1-2-18 Central Plains: Bitter cold and light snow chances in the short-term.

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Good Tuesday Morning and Happy New Year to everyone! If you’re waking up right now, temperatures are brutally cold throughout the region, with dangerous temperatures popping up in Iowa. Wind Chill Warnings and Advisories are in effect until 12PM CST today for much of the Central Plains.

Iowa could see wind chills between -25 and -40 degrees and wind chills will stay dangerously cold throughout the day.

A few very scattered snow showers are possible in Southern Kansas today, but most will stay dry. However, a more potent piece of energy will dive into Iowa tonight and into early tomorrow. The hi-resolution NAM is showing the potential for a line of snow showers well this evening and into the overnight hours. This could produce some light snow accumulations, generally less than a half inch, especially in Iowa by tomorrow morning. 

Another weak piece of energy could produce additional snow showers in Iowa and Missouri late Thursday into early Friday. Again, only light accumulations of up to a half inch are possible especially in Iowa. 

Temperatures will begin to moderate late this week and really warm up in the western parts of Kansas and Nebraska. Here’s a look at temperatures between Thursday Afternoon and Sunday:

The next big system we will need to watch will enter western portions of the area early Sunday. A mixed bag of precipitation is likely throughout the region, but run to run differences are large due to a volatile pattern with conflicting signals and many moving pieces of energy.  We will update on this potential and adjust throughout the week.

Overall, temperatures will feel much warmer over then next week compared to last week, especially in the western portions of the Central Plains, but most areas will still be below normal.

Have a great Tuesday!