Another nice spring day today. And another snowfall tomorrow. Actually, our largest snowfall for the whole winter snow season to date. 

Rapidly deepening storm will move along a sharp trough on Saturday giving us a touch of rain before sunrise then quickly changing to heavy snow for the morning before tapering off in the midafternoon.  

As the storm strengthens, the winds will pick up substantially. Lots of blowing and drifting for Sat afternoon into the overnight on Sat night. The winds should die down by Sun morning. It will be cold with temps dropping to around 10 degrees or so. 

Storm details: Snow: 5-8" with locally higher amounts possible. 

Then a weak clipper system comes SE across our area on Sunday. It could bring some light snow showers, but not a big deal. After that system, it returns to more springlike weather: 40s and 50s. Maybe 60s later next week. So snow haters ... it will melt fast. Don't worry. 

Details: 

Saturday: Rain to snow very early. Heavy at times. Ends by 4 pm. 33. 
Saturday night: Windy. Blowing and drifting snow. Cold. 
Sunday: Partly sunny then cloudy. Chance snow shower. Cold. 30. 
Monday: Partly to mostly sunny. Milder. 48. 
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Mild. 52. 
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. 55. 
Thursday; Mostly cloudy. Chance for rain showers. 55. 

I know this warm weather is nice. Even getting a possible thunderstorm later is pretty cool for March. But winter is coming back. Not because it will get colder, but because it will snow. Yes, snow. Perhaps more than once too. 

Cold front moving through this evening. Showers and a thunderstorm are likely. Some heavy rain. Colder Tuesday. 

Next system arrives for Wed morning with snow. it should snow much of the day. Two keys: surface temps and rate of snowfall. It will accumulate on colder surfaces, but paved roads will be more difficult, unless it snows heavily.  It could early, but I don't think it will persist much of the day. Right now, I'm thinking 2-4" colder surfaces (grass, cars, etc.) with less on paved roads. 

Then a significant storm will develop for the late week, early weekend. This will be a big storm. This could be rain ending as some snow. Uncertain. Many models are now trying to show this as a colder system that could dump several inches of snow. But I'm not convinced yet. I still think it will track a little further west giving us rain and maybe a little snow in the air at the end. Expect snow if you're traveling west into the Alleghanies in western PA. 

Details: 

Tuesday: Partly sunny. Much colder. Seasonal. 45. 
Wednesday: Cloudy. Wet snow likely. 2-4" grass, less roads. 35. 
Thursday: Partly sunny. Chilly. 42. 
Friday: Turning mostly cloudy. Chance for rain late/overnight. 45.
Saturday: Cloudy. Rain/snow likely, heavy at times. Windy. 40. 
Sunday: Partly to mostly sunny. Windy. Cold. 34. 
Monday: Partly to mostly sunny. Milder. 42. 

Enjoy. 

A spring fling followed by a winter chill and maybe snow?  It is March in PA. That means anything goes, including 70 one day and then 36 hours later it might snow.  

First, we have a storm moving to our north dragging a front through late tonight and early Sun morning. This will pull warm air north, and allow the cold air to move very slowly into our area. This means warm weather for Sunday as long as it clears out quickly in the afternoon, and the winds pick up to warm the air. 

Second, a storm comes on Monday that will push a warm front north of us allow warm air to remain or reflood the area. The longer the rains to our north stay to our north we will warm up. 70 is not out of the question for Monday. Get out and enjoy if you are able, for it will come to a crashing end Monday night. 

Third, another storm develops to our south over the Gulf of Mexico coastline. This system will try to move N-NE into the Mid-Atlantic region. If it tracks just right or wrong (depending on perspective) it could give us a moderate snowfall to our area. Some uncertainty around the track, but it is very possible. 

Fourth, a storm at the end of the week will come into our area. This storm is very uncertain. It looks certain to occur, but where, how strong, and path are all over the place. It could be a very strong storm with heavy rain, and/or heavy snow, strong winds, and warm air in front with very cold air behind it. Have to wait a couple of days to get more definitive. 

Details. 

Sunday: Showers and clouds in the morning. Clearing in the afternoon. Breezy. Warm. 65. 
Monday: Partly sunny and warm. Breezy. Rain arrives afternoon. 70. 
Tuesday: Partly sunny. Much colder. 37. 
Wednesday: Cloudy with chance snow/rain. 35. 
Thursday: Partly sunny. Increasing clouds again. 44. 
Friday: Cloudy. Chance for rain. 50. 
Saturday: Cloudy early. Colder. Windy. 32. 

Enjoy. 

The winds, warmth, ice and rain are all past us for now and we are left with a rather typical end of February weather: sunshine and clouds with highs in the 30's. 

A strong front drops south on Sunday afternoon/evening and brings the chance for a snow shower or even squall esp. areas to our NE. Then very cold for Monday with moderation for Tue. 

A storm system passes to our north Tue night and Wednesday drawing milder air north and is followed by another system that will bring some rain/snow to our area primarily late Wednesday into Thu. This system could develop into a more impactful system as we are heading into early spring, SE traveling storms can develop more than one initially expects. Right now, it looks rather routine. Chilly air follows into the next weekend.

Note: average high temperatures for this week: approx. 41 - 44 degrees. 

Saturday: Sun and clouds. Cool. 35. 
Sunday: Sun and clouds. Chance snow shower late. 40. 
Monday: Mostly sunny. Cold. Brisk wind. 27. 
Tuesday:  Mostly sunny. 36. 
Wednesday: Becoming mostly cloudy.  Chance rain / snow late. 40. 
Thursday: Cloudy early then clearing. Chance rain and snow early. 38. 
Friday: Sun and clouds 39. 

Enjoy. 

The false spring is ending. It was quite nice. Went to a basketball game in just a sweatshirt on the evening of Feb 23rd. Not bad.  Not bad at all. But it is coming to an end. Colder air will be returning late today and tonight setting the stage for a winter storm.

As has been the case this year, a winter storm does not equate to a lot of snow. Sorry snow lovers. Ice lovers will be ecstatic. The main event begins after 8 pm when a snow/sleet mixture begins and becomes all sleet fairly quickly. Sleet changes to freezing rain after 2 am. It should end as a light rain Friday morning.

Total Snow/sleet: 1 to 2” with 2/10” - 3/10” ice on top plus some liquid rain at the end giving us about 1 - 1.25" total precipitation.

[Something to watch for: heavy precipitation rates could keep it as snow/sleet longer, and transition to liquid rain faster, which means less freezing rain.]
​
After this it stays cold through the weekend into next week. It appears dry except for some snow showers/squalls late Sunday afternoon/evening. A storm system should be moving east through the Carolina’s on Sunday, and stay to our south, but if the flow changes, it could move NE and give us snow, but I doubt it will happen.

Details:

Wednesday: Warm start. Clearing. Colder late. 57.
Thursday: Cloudy. Much colder. Slight chance flurries/ light sleet.
Thu Night: Snow/sleet (1-2”) then Freezing rain.
Friday: Patchy light rain ending by late morning. Partial clearing. 37.
Saturday: Mostly sunny. 32.
Sunday: Partly sunny. Chance show shower/squall late. 35.
Monday: Mostly sunny. Very cold. 24.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. 32.

​Enjoy. 

If we go back to Dec 21st … when the mild December began to turn colder, and go through Feb 14th, you will find that this was an over-all extended period of cold. A couple of very brief warmups, lots of cold, close to normal precipitation, yet below normal snow. And now we get next 7 days as a false spring.

Why do I say this? With temps rising to near 60 once or twice, we might think winter is over and spring is coming. But not so fast.  As it looks now, I believe the first half of March could be very winter like and not at all looking like spring. So, no I do not believe winter is over, nor have we had the last of our snow. I guess time will tell. Until then enjoy the milder weather and rain over the next week.

Details:

Thursday Night: Periods of rain. Rain could be heavy. 60.  
Friday: Becoming partly sunny. Windy. Turning colder with temps dropping. 52 very early. 
Saturday: Partly sunny. Colder. Chance snow shower. Breezy. 35.
Sunday: Partly to mostly sunny. 34.
Monday: Increasing clouds during the afternoon. 48.
Tuesday: Cloudy. Periods of rain. Mild. 52.
Wednesday: Partly sunny. Showers likely. 62.
 
Enjoy. 

Another very nice day is in store for us. This will be a lot like Wednesday, except a couple degrees milder. Enjoy it if you can. The weather turns colder Saturday as an arctic front move through early and colder air returns. Could this set us up for some snow Sat night? 

This part of the forecast is tricky. The front will stall for a time to our SE. With strong upper level energy diving south out of Canada, precipitation will develop along and behind the front. As this happens, a low pressure area will develop off shore. This low pressure will not directly impact us. Only the precipitation behind the front will impact us. The key is where does this boundary set up.  That is the great unknown at this time. 

Modelling is in general agreement that it sets up just SE of us and we just miss the snow. However, the ensembles are split in two camps: snow and no snow. And the models are bounding back and forth: snow and no snow. (Note: not a major snowstorm. 4" or less if we get snow).  It is tricky. 

Personally, I think we get into some snow. 1) models typically understate ridge strength and rush the cold air east too quickly.  2) This is an arctic boundary snow event which models do not do well with until within about 36 hours or less.  

After the possible snow, it stays cold for Sun, Mon and Tue. It moderates Wed and turns warm with rain on Thu. Then colder again. Perhaps a chance for winter precipitation next weekend?  Get used to a more up and down temperature pattern for a while. Winter is lurking, but milder air is also. Spring is coming. It is the middle of Feb already. 

Details: 

Friday: Sunny. Warm. 50. 
Saturday: Partly sunny to mostly cloudy. Warm start. Turning colder. 46 then dropping. 
Sat Night: Light snow likely overnight. 1-2" 
Sunday: Flurries early then becoming partly sunny. 28. 
Monday: Mostly sunny. 25. 
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. 32. 
Wednesday: Partly sunny. Some increasing clouds. 40. 
Thursday: Cloudy. Warm. Periods of rain likely. 52. 

​Enjoy. 

I believe in my previous post I mentioned how we have had big snowstorms miss us to the south, west, and east in January. Now that it is Feb, we might as well add the north to our list of missing big snowstorms. 

A frontal boundary between seasonally mild air and arctic air will be dropping SE, as it does so, it will slow to a crawl as waves of low pressure move along it. This will lead to a longer duration event from all day Thursday into the first half of Fri. It will give northern areas snow, southern areas mostly rain, and in between rain to ice to sleet to snow.  We appear to be on the southern edge of the middle region. 

Storm details: 

1. Temperatures will likely reach about 45 or so on Thu and Thu evening before falling late Thu night into Friday. It may peak to near 50 if warm nose moves in, not sure if it will. Likely falls just shy of our area. 
2. Climate rule: Raining and above 40 degrees, precipitation struggles to end as accumulating snow outside of the highest ridges. 
3. Deep moisture supply will result in heavy precipitation. 
4. Multiple waves of low pressure will move along the front. The timing of the last one will help determine how much sleet and snow we may get. Early and fast = no snow. Late and slow = several inches of snow. 

​
After this storm, its seasonally cold through the weekend, with the chance for snow to arrive late Sun into Monday. This looks like it could be just off to our SE. But the chance is there.  Winter is not over, and it will not be over for a while yet. 

Forecast Details: 

Wednesday: Cloudy. Freezing mist possible early. Chilly. 35. 
Thursday: Cloudy. Rain. 40. 
Thursday Night: Rain to freezing rain then sleet late. Temps drop to 32. 
Friday: Freezing rain / sleet may end as light snow / flurries. 32
Saturday: Mostly sunny. Cold. 25. 
Sunday: Sunny then increasing clouds. Chance of snow late and overnight. 30. 
Monday: Partly to mostly sunny. 29. 
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. 33. 

Enjoy. 

Winter cold will ease off and give us a mild break, before the cold returns late in the week.  We have one weak system to deal with Sun night and may give us a snow shower or flurry, but no likely. Then the next one will be Wed-Thu. This will be a rain storm for us, rain/sleet for some to our north, and even a snowstorm for parts of Midwest and Upstate NY. After that it returns to cold. 

Details: 

Saturday: Cloudy then partly sunny. Gusty winds at times. Cold. 18. 
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Late clouds. Less wind. 22. 
Monday: Mostly sunny. Milder. 32. 
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. 38. 
Wednesday: Cloudy. Showers developing. 44. 
Thursday: Rain. 48. 
Friday: Clearing. Breezy. Colder. 35. 

Side Notes on "Big Storm" for those interested.

1.  Forecast was very good from 10 days, 5 days, and 2 days out. 
2. I resisted the idea of a double barreled low pressure system. Thus I over predicted the snow by an inch (measured 1.5" total Friday, so 2-4" was a little high, but not horrible). 
3. Big storm is hitting coastal areas hard, but for the vast majority of the northeast, its a windy storm that will bring a moderate to nothing snowfall. Again it is the coastal regions within 50 miles of coast that are getting hit hard. Beyond that a nice snow for some. 
4. Three strong storms this month: one too far south, one too far west with warm air, and now one too far east to bring heavy snow. When is it our turn?  Or are we a snow-hole this year?  
5. Winter is not over. Cold February coming with storm chances.

Enjoy. 

10 days ago, my eyes were focused on a big storm that would impact the east coast. And here were are big developing storm impacting the east coast. The idea of a storm was telegraphed well ahead ... the details were harder to figure out. And there is still an unusually large amount of uncertainty. The risk in busting on a forecast is larger than normal with this storm, even though we are less than 24 hours away from the storm directly impacting us. 

1. Snow on an off today and tonight. Total from 7 am Fri to Noon Sat: 2-4" 
2. Storm will give us a glancing blow. Most of the snow will be from just west of the big cities and east. New England is ground zero for this Blizzard. There will be 2-3 feet of snow in SE New England. 1-2 feet through much of New England, excluding the far western and northern sections. 
3. Before storm hits pre-snow show will impact our area today (Fri) and into this evening. It will snow lightly for the most part, with some heavier bursts. It will also stop or nearly stop at times. 
4. This pre-snow is an arctic front that will bring is more very cold air for the weekend. This boundary is a key to our forecast. How much cold dry air filters in and how quickly. The quicker, the faster the snow cuts off. The slower, the longer the snow falls. 
5. Storm pushes north during the night, and pushes the boundary a little north meaning snow intensity could increase again into Sat morning. 
6. Snow will end by midday Saturday at the latest. It may be done by 7 am also. 
7. Snow will be light and fluffy. 
8. Strong gusty winds will develop Fri night  and last through Sat into Sat night. 

Why Lower Confidence: 

1. Lots of thunderstorms east of or along storm track. Is the main low embedded in the thunderstorms (almost like a tropical low?) or are the thunderstorms east of the track? The difference can make a 50-100 mile adjustment, which gives more snow to our area. 
2. How quickly does the dry air come in to cut off the snow? 
3. When does the storm rapidly deepen?  Earlier means heavy banding develops to our east, which cuts off our snow earlier due to sinking air. Later means that steady snows continue longer. 

The above three questions all have models showing the different scenarios.  So it has become a Nowcast (adjust forecast based on observations ... can lead to rapid changes if need be) not  forecast (looking ahead before observations). 

Rest of the Week ahead starts cold, then warms up and we get rain by Thursday. Yes, this snow will melt. But with frozen ground, the rain will run off quickly. Don't worry or celebrate. Winter is not over. A brief break and then deep freeze returns next weekend, and maybe some winter precipitation with it. 

Details: 

Friday: Periods of light snow. 28. 
Saturday: Periods of light snow ending early. Gusty winds. Cold. 18. Total snow: 2-4". 
Sunday: Partly to mostly sunny. Winds dying down. Cold. 23. 
Monday: Mostly sunny. Milder. 32. 
Tuesday: Partly to mostly sunny. 39. 
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy. Showers likely late. 42. 
Thursday: Cloudy. Rain likely. Warm. 55. 
 
 Enjoy.