Rain for most of the weekend...then LAKE EFFECT!

We have seen a drastic change in the path of the weekend storm. It appears to be headed into Michigan, which will put us in he warm sector most of the weekend. However, by Sunday night some serious lake effect is expected develop just as last week and continue into Tuesday. Snow fall totals my be similar to a week ago, so It would be good to keep up on later forecasts.

"Hold the phone...!"

While our expected weekend storm is getting itself together, the latest information makes it appear that the storm will actually scoot across northwest Ohio.  What that means is that the heavy snow will be back in the Chicago area and we will see a combination of rain and snow here in NE Ohio.

We are, however, going to have to be concerned about lake effet as we go into Sunday night and Monday. It's likely that the lake effect will end up producing more snow in northeast Ohio than the storm system itself.

At present, here's what I think is going to happen: Saturday is just going to be a cloudy day. Snow Saturday night will total 2-4 inches before turning to rain on Sunday. On Sunday the winds will increase and turn to a more northwesterly direction. The rain will turn back to snow and overnight lake effect will kick in with much colder temperatures and strong NW winds. Additional snow accumulation is likely and that will continue into Monday. On Monday wind chills will be around -10 degrees at times.

As for snow totals, be sure to keep up on later forecast. With lake effect you never know for sure what is going to happen until it starts to happen.

Here we go again!

Graphic courtesy of www.accuweather.com

Enjoy the little break we're going to get between this lake effect event and our next big storm system.  Looks like we have a good one winding up for the last half of the weekend.

As we look into the crystal ball, here's what we see...a storm will develop over the southern plains and then move northeast into the Ohio Valley on Saturday. By Saturday night we could have a pretty decent snow coming down.  That will continue into Sunday and then be followed by strong gusty winds and more lake effect for the first part of next week. Add to that the coldest air of the season (daytime highs on Tuesday may not get out of the teens) and we are in for a wintry treat once again.

Keep up on later forecasts for expected snowfall totals.

Here we go! Get out your boards and skis!

(graphic courtesy of www.accuweather.com)

The weather gods are ready to dump on us.  If all goes as they plan (and remember, lake effect snow is not an exact science) we are going to have an interesting few days ahead of us. The joys will begin today and continue into Tuesday.

At the moment (Sunday morning), here is what the forecast snow amounts look like:
   1-3 inches by Sunday evening
   4-6 inches on the ground by Monday morning
   8-10 inches by Monday night
   10-14 inches by Tuesday night

We are going to have to add strong, gusty winds to the forecast as well and that will make travel a bit complicated beginning tomorrow morning.

For my snow plowing friends, sleep well today because me thinks you are in for a long few days.

Enjoy!

It's December and it's snowing

   As if Mother Nature knew how to read a calendar, how clever that on the first day of December it snowed in Northeast Ohio.
   Well, I mentioned in earlier posts that right after Thanksgiving things were going to take a turn to colder. They did.  And now the second part of the winter arrival is underway.  The cold air will hang around for a few weeks. It's may even make it to Christmas. Nonetheless, we will begin to see snow, finally.  The slopes are blowing snow and the weather maps indicate that natural white stuff is headed our way. We should see a variety of storm systems and lake effect setting up between now and the holidays.
   Enjoy!

If you haven't hung up your Christmas lights yet...do it now!

   If you haven't hung up your Christmas lights yet, do it now...unless, of course, you enjoy working in more seasonal weather like cold temperatures and snow.  Then you can wait.
   The pleasant weather we've been enjoying is going to remain with us into Thanksgiving day, but then a change is gonna come. I've been looking at some of the forecast models for the period after Thanksgiving and what we are in for will be daytime highs in the 30s and nighttime lows in the teens.  The fun should start on Friday after Thanksgiving. This cold trend will most probably continue right into Christmas. So it looks like the month of December is going to be cold with snow mixed in as well.
   Wax up your boards and skis, the winter sports season is about to begin!

Where's winter? It's coming.

   I was just looking back over my winter forecast that I posted during the summer. I wanted to remember if we called this right.  So far, I think we are OK. In that forecast I mentioned that the winter cold would arrive sometime around mid-November.  Well, we are getting close.  These 30+ degree daytime temperature swings (low 30s in the mornings and mid 60s in the afternoons) have been hard for me to deal with. I prefer a more stable temperature pattern.
   Anyhow, the cold is coming, but it certainly is taking its time.  The long range planning charts are indicating a turn to colder temperatures in the eastern U.S. around Thanksgiving. That should set us up for a cold December which will make you winter sports enthusiasts happy.  However, get out there quickly and enjoy it.  We will likely begin a trend to warm again by mid-January.