Arctic air mass settles in after Thanksgiving; Coldest air of the season expected

 

Temperatures were quite cold Tuesday morning as lows fell to the low 20s, with wind chills in the teens. But the sunshine, yes sunshine, helped to warm afternoon highs into the mid and upper 30s. Still a handful of degrees below average, but at least we had the sun! Unfortunately, cloud cover has moved back in which will leave skies cloudy for the rest of the evening.

Pacific moisture moving across the country may eventually lead to a light snow shower or two overnight but impacts from that should remain minimal. Under a cloudy sky temperatures will fall into the upper 20s, rising into the low 30s by daybreak Wednesday.

Low pressure passing well south of the Stateline will bring rain initially, followed by a rain/snow mix Wednesday afternoon and evening downstate. The precipitation will carry over into Indiana and Ohio, so if your travels take you in that direction you may run into some slowed travel. It looks like the immediate area will be too far north to really see much precipitation during the day Wednesday, but we'll hold on to a small chance for a flurry/light shower or two during the evening. Temperatures on Wednesday will be the warmest this week with highs in the low 40s.

Colder air will follow Thanksgiving Day as a second system moves across the Midwest. This will bring with it a few scattered flurries late in the day but will really work to ramp up the lake effect snow machine across the Great Lakes through the weekend. A second cold front follows Thursday night pushing temperatures into the 20s for lows, but highs on Friday only in the upper 20s! Northwest winds will ramp up through the afternoon, gusting around 25-30 mph. This will push wind chills during the afternoon in the teens. 

Overnight lows Friday night will fall into the mid-teens with chills in the single digits Saturday morning. Afternoon highs will only warm into 20s through the weekend with overnight lows in the teens. Temperatures will remain cold through the start of December, a trend that may continue for the first week to two weeks of the month.