Dec 8: Wintry Pattern Continues, But For How Long?

Yet another round of snow for Virginia today after they received snow last Friday. Snow totals were mostly in the 2-4" range but some higher amounts were around:

The flakes were flying for much of the day and at times got quite large:

This won't be the only snowy system we have to track this week. Another one has already begun in the northern Plains and will drag a swath of snow across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes with another system right on its heels. The below animation goes from 1 am ET Tuesday to 7 am ET Thu: 

This will first bring a solid swath of snow to the Northern Plains: 

That snow will then extend through the Upper Midwest and into the interior Northeast:

Behind that, the temperatures will plummet across the Northern tier of the US. For example, take a look at Minneapolis where the lows will be well below zero this weekend:

Detroit will drop into the teens for lows:

The good news for the South is that the coldest air will stay in the Midwest to Northeast region. Below is the anomaly from Wed Eve Dec 10 - Wed Eve Dec 17:

Past this cold shot, it does look like some moderation in temperatures will occur for the week of Dec 16 - 23: 

While Florida received much needed rain over the weekend, the pattern does look to dry out for them now with the rainiest location outside of the aforementioned snow the Pacific NW: