Winter Storm Update (Saturday 7pm)

Things remain on schedule for a significant snowfall across the region Sunday night into Tuesday. At the moment rain is moving up across the state and should reach the Greater Akron area around midnight. The rain will change to snow tomorrow. There's a conflict as to when the air will get cold enough for the changeover. At the latest it will be early afternoon. At the earliest it will be a few hours after daybreak.

Winds will gradually increase during the day Sunday, but will really get cranking after dark. By 6am Monday they should be in the range of 20-25 mph with gusts over 35 mph. With snow falling, that should make for a nasty morning commute.

The heaviest snowfall is expected to occur during the day Monday into Monday night with the strong winds continuing.

Lake effect snowfall is anything but an exact science, but since we love to hear specifics (which are really not specifics at all...just intelligent guesses) here are some snowfall numbers for you:

7pm Sunday - total snow 1-3 inches
7am Monday - total snow 3-5 inches
7pm Monday - total snow 8-12 inches
7am Tuesday - total snow 10-14 inches

Just as last week, the heaviest snowfall is expected north of I-76. Remember, these are just intelligent guesses at the moment and will have to be updated once the snow begins.

To my snowplowing friends, rest up during the day Sunday. For the rest of you, get done what you have to do before Sunday dinner.

Winter Storm Update (Friday 8pm)

Everything appears to be on track for another major lake effect snow event (no tickets needed for admission) beginning late Sunday and continuing into midweek.

Winds will start to increase Sunday afternoon and will reach levels of 30-40 mph with stronger gusts overnight Sunday. Initial snowfall will begin Sunday afternoon with 3-4 inches likely by Monday morning. Combine that with the wind, and visibilities will be extremely low by daybreak. It looks like the Monday commute is not going to be pleasant.

Lake effect snow will continue Monday into Tuesday with amounts similar to last week...meaning a foot or more...especially north of I-76.

Just to give you an idea of what we expect, the forecast computer printouts I'm looking at for 5am-6am Monday morning are showing snow with winds of 30-37 mph, a temperature of 17, and a wind chill of -10.

Ah...welcome to winter! And, hey...be careful out there!

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!