Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018  3:30 P.M.

Another Arctic blast coming…will it arrive with some snow?

Another bit of the so-called Polar Vortex is breaking away from the Arctic and will settle down over the western Great Lakes over the next 48 hours.  That keeps any heavy snow threat far to our north.  But, we’ll see two attempts at some light snow during the next 24 hours.

First, a weak warm front is moving east from Arkansas and Missouri and should pass overhead tonight.  It is currently creating some light snow west of the Mississippi.  However, as it comes east it’ll be hitting drier air.  Thus, the snow system will fade.  We may see some flurries or even a dusting of snow from the warm front, but nothing of any consequence is expected.

Second, a better chance for snow will come around midday tomorrow as the Arctic cold front comes quickly across our area .  There should be enough moisture to squeeze out some light snow and snow showers for a couple of hours.  With snow  showers in the mix a few isolated areas could get a quick inch (or so) of snow.  But most of us will probably get less than an inch of snow.  That’s not much, but even a small amount can create road problems.  Luckily there will be enough time to get roads back in shape by rush hour (for those who don’t get the holiday off).

Longer term…

Tomorrow’s shot of cold air will be the last for awhile.  Temperatures should warm significantly by late week with rain becoming our primary precipitation threat, probably Sunday,  In general it looks like the upper air pattern will shift to a  “western U.S. cold- eastern U.S. warm” pattern for at least two weeks.  Our January Thaw is on the way – right on schedule.