More cold air on the way next week, but still no sign of a storm.
Winter finally arrived this week with temperatures well below average. We hit some of the lowest temperatures we have seen in almost a year with a high of just 40° on Tuesday and a low this morning of 19°. Things will be slow to warm up the next few days, but we will be back in the upper 50s by this weekend.
This warm-up is going to be shortlived as more and possibly even colder air arrives next week. There is still uncertainty about how far south this arctic plunge goes. One thing is for sure the air in Canada and the Midwest will be colder this go around. Which stands to reason that it should be colder as it pushes south into the Carolinas. There is also now much more snow cover to our north which will help keep the air from modifying(warming up) on the way south.
The Set-up:
Starting this weekend and into early next week, a lobe of the polar vortex will pivot south into Canada. No, the polar vortex is not coming into the U.S. it rarely if ever does, that’s just media hype. It does though weaken, and that will force colder air south. I see this starting this weekend with the cold air arriving Monday here.
The upper trough and lobe of the polar vortex over Hudson Bay will help pivot surges of colder air south throughout next week.
So it’s going to be chilly next week with highs mainly in the 40s but depending on how far south the cold air can push, don’t be shocked to see a few days only in the upper 30s again. Morning lows will be in the 20s mainly but some morning in the teens are likely again.
Any Storm Chances?
I’ve ranted about the long range winter storm forecasts that are bogus and honestly right now there just isn’t anything that looks promising. That’s why I hate those long range winter storm forecasts there just is virtually zero skill in the modeling at pinpointing storms beyond 7-days. That being said I do think the pattern gets promising for snow lovers late next week. We have cold air in place and the storm track starts to become more favorable, but there are just too many variables not lining up right not. Plus it’s still 10+ days out. So be patient, the pattern is becoming favorable even if there aren’t any storms to point too yet……YET!
