Good Sunday to one and all. The much advertised arctic outbreak has invaded the country and will take aim on the bluegrass state over the next few days. This will bring some of the coldest air in three years to the commonwealth. It will also give us several shots of snow during the week ahead.

The first cold front swings through here today. It’s a tad later in arriving and that may allow temps to warm into the mid and upper 30s for afternoon highs before it blows through here. Winds are going to be very gusty and the wind chill will be way down. Track today’s temps….

The next system swings in on Monday and will deliver the real deal arctic air. Winds are going to gust to 30mph and this will make it feel closer to zero at times. We’re likely to see a round of light snow and snow showers working across the region. The Hi Res NAM and NAM are doing a great job in picking up on this action…

NAM 1

NAM 2

That will usher in frigid air for Tuesday. Lows will hit the single digits for some and highs will stay in the upper teens and low 20s across the entire state. Throw in a gusty wind and it will fee below 0 at times.

A clipper will roll southeastward toward the state Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. That should produce a swath of light snow. The NAM is all over it…

NAM 3

That reinforces the arctic air for the second half of the week. That’s when we turn our attention toward a storm that is likely to form and track just to our south. The trend on the models is going the direction we said it would… colder. It’s very hard to dislodge an arctic air mass like the one setting up across our part of the world. Even the GFS is beginning to catch on to that idea and no longer shows a storm into the Great Lakes.

The GFS Ensembles give you a smoothed out look to the idea I’m talking about…

GFS

The air behind that may be as cold or colder than what we have on Tuesday.

I got a look at the European Model Ensembles  for the end of the month into early February. I started shivering just looking at them.

Make it a great Sunday and take care.