Snow Potential Next Week

It's been a very unusual start to December so far, and a lot of people are wondering when winter is going to return to the Stateline. We can't be positive, but a storm system arriving early next week could be the kickoff to winter weather for the area.

Weather models aren't all on the same page, but there is general agreement that a low pressure system will be moving through our general area somewhere in the late Sunday to Tuesday timeframe. Here's what a few models are saying as of this afternoon...

Euro Model: Monday at Midnight

European Model: The European model shows low pressure off to our southeast Monday night. That would put us on the cold side of the system, so all that precip showing up over Illinois would more than likely be snow.

GFS Model: Monday at Noon

GFS Model: The GFS model has that same area of low pressure further off to our south. That would mean less chance for snow, since we would be out of range of the system. That being said, the movement of this storm will play a huge role in what kind of weather we see next week.

GFS Model: Critical Thickness - Monday at Noon

Here's one example of how this storm's movement will impact what we see. Critical thickness is a tool meteorologists use to figure out precip type. Basically, anything north of the line has a better chance of being snow. Now if next week's storm keeps moving north, so does the critical thickness line, meaning warmer air and less chance for chance. As mentioned before, if the storm moves too far south, we may only see a little bit of snow.

As we approach the weekend, we should have a much better idea of what will happen. Stay tuned! -BA