Some Cold Weather to Start Off the New Year

A weak system moving across the Great Lakes on Saturday was responsible for widespread cloud cover.  There was a little snow associated with the system, but accumulating snows were limited to mostly to Wisconsin, and amounts were generally less than 3 or 4".   Just a dusting, to a couple of tenths of an inch, were recorded across northern Illinois.  The clouds associated with the system have moved off to the east tonight leaving the sky illuminated by a just past full cold moon.  It is very bright out tonight with the moonlight enhanced by the areas snow cover.  A modified arctic high sprawling across the south central states ridges up across Iowa to our west.  Now that skies have cleared, the temperature will be able to dip down into the single digits overnight.  The low will be around 8 degrees with a west wind around 10 mph.  The high will move to Kentucky by noon on Sunday, and will continue to dominate our weather with mostly sunny skies and chilly temperatures.  The high on Sunday is expected to be only around 24 degrees.  The wind will shift around to the southwest at 6 to 12 mph.  With a southerly breeze in place on the back side of the high on Monday night in advance of  re-enforcing cold fronts over the northern plains,  the Stateline temperatures will remain steady overnight on Monday night holding around 23 degrees.  The new cold front will proceed southeast across our area by noontime on Monday.  No moisture is available for this system, so no snow is anticipated.  It will be mostly cloudy, though, with the max temperature occurring in the upper 20's before dropping back in the afternoon.  Canadian high pressure will slide in across the northern plains to a position over Minnesota by 6 pm on Monday evening.  With mostly clear skies the temperature on New Year's Eve will drop to around 7 degrees overnight.  The cold high will be over nearby Iowa early Tuesday.  Skies will be mostly sunny, and it will be cold with a high only in the middle teens.  Another system will approach rapidly from the northwest on Tuesday night.  On Wednesday the system will stretch from a weak low over lower Michigan though another low over northeast Iowa, and continue as a cold front across northwest Iowa and northern Nebraska. There may be enough moisture and upper air support to squeeze out some light snow as the system moves through the area on Wednesday night.  It should not be much, and no measurable snowfall is anticipated at this time.  Lows will be in the single digits again Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights.  Highs will only be in the upper teens Thursday and Friday.  Temperatures are expected to warm up a bit into the upper 20's on Saturday in advance of the next front dropping in from the northwest.