Thursday, February 4, 2016

A Look at the Weekend & Early Next Week

A few flurries are moving through this evening with a weak system. Those will exit late Thursday night as clouds clear out. Expect some sunshine early on Friday before clouds begin to roll back in ahead of another weak Clipper system that will move just to our north. That will bring some flurries back into the region Friday night and Saturday morning before we again dry out for Saturday and at least half of Sunday. With a slight ridge developing in the middle of the country -- shown on this map above -- slightly milder temperatures are expected on both Saturday and Sunday into the middle and upper 30's.

Then, another weak system will move out of Southern Canada (shown above North Dakota on the map above). That will swing through late Sunday and into next week. It will be a little more expansive than the system we are seeing tonight, which means more snow showers will affect the area. Although many of us will see those snow showers Sunday into early next week, accumulations look very light at this time with most of us seeing less than a half-inch of snowfall.

That system is what we call an Alberta Clipper because the low pressure originates in the province of Canada called Alberta. They move quickly and usually are very moisture-starved. That will be the case with this system -- for the most part. It will not be accompanied by much moisture, but it will stick around for a few days -- Sunday, Monday & Tuesday -- before moving away. As a result, light snow showers are possible through Tuesday morning. The other thing this system will do is crank up the winds early next week. Therefore, very cold wind chills will likely greet the Stateline early next week as temperatures begin falling. By the middle of the week, highs will likely be in the teens and 20's. Lows will drop into the single digits a few times during next week's cold intrusion. Again, not much snow is expected, but even minimal accumulations can cause roadway issues if the snow falls during a prime driving time.

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