DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW?

If you haven't heard by now there will be snow in some parts of the central Midwest Christmas Eve day. That includes the southern parts of my area where a winter weather advisory has been issued from Midnight tonight until noon Christmas Eve day.

As it stands now the heavier accumulations are anticipated near and south of I-80. While this disturbance is not a classic storm, it will have a 6-8 hour window of strong lift that will wring out the available moisture. Total QPF is generally less than 2/10" (not much). However, air temperatures will be cold and should yield snow ratios of nearly 20:1. Thus amounts of 2-4" are possible in the advisory area. Totals will decrease rapidly north of I-80 with little more than a dusting north of HWY 30. Here's a graphic from the NWS in the Quad Cities showing expected totals in my area.

Here's a larger perspective showing the state of Iowa from the NWS in Des Moines.

The NWS in Chicago put this out for snowfall amounts in the Chicago area.

There is now good confidence in the amounts and general placement of the snow. That's not been the case the past few days. The NWS put out this explainer on the recent forecast challenges.

The NWS in Lincoln depicts this for totals in central and northern Illinois.

Here's the latest snowfall forecast just in from the EURO.

A larger Midwest perspective.

Once the snow ends sharply colder air will follow the system over all the Midwest. Christmas night and Tuesday morning wind chills should look like this.

That's where things stand for now. If you are one of the lucky ones to see the snow enjoy it for me! Happy holidays and roll weather....TS