#ILwx #INwx #OHwx Snow showers overnight or battling with dry air? Details here. K.
Synopsis: Good afternoon, today’s update consists of the latest data in regards to what we are seeing overnight in terms of wintry weather, as well as Friday night into Saturday morning.
Current satellite across the Zones this afternoon shows a mix of sun and clouds, winds continue out of the northwest at 10-15mph…gusting up to 25-30mph at times as well.
Where the forecast gets tricky is tonight into Friday morning. We continue to see a wave of energy (vorticity) stream in along an arctic front, which is generally a solid signal for snow showers to move through as seen below. A few bursts of snow that may coat the grass and surfaces are still possible especially across Zones 1/2, but overall these will be very isolated in nature.
The issue arrises in terms of available moisture in the atmosphere to produce snow showers. First off, our latest data basically keeps the skies relatively clear overnight, which also is an indication of a lot of dry air present.
Temperatures dip down into the mid to upper 20s tonight, in the instance that you get a burst of snow overhead it could make for a few slick spots, but these will not be widespread.
Friday night into Saturday morning is another instance where the models are very aggressive with a piece of energy moving through the Zones. Temperatures will be key…a large area where the energy is tracking through will be very close to freezing with temperatures rising very quickly with high pressure ushering in warmer air during the day.
Temperatures warm very quickly on Saturday shown well here by the 3km NAM, so if the snow manages to reach the surface we are not expecting it to hang around long at all.
Confidence and Risk:
- Average confidence in snow showers overnight due to a lot of dry air.
- Average confidence in snow showers Friday night into Saturday morning as another wave of energy is forecasted to move through.
- Above average confidence that if any snow does reach the surface, it won’t hang around for long due to quickly rising temperatures on Saturday.
Today’s video (4 min):