Freezing Mist Possible Today.

The cold front has arrived pretty much on schedule this morning and colder air is once again funneling into the state. Cloudy skies together with a brisk northerly wind will combine to keep temperatures below freezing for the rest of the day. This particular system has not had much moisture to work with so only a few sprinkles along the front itself and possibly some brief snow flurries for the more eastern counties and on into Arkansas are expected with little or no accumulation.

The problem with this system is that what moisture is available is concentrated near the surface keeping us with a low stratus deck and the possibility of a mist or perhaps some drizzle forming. Ordinarily, this would not be a problem, but the mist or drizzle will be in a liquid state even though the air temperature is below freezing. These water droplets are referred to as supercooled which happens frequently in clouds. The problem is that as soon as those water droplets come in contact with your windshield, a bridge, an overpass or whatever, they instantly freeze on that object. Obviously, it does not take much of that to cause problems so be aware of the potential for some slick spots on bridges and overpasses during the day today.

We should see a few breaks in the clouds overnight tonight and enough sunshine to get us back into the 40s on Monday. After that, as mentioned yesterday we are in an active NW flow pattern aloft in which cool fronts will be arriving every few days. However, the limited moisture means little or no mention of precipitation for the rest of the week either. The best day of the week now appears to be on Friday when we will have a brisk SW wind and lots of sunshine. That is a recipe for a nice warm-up, but it will not last long as much colder air will be arriving in time for the coming weekend. In fact, things could get real interesting early in the following week.

In the meantime, stay tuned and check back for updates.

Dick Faurot