Good evening, my fellow weather weenies. A taste of arctic cold has invaded the bluegrass state and continues to bring some snow showers and flurries with it. This is the tip of the iceberg with what this pattern is capable of in the coming weeks.

Today’s cold is busting the computer forecast numbers by a large margin. The American models just can’t handle the depth of the cold and the complexity of the overall pattern. Remember that going forward.

The strong arctic front arrives Tuesday, but may send a band of light snow in here as early as Monday night. The NAM shows this well and shows the enhanced band of snow Tuesday…

NAM

The Hi-Res NAM gives us a better view of this enhanced snow band as it drops in…

NAM 2

When you see the models showing the dark green, yellow and orange… that’s basically a convective element to the snow.

The Canadian (different color scheme) also has this enhanced band dropping in from the north and northwest…

Canadian

Some early thoughts on this system…

– Some light snow will try to break out as early as Monday night.

– A squall line of snow will then drop into the region on Tuesday. This can drop a quick inch or two of snow and cause near zero visibilities for a time.

– Winds are going to CRANK. Gusts to 40mph may create blowing snow.

– This is not a lot of snow, but it’s likely to have a big impact on travel.

– The cold coming in behind this is being underplayed by the American Models. That said, the Canadian is likely a too cold…

Canadian 2

Single digit lows with below zero wind chills will be possible Wednesday morning if skies clear.

The end of the week storm system is not going to be handles correctly by any of the models. It’s just not. This is especially the case with another monster arctic outbreak showing up this weekend into early next week. The core of the cold sinks farther south than the current setup…

Euro 2

That’s from the European Model. Here are the actual low temps from that same model run…

Euro 3

That’s traditionally a warmer biased model, too. The Canadian is biased the other way and shows absolutely crazy cold for three straight mornings across the Ohio Valley…

Canadian 3

Again, too cold… but you get the idea!

I will have a full update late tonight. I leave you with your tracking tools…

Stay warm and take care.