More winter weather on the way - Say it isn't snow!

Apparently the groundhog needs to go back to meteorology school!  After we just wrapped up the 5th snowiest February in Rockford's history, it looks like more winter weather will return to the Plains and Midwest.  Low pressure moving onshore in British Columbia tonight will dive southeast into Montana by Monday and south of the Stateline Tuesday afternoon.  Warm air ahead of the developing low will lift north into northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin with precipitation developing to the south and extending northwest into Iowa and Minnesota.  An east wind during the day Monday should keep the majority of the area dry but as low pressure moves closer Monday night precipitation, mainly snow, will move in and continue into Tuesday.  There remains some question in the exact track of the low as of Saturday evening but it does appear we will all receive snow by Tuesday night - it's just a matter of how much!  With such a dynamic storm system, it's possible some in the Midwest may receive in excess of 6" of snow!  Something we'll track very closely these next couple of days.  The surface low will move through southern Illinois but an inverted trough - or long area of low pressure - will extend northwest from the low into northern Illinois and it appears as if this is where the majority of our snow will come from by Tuesday night.  Winds will also be increasing from the east/northeast Tuesday so any snow that does fall will likely blow around and may drift a little.  There is still some time for the track of this low to shift some which would determine where exactly the snow, and heavy snow, falls.  A Winter Storm Watch has already been issued for northwest Illinois for the counties of Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll and Whiteside.   



3:50pm Update:



A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Carroll and Whiteside counties beginning Monday morning and lasting through Tuesday afternoon.  A complete update right here will be coming out later this afternoon on the potential for another snow storm early next week.  Stay tuned!