm Friday – 12pm Saturday.  Watch the low pressure system evolve north of the Great Lakes:

An associated boundary will stretch southwest across the Continental US,  and propagate southeast toward our proximity.  This will create scattered rain and snow showers Saturday night, as lows flirt with the freezing threshold of 32˚.

Sun – Rain & Snow Showers Likely – High 40˚ / Sun Night – Scat’d Snow Showers – Low 11˚

An area of low pressure will churn up along the boundary, and slice northeast across south central Kentucky.  Similar to what we experienced yesterday morning, this low will track to our east, creating a slow transition to all snow across the viewing area.  Let the following GFS model loop, which is valid 12am Sunday – 12am Monday, give you a better idea of what things will look like:

Accumulation amounts are still up in the air at this point.  Sufficient moisture will be available, however, the inevitable question…which is a frequent one these days, will be how quickly the temperatures plummet.  This will ultimately determine how much snow we will get, if we get any at all.  Just note that the potential for a good snow is very much alive.

Another key focus for the upcoming days will be the absolutely breathtaking cold snap that will take place Sunday night – Tuesday.  As values begin to tumble Sunday night, they’re going to tumble hard.  Highs on Monday and Tuesday may not break the mid teens, with overnight lows Monday potentially falling to subzero.  Yes…you read that correctly.

That’s all I’m made of this morning, folks.  As always, stay in touch with me @Wx_Or_Not, where we’ll be having all sorts of fun in the twitter-sphere.  Have a great end to the work week, and thanks for reading.