Good Monday everyone. We are coming off a very wintry weekend for most of the state as many areas picked up some decent snows. Now comes the cold and a taste of the arctic… complete with snow showers and snow squalls. We will break it all down for you and take a peak into the extended and what should be a big winter storm around us or on us this coming weekend.

We have some snows to worry about out there today. Northwesterly winds flowing across the Great Lakes will continue to send plumes of moisture our way. Combine that with a disturbance crossing the region today and you can get snow showers and snow squalls to ramp it up a notch. With high liquid to snow ratios… it won’t take much to produce heavy bursts of snows. These squalls can lay down quick accumulations and reduce visibilities to near zero at times. You can see these lake effect plumes here on the NAM…



The GFS shows something similar over the next few days and even brings the snow showers farther west today. Here is how much liquid precipitation the model is spitting out through Tuesday…



Fluff that up because of the cold air and you can get snow totals in the range of what I put out with my snow map I put out Sunday. Keep in mind… these are snow showers and squalls so what’s on the ground can have a pretty big range from one town to the next.

Track the flakes here…



How about the arctic chill? Well… highs in the low 20s today should not be a surprise if you have been reading this blog for a while. As a matter of fact… a few areas may struggle to get out of the upper teens for the north and east. Western ky will see temps up a few degrees with highs 20s to low 30s.

Winds will be very gusty today leading to feel like temps in the single digits. Brrrrrrrrrr

Track the temps and chill here…

Current Temps

Wind Chill

Highs Tuesday will be very similar to what we have today before recovering into the upper 20s for Wednesday. Lows the next few mornings will be well down into the teens. If we can get a night where skies clear… some single digit temps would be possible for areas that have snow on the ground.

Speaking of snow on the ground… look at how much of the country and northern hemisphere currently has snowcover…



That is pretty incredible and is well above normal! That is a great sign for the rest of December and perhaps for the rest of the winter as you can get some feedback going to help ensure cold temps around here.

Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves with that talk as we have plenty of action to track later this week and especially into the weekend and early next week. This may include a major winter storm taking aim at the Ohio Valley Saturday through Monday. It will be all about the track of the storm and the models have been all over the place.

With a fairly robust -NAO in place (blocking)… my early thoughts on the weekend are as follows…

– One clipper works through the Great Lakes Friday. This would bring a shot of some mix and snow to our region Thursday night and Friday.

– This is an important system to watch as it will have an impact on the track of the storm behind it. If this is a robust clipper… it should force the next storm farther south.

– Low pressure will be coming out of the plains states Saturday. This low should ride into the lower Ohio Valley bringing a swath of snow, rain and mix.

– The first low should weaken out as a deep trough continues to dive in behind it. The should spawn a strong low somewhere just to our southeast or east. This should become a major storm as it rides northward along the east slopes of the Appalachian mountains.

What does all that mean for us? Well… it says STAY TUNED!

I will have more updates later today so check back. Have a great Monday on the frozen tundra and take care.