Coldest Weather Yet!

The first week of the new year will be bringing the coldest temperatures we've seen this season.  January is going to quickly remind us that it is still winter.

A shot of very cold arctic air is working is heading our way.  Temperatures for Monday will be stuck in the 30s and then Tuesday, don't even expect to make it above freezing!  Most of us will be hanging in the 20s -- for high temperatures! 

By Wednesday we'll be in the 30s again and can look for a gradual warming trend into the weekend.

Cold air is being "advected" or rather blown in from the northwest.  Our windy weather is coming from a tight pressure gradient.  We have low pressure to our northeast, and high pressure to our southwest.  We are sandwiched right in the middle, allowing for very cold air to move in.

Along with the cold we are looking for some serious upslope snow.  Moisture from the Great Lakes is heading our direction and as the wind blows the moist air over the mountains in Highland, Pendleton, and Grant counties, it gets squeezed out as snow on the "western facing slopes."  Much like ringing out a dish rag, the mountains will ring out all of the water and snow in the air before any it can make it into the Valley.  On top of this feature, we are expecting enhanced snowfall tonight for the western slopes as a disturbance in the upper atmosphere moves through the area. 

Totals for the most western parts of our viewing area could be as much as a foot.  A dusting can not be ruled out into the Valley overnight, but I would not look for much more than that.  The majority of the accumulating snow will fall to the west of Franklin

When and if you see snow tonight or tomorrow, please comment here or on Facebook and let us know how much! 

For the latest accumulation forecast from the National Weather Service click here: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/winterstorm/

Jknight@whsv.com