A little January thaw

A little January thaw is underway here in the eastern U.S. We finally went above freezing this week for the first time since December 12th.  Daytime highs Friday and Saturday will be quite mild...well into the 40s. We may evening hit 50 in some neighborhoods on Saturday.  After that, colder air comes in Saturday night and next week we should see temperatures around normal. Our normal highs should be in the lower 30s.  Some days will be below that, some a bit above, but generally a bit more normal. Considering that January is the coldest month of the year, I'll take that.

Meanwhile, AccuWeather's Joe Bastardi is starting to talk about a potential cold outbreak (like many degrees below normal) beginning mid-January and continuing for a few weeks. The National Weather Service long range maps don't show that yet. I hope that doesn't happen here in NE Ohio, but we'll keep an eye on it.

Meanwhile, enjoy the "warm"!

After Christmas

Weather here in the lower Great Lakes is going to take a pleasant turn as we get into the days after Christmas. First of all, though, we have to wait for this big east coast storm to exit early in the week.  Once is does our winds will shift from the north to a more southerly direction and that will warm things up beginning Tuesday.

The beginning of the Christmas snow in North Carolina

My friend Brian, who used to live here in Akron, now lives near Charlotte, NC. It doesn't usually snow down there for Christmas. It is this year. (See his picture at left.) They are picking up several inches of the white stuff this weekend. After dumping snow in North Carolina, that system is going to head up the coast and on Sunday and Monday, blizzard and near blizzard conditions are expected from Philadelphia to Boston. If you plan to travel out that way, check ahead.  You really don't want to travel out there until Tuesday.

Meanwhile, back here in NE Ohio, on Tuesday we should get near or slightly above freezing. If we go above 32 degrees it will be for the first time since December 12th.  We will remain there (daytime highs) for several days. In fact, a surge of warm air heading into the region will push our daytime highs into the 40s on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. After that our temperatures should bounce around a lot.

Or normal daytime high in early January should be in the lower 30s. January and February are traditionally the coldest months of the year.  Last year February was a killer clocking in at nearly 3 degrees below normal.  I don't expect that this year.  As I mentioned earlier, while we will have some typical winter weather during the next two months, the pit of the winter has already passed.  We do look for another surge of cold, however, sometime in March.

Happy Holidays!

I'm still dreaming of a white Christmas

(Snowfall map courtesy of www.accuweather.com)

Not that this is by any means a surprise, but I do believe we are going to have a white Christmas. In fact about 50% of the nation will have a white Christmas.  Normal would be 33%, so this year will be whiter than normal. And, then you have Europe and snow in London. Gads, it's like Charles Dickens' days all over again.

I think one of the really neat Christmas treats this year will be snow falling on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You will notice on the map above that lake effect is not shown. Add in the lake effect and you can fill in that brown section of NE Ohio.  We won't see too much, but we will pick up an inch or so over the weekend.

That being said, best wishes from my cat Bomber and me for a very Merry Christmas!

No major events

Courtesy of www.accuweather.com

After two weeks of serious lake effect, we are going to remain in a fairly relaxed pattern for a while.  There will be some weather move through the region during the next several days, but the lake effect should remain under control.

Checking the long range maps, I don't seen anything more than just a couple of inches between now and Tuesday. Wow! That means for the first time in three weeks we will have a Monday where we won't be measuring the snowfall in feet.  :-)

I'll be heading to New York City over the weekend and won't be back until Thursday. If I see anything big coming along, I'll let you know. Otherwise, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the final weeks of December.

Ah...the beginning of the end (Tuesday 12:30pm)

Interesting how the lake effect snow pattern has changed this afternoon.  The snow seems to be centered in a very small area across parts of central and northern Summit County and northern Portage County.  It's been that way for most of the morning.

Most of the area will not see too much additional snowfall today, although those areas where the snow persists will see a few inches fall. Basically, this is the beginning of the end. While flurries and snow showers will likely continue into tomorrow, the big stuff is over.

Time to dig out!

At some point this stops being fun...

I think we are reaching the point where we want to yell, "ENOUGH ALREADY!" However, I must say it is a thing of natural beauty just watching the snow fall and accumulate the way it has been.

Anyhow, looks like one more crazy day then we will start to turn around. South of I-76 it should be a 3-5 inch day today.  North, once again, upwards to a foot.  (5-10 inches is what I have in the forecast.)  Overnight tonight the winds will start to back off and we should only see a few new inches.  Same for tomorrow. Then, toward the end of the week, the sun will peak through once again.  The sun...you remember what that is, don't you?

Enjoy!

Lake effect continues... (Monday 11am)

Looks like the lake effect snow will continue through the day tomorrow as we expected.  We should finally  get a break on Wednesday. Meanwhile, here's what the numbers look like:

New snow this afternoon 3-6 inches (heaviest north of I-76)
Tonight an additional 3-7 inches
Tomorrow an additional 3-6 inches

Enjoy!