Finished with Rounds One & Two, Round Three Next

Yesterday was round one, today is round two, and round three is still on tap for the Tue/Wed time frame, but that will be a much different event. In fact, the pattern will start to change along about the middle of next week giving us a break as we head into the latter part of the week and next weekend as you can see on our forecast page. More about that in a moment, but first things first.

Although the snow event we have been dealing with for most of the day today is now over, we will still have some issues through the overnight hours and into the day Sunday. Not much, if any more snow accumulation is anticipated as drier and somewhat warmer air aloft has moved in over the state. But at the surface, temperatures remain below freezing and will not likely get above freezing till late Sunday morning or perhaps the afternoon hours for some locations, if then. At the same time, the lowest levels are saturated or nearly so which means there will be a light mist or some drizzle from time to time. With the below freezing temperatures that means a freezing mist/drizzle. Amounts will be very light, but it will be on top of snow packed roads and bridges and anything else for that matter making travel very tricky.

Any thawing on Sunday will be short-lived as temperatures will quickly fall back below freezing again Sunday evening and through the overnight hours when some patchy drizzle may once again develop.

Problem on Sunday is that with snow on the ground and no sunshine it is just going to be difficult for temperatures to moderate much. Also, a light E wind overnight will become northerly through the day Sunday and with snow on the ground well up into KS, that will make it difficult for temperatures to moderate. At least the winds will be light so wind chill is not expected to be an issue.

A low overcast is also expected for Monday but temperatures should moderate that afternoon as our winds become more SE. After starting the day in the 20s, we may make it into the low 40s that afternoon; but some drizzle or a light mist remains a possibility for much of the day as well.

Then, there is round three. Tuesday will see mostly cloudy skies for much of the day but our winds will become strong and gusty from the S and SW in advance of our next strong cold front which will be arriving that evening/night. Those strong southerly winds will keep us from cooling much that morning so we should be in the upper 30s to near 40 despite some lingering snow cover. Despite the lack of sunshine, the SW wind component should be enough to push afternoon temperatures to near 60 before much colder air once again arrives behind the cold front that night. Also, showers and possibly even some thunder for the more SE counties will be possible ahead of the cold front with some lingering light rain or possibly even a winter mix going into Wed morning.

Temperatures Wed will be strongly dependent on how much if any sunshine we receive. Right now, it appears there will be some lingering cloud cover and perhaps some wintry precipitation to start the day with clearing not till that evening or night. The morning will start in the 20s and may struggle to get much above freezing that afternoon.

After a cold start to Thursday morning, the aforementioned pattern change will be obvious as we will have lots of sunshine for the following days and quite likely right on through that following weekend. Along with the sunshine and a return to southerly winds will be significantly warmer temperatures at long last. Since Feb 22, we are close to setting records which I will have more about in my next blog posting but the point of this is that we will finally get a break in the cold, dreary conditions of the last week or two.

So, hang in there; there is a light at the end of this particular tunnel.

Dick Faurot