Post Christmas Weather through New Years

Good Morning on the Day after Christmas!

I pray you had a great, relaxing and Christ filled Christmas and that the season is not yet over for you, but the Spirit will carry on throughout the year. I wish every a great and wonderful new year as we look to the ending of 2013 and the entrance of 2014.

 We sort of had a white Christmas … ¼” of white power on the ground from that snow squall on Christmas Eve. Not a lot, but enough to make it festive.  And then this morning, some beautiful snow that melted off the roads pretty quickly, but is still stuck to everything else.  Now what to expect for this weekend?

At first it seems simple enough. Many forecasts had it sunny and dry. But now many are mentioning showers. If you recall from last weeks forecast, I was suspicious of something coming up out of the Gulf and impacting our area. Bingo! Here it comes. Expect a strong and strengthening storm to move from the eastern Gulf of Mexico to just off or on the NJ coast then heading NE from there. This will bring lots of moisture with it. Too bad the cold air will be departing before it gets here.

This will be a very raw, nasty storm with lots of intricate, challenging details: (1) heavy rain for Sunday afternoon and evening for most.  (2) Cooling upper atmosphere meaning someone to our west (Bedford, Altoona, State College, Williamsport?) will be getting a surprise wet snow. (3) Cold, damp air locked in at the surface will mean temps remaining below 35 throughout. This could mean some ice build up on trees and colder surfaces for the ridges, and colder locales. A couple of degrees will make a world of difference. 

After this storm, very cold arctic air will be invading Monday through the rest of the week.  For the month of Dec we are above normal for snow [historical records] and below normal (so far) for temperatures [based on 30 year records from 1980-2010]. January should continue that trend. I am sticking to the winter idea of colder than normal and above normal snow … so far so good.

Specifics:

Tonight: Clearing skies, chilly. Low near 18.

Friday: Mostly sunny, seasonally cool. High: 36 Low: 18

Saturday: Mostly sunny, milder with some high thin clouds coming in very late. High: 44. Clouds will be increasing, especially after midnight. Low: 32

Sunday:  Cloudy with a cold rain arriving. Rain could be heavy at times. Some icing is possible in higher terrain and colder surfaces. High: 35. Possibly ending as a brief period of snow.  Low: 30.

Monday:  Windy, much colder, under partly sunny skies. A snow shower is possible. High: 32. Low: 15.

 

Hint for New Years Week:  A cold to bone chilling week is in store. Highs will only reach the 20s most days, and even struggle to get into the 20s midweek. Some light snow possible Wed/Thu and then we again need to watch out for the weekend as I suspect something will try to develop and bring more wintery precipitation s it impacts our area. 

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