Dec 3: Coldest Air of Season, MidAtlantic Snow, and Southern Rain

After yesterday's snow across the Northeast, Colorado got its turn today. The below clip is from Cold Creek Canyon in Golden, CO where reports of up to 9" of snow have fallen:

We discussed the upcoming shot of cold air yesterday and that is still on track having already moved into the Northern Plains today where temperatures as of 2 pm CT on Wednesday were just in the single digits across the Dakotas and Minnesota:

This current shot of cold air will mostly stay across the Midwest and into the Northeast but another moves in next week that will likely get further South. The below animation shows the temperature anomaly just above the surface from Wed Night to Monday night of next week:

Cold records are still likely Thursday AM across the Midwest. Waterloo, IA (ALO) looks to break its previous record for Dec 4th by 7°! Cedar Rapids (CID) and DSM (DSM) could break theirs by 5 or 6°, impressive cold for this early in the season:

By Fri AM, the record low potential stretches into the Northeast where a place like Bridgeport, CT (BDR) could break their record by 2°: 

This cold air does look to set up the potential for some snow and wintry mix across the Carolinas and up into Virginia and the Midatlantic. First up snow totals look to be in the 1-3" range, there's not much moisture to work with but the cold temperatures will lead to higher snow ratios (a light fluffy snow):

There may also be some mixed wintry precipitation with this system with sleet and freezing rain possible as well. We will update this potential in tomorrow's blog when we get closer to the event. 

On to the Southern rain potential where a solid 2-3" with locally higher amounts will fall from Eastern Texas across the Southeast into parts of the Carolinas:

Behind the weekend rain, the second push of cold air will make it all the way to the Gulf Coast and Florida peninsula. Tue morning lows will be in the 30s and 40s across Florida, while the 20s will take over North Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas:

That cold air will stick around for much of the week in the Eastern US while conversely, the West will be well above average. Below is the 7 day temperature anomaly from Mon Dec 8 to Mon Dec 15: