Dec 10: More Cold & Snow But Warmer Temps Ahead

At this point, we've lost track of how many clippers we've been tracking this week but yet another one moved through the Midwest overnight Tue and has been working its way through the Northeast today. You can see the footpring of the clipper in the snow reports over the last 12 hours (ending 4:30 pm on Tuesday):

This brought more snow to our station in White River Junction, VT:

And Accord, NY: 

There are at least 2 more clipper systems to track. The animation below starts with Thu Am, showing today's system offshore, the next clipper moving through the Midwest, followed quickly by another clipper for the weekend:

From Thu AM to Fri AM, a swath of snow will fall from Iowa to Ohio with totals generally in the 2-4" range. There's a sharp gradient on either side of the swath though so watch the forecast closely:

From Sat AM to Sun AM, another clipper will bring a similar swath of snow across the same region:

From there, that clipper is forecasted to move into the Northeast but where the snow falls is still a question mark. For now, you can see there is a high probability of 1" of snow across the I-95 corridor from DC to Boston: 

Let's take a place like Philadelphia for example. They haven't yet gotten measurable snow this year. This far out from a snow event, looking at the model ensemble is the best way to make a forecast. For Philly, this shows a mean snow total of 2" but as high as 5" on some members. The take away is the odds are increasing for measurable snow in that region Sat night into Sun Night: 

Behind each of these clippers, a new shot of cold air gets pulled south from Canada: 

The cold shot this weekend is especially brutal. Check out the coldest morning for each region below, starting with the Northern Plains on Sun morning where lows will be in the negative teens (this doesn't even include the wind chill!):

On Mon morning, the Great Lakes to Northeast get their coldest air with sub-zero lows for places like Madison, WI and parts of upstate New York and lows in the teens along the I-95 corridor:

Monday morning will also be the coldest across the Southeast with freezing temperatures all the way to the panhandle:

This next shot of cold air will add to the cold start to the month and winter season we've already seen. In fact, several locations across the Eastern US are experiencing a top 10 coldest start to the month: 

There is hope on the horizon for those of you that hate the cold. The next 7 days from Dec 11 - 18 will still feature below average temperatures for much of the eastern half of the country: 

However, the week of Dec 18 - 25 will have complete reversal of the pattern with mild Pacific air surging into the country and above average temperatures expected for much of the country: 

Stay tuned for what this means for your White Christmas chances and the holiday week between Christmas Day and New Year's.