RECORDS, COLD, SNOW - OH MY!
It was a blustery and cold Friday, just the beginning of the wintry weekend up ahead. Winds have died down and skies have cleared. Temperatures will drop down close to records by Saturday morning.
40 to 80 year old records are in jeopardy as temperatures fall into the teens - the white circles show where temperatures come within a degree of the record low. Impressive for temperatures to get to near records in many spots where there isn't snow on the ground... in April!
Saturday will then be the calm (and cold) before the storm. High pressure will be in control which will lead to plenty of sunshine, but it's going to be chilly.
Then another winter storm will move into the Upper Midwest on Sunday. Temperatures will be in the 20s and 30s across the Upper Midwest.
Then snow will move in and light to moderate snow will be widespread Sunday. Here's a look at a projection of the snow Sunday through Monday -
This storm is not nearly as strong as the storm two weeks ago, so snowfall totals are going to be *much* lower. But there will still be accumulating snow in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin. The snow will start off icy and become fluffier through the day Sunday. Snow will wind down Monday as the storm moves east and loses steam.
By the time it's all said and done there will be some snow on the ground. The higher snowfall totals will be located near the center of low pressure.
Here's the NAM's snowfall forecast:
GFS is more bullish and I think is a bit high, particularly the further southeast you go.
And the Euro - pretty similar to the NAM -
I think the Euro/NAM solution is more realistic than the GFS. 1 to 4" of snow in much of eastern Iowa... with the higher amounts further northwest. With these snowfall totals it will likely be the snowiest April much of my local area has seen since 2003!
It may get a little slick at times Sunday and early Monday. The good news is that it's April and the white stuff won't stick around for long! RK