Good Monday to one and all. We are coming off a harsh Christmas weekend and we are still tracking some snow. Light snow is working through here and bringing another day of tricky travel. This is the last of the winter for a bit as we have a very soggy break on the way.
I want to start by saying thanks to each of you for everything you’ve done for our Kentucky weather family through the years. From the first post on KWC in 2008 to this recent round of harsh winter weather, you guys always rise to the occasion. I appreciate you more than you will ever know.
Periods of light snow are working from west to east today with the greatest concentration across the west and north. The snow will weaken as it gets into the east and this has been well represented here on KWC.
Given the frozen ground and road temps that are well below freezing, even a little bit of snow will stick to roads and cause issues, so stay alert if you have to travel today.
Here are your radars to follow today’s light snow maker…
Don’t forget to go to our weathercams page to watch the snow fly at different locations across the state” Weathercams
We thaw it out by the end of the week as a southwesterly flow kicks in. The milder pattern will also turn very wet with repeat areas of low pressure working through here. Watch how the models handle this from Friday into the first few days of the New Year…
GFS
CANADIAN
Rainfall numbers may really add up during this time. You can see how a lot of rain may fall from the south into our region…
If we look into the start of week 2 of January on the EURO Ensembles, we find a good look developing across the northern hemisphere. All the areas I’m highlighting on this map are ones I look for to deliver another prolonged stretch of harsh winter weather…
That big Aleutian Low allows for a ridge to go up along the west coast and into Alaska and western Canada. That tries to hook up with blocking over the top and may even hook up with a ridge across Scandinavia.
If that is indeed the setup… Look out below! 🥶❄️
The GFS Ensembles are also trending toward this kind of a setup…
Have a great Monday and take care.
The mid-January blocking pattern appears to jive with the thoughts of AES climatologist Dr. Judah Cohen, who predicts that we may see a weakened or stretched Polar Vortex intrusion during that same time period. Currently the Polar Vortex is strong and generally circular in shape which supports more ridging east of the Rockies, but a weakened PV could result in conditions similar to what we are emerging from now. That is not a good look, at all!
Yeah Joe, Arctic air will be building in Siberia and Northern Canada in the next few weeks. Once it weakens and the AO and the NAO go negative. The cold cycle will return to the eastern half of the country. That was a great article that you shared by Dr, Cohen sometime back in an earlier post.
thunderstruck ac/dc actually think we made it thru this cold snap, heat working great.
Rolo, I spent two weeks without any heat in the 2009 Ice Storm. Nearly froze to death.
Other words enjoy the mild temps while we got it Old man winter is coming back more vicious
I hope it won’t be as cold as what we had over the Christmas weekend ?
Oh, I hope not!
Great blog Chris ! We shall see how this all pans out in the Ohio Valley in the coming months ? It will be nice to see a little Snow before we change things over for the wetter and milder. I for one appreciate your blog each and every morning and also your live weather cast at 4:00 pm on WKYT.
This blog has become a part of my morning weather tracking routine. Thank you for keeping this going, Chris! Love your explanations and you are definitely the best in the business! Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas!
I got 2-3 inches of snow this morning here in my neck of woods
Just started Snowing lightly about an hour ago here in Taylor County.
I think you’re going to win the jackpot this round.
Radar doesn’t look impressive as the system moves east.
It has been snowing around 3 hrs. in Louisville. And I would say that only a 1/2” has fallen at my home.
No updated snow map today. Does this mean the forecast changed to light snow, but with little accumulation?
I think the radar tells the story.
The once promising Clipper crashed and burned over central Ky. Like so many other snow systems. LOL
Hah! The one that worked out being less was the one before it. We didn’t even get the squalls. When negative, single digits and teens with wind, snow does not have much of a fun factor.
Clipper systems are notoriously short lived, because they move so fast and aren’t able to tap into Gulf moisture. On rare occasions a clipper with sufficient energy to make it over the Appalachians can regenerate along the east coast, and dump a few inches.