Memories of a Warm November and December

Memories of our prior two warm months is what we will have after an arctic cold front blasts through the area during Sunday 3 Jan 2016. In my previous blog post, New Year Ringing in Winter , I illustrated how the weather pattern was beginning to show signs of taking on a much more "typical" winter look .

In this blog post I'll be more detailed about the arctic frontal passage and following chill down that will occur Sunday through Tuesday (3 Jan-5 Jan).

A cold front plunging from north to south across the region during Sunday afternoon (Fig.1) means business!

Fig.1 Forecast map for 6 PM Sunday 1/3/16

Fig.2 Timeline and impacts for the arctic blast

This arctic cold front will be preceded and accompanied by scattered snow showers and brief heavy snow squalls. The squalls will have gusty winds, heavy snow (perhaps some brief thunder/lightning, too) and could result in near whiteout conditions, as well. There will be some local accumulations too any where from a dusting to as much as 2 inches. Combine the squalls and possible local accumulations and you have the possibility for some major impacts on road travel. (Fig. 2)

In addition temperatures will plummet with the frontal passage and this could lead to a "flash-freeze" of untreated road surfaces and sidewalks. I expect temps to drop from the 30s rapidly through the 20s by early Sunday night and down into the teens (single digits north) by Monday morning.