Friday, December 30, 2011

January 2-4 Snow Event (Midwest, Great Lakes Affected)

Hour 42 of 12z GFS

Hour 48 of 12z GFS
The 12z GFS is showing the strong system expected to cross Canada also drop down some precipitation in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes. Seeing as how it appears that a cold front of sorts will be bringing in cold air behind this wave of precipitation, I can see snow accumulations in the Upper Midwest.
There are two sides to this storm: precipitation and temperatures. Here's 850mb temperatures from the ECMWF.
Hour 48 of ECMWF

Hour 72 of ECMWF

Hour 96 of ECMWF
As this system moves through, we will be seeing the coldest air of the season move through the Midwest, and even down to Florida before curving back up to the Northeast. The coldest air should flow through the Midwest and Northeast as this major cold wave moves through. The ECMWF is showing 850mb temperatures below 0 degrees down through Florida. By far, this will be the biggest cold wave the nation has experienced. If the wave of storm systems continues to come through Canada in the same fashion this one did (as is expected), we will continue to see big cold blasts as well as likely displacing some of the polar vortex.

1 comment:

LJ said...

Looks good for my area to have snow!