Windy week ahead with precipitation chances arriving this weekend

 Last week was quite chilly for a few days but we continue to lack in terms of winter precipitation for this year. Wednesday was our last day of measurable snowfall where we were able to get over an inch of snowfall however with yesterday's temperatures above freezing and, in the days, to come, we may not see any snow on the ground for at least another week.

Before getting into chances later this week, looking at today, we'll be back down below freezing although not that cold as for January 29 degrees are often pretty comfortable. At the surface though we'll experience some breezy conditions with wind gusts up to 25 mph possible through the afternoon today, but with plenty of sunshine!

Into the next few days though, the pressure gradient at the surface along with strong low level atmospheric winds will combine to make for a couple windy days.

Into Monday and Tuesday very gusty winds will be sticking around near the surface as strong low level atmospheric winds will be in place just a few thousand feet above us. As well a surface low pressure system to our northeast in Canada as well as a surface high pressure system over the Great Plains will cause the pressure gradient to tighten. When this happens any air in the atmosphere wants to move from higher to lower pressure, when the gradient between pressure readings is tighter, this air will rush a lot faster towards the low. Over the next few days 30 mph wind gusts will occur with some wind gusts approaching 40+ mph especially on Monday.

This windy pattern looks to continue at least till Wednesday and possibly even beyond. Although Wednesday's wind gusts don't look to be as strong, yet cooler temperatures will be transported with northwesterly winds on Wednesday. This will provide a brief cooldown from milder temperatures however we'll still stay above freezing. 

In terms of precipitation over the next week spotty chances will arrive both Monday and Wednesday with two separate systems. On Monday a weak cold front will move through the state line which won't impact temperatures too much but may be just enough to force a few snow showers through the early evening on Monday. Then on Wednesday a clipper system will be following the jet stream which will be very close by. Depending on how much forcing and moisture we can get along the cold front of that system, we could some snowfall through the morning on Wednesday before the shot of colder temperatures arrives.

Our next best precipitation chances won't arrive till the weekend though. As of now good agreement is in place that a low-pressure system from the Southern Plains will make its way through the Midwest by Friday and into Saturday. Timing will still need to be figured out but with such warm surface temperatures continuing rainfall or mixed precipitation type seems to be the most likely outcome as of now. Either way this will be the best chance for widespread precipitation we've had in a while!

Temperatures throughout the week continue to trend in a warmer direction with multiple days this week expected to eclipse 40 degrees. This will be a unique way to start February as normally this time of year we're expecting bitter cold and heavy snowfall!